Short-term rental platform Airbnb announced that it is adding two new regulations to host listings in Canada. Guests under the age of 25 no longer will be eligible to book unsupervised or "whole house" listings in their own communities. Additionally, Airbnb has...
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Rental Property Management Tips
Lawmakers Tinker With Late Rent Fees
When rents spiked in Denver five years ago, lawmakers resisted the urge to overregulate. Instead, they encouraged developers and added more inventory -- much more inventory. Over 12,000 new units -- four times the previous average -- were added last year alone. Rents...
6 Mistakes to Avoid When Prequalifying Renters
The prequalification process is a crucial step in screening tenants. By asking a few questions on that first phone call, landlords can weed out unqualified renters before wasting time showing a unit to someone who won't be living there. Prequalification should be...
New Guidance on Companion Animals
HUD has issued a new guidance paper aimed at clarifying the process for handling companion animal requests. The move comes after HUD agreed to investigate growing concern over fraudulent companion animal requests -- those made by pet owners attempting to avoid a...
Oakland Bans Criminal Background Checks on Tenants
Oakland, California City Council last month passed an ordinance that prevents virtually all landlords there from researching a rental applicant's criminal history. The measure prohibits landlords from inquiring in any fashion about an applicant's past criminal...
Landlord Asking the Wrong Questions
"You don't have to answer that." That's the advice given to a tenant after she showed a landlord's rental application to a legal services volunteer. And for good reason. The landlord asked applicants to identify if they were alcoholics. Another question asks...
Investigation Underway to Address Delays at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board
After a spike in complaints over serious delays at the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, Ontario's Ombudsman announced an investigation to address the problem. According to Ombudsman Paul Dubé, complaints about long wait times in obtaining hearings and decisions by...
Tenant Causes $20,000 in Damage
One hundred five. That's the total number of cats rescued from a two-bedroom apartment in Guelph last week. The tenant voluntarily surrendered the animals to the Guelph Humane Society after she was evicted from the apartment for causing an estimated $20,000 in damage,...
Canada’s Latest Rental Market Report
The rental vacancy rate continues to decline across Canada, according to CMHC's latest Rental Market Report. The average vacancy rate for all unit sizes currently is 2.2%, the lowest figure since 2002, as demand continues to outpace supply. CMHC points to the 1.5%...
Surprising Things Tenants Want in 2020
Rental leasing trends for 2020 are revealing a few surprises: Tenants Prefer Face-to-Face Property Tours The latest technology allows apartment-seekers to tour properties on their own. That has never been a good idea for landlords. Self-guided tours are a lost...