Class- action lawsuit filed against Airbnb

A downtown Vancouver strata corporation has filed a class- action lawsuit against Airbnb, the online property rental business.

The strata, located in the city’s Yaletown neighbourhood, claims that Airbnb has rented out properties throughout B. C. and Canada without the consent of the rightful owners and has profited from the unauthorized rentals without any compensation to those owners.

Polina Furtula, a lawyer representing the strata, said Thursday that the lawsuit is not just being filed on behalf of strata corporations.

“There’s other owners of apartments or houses or real estate who have not authorized the rental of their property, the short- term rental,” said Furtula, who also sits on the Yaletown strata’s council. “And they’re finding their properties are being listed on Airbnb without their consent.”

The suit claims that the rentals by Airbnb violate strata bylaws that prevent rentals for less than a year except with approval of the strata.

The suit is seeking a court order to be certified as a class- action proceeding and an injunction requiring the defendants to cease advertising rentals of properties located in B. C. and Canada without the consent of the legal owners, including the strata corporations.

It also seeks an accounting of income received by Airbnb regarding the alleged unauthorized rentals as well as unspecified general, special and punitive damages.