Vancouver councillor proposes new tools to hold bad-faith landlords accountable | Daily Hive

Vancouver city councillor proposes new tools to hold bad-faith rental housing landlords accountable

Billion Photos/Shutterstock

A Vancouver city councillor is pushing for tougher oversight of multi-unit rental housing landlords, arguing the municipal government needs stronger tools to deal with a growing number of companies accused of exploiting tenants and skirting existing rules.

Next week, Vancouver City Council is scheduled to deliberate Green city councillor Pete Fry’s member motion, which would direct City of Vancouver staff to significantly expand the business licensing framework to cover landlords operating multiple rental housing units, tying licence eligibility to compliance with both municipal standards and provincial tenancy law.

You might also like:

Just over half (55 per cent) of Vancouver residents rent their homes, and the motion asserts that ownership of rental housing is increasingly shifting from small-scale landlords to large corporations, real estate investment trusts, and professional property managers. While most landlords operate responsibly, Fry argues a minority are using increasingly sophisticated tactics that current enforcement systems struggle to address.

“I’ve witnessed increasing occurrences by a small number of unethical landlords exploiting the gaps between the City’s Standards of Maintenance and Licensing By-Laws and the Province’s Residential Tenancy Act,” said Fry in a statement.

“When I see bad faith evictions to convert homes to Airbnbs, or apartments subdivided with particle board partitions to create micro living units that our enforcement seems unable to stop, it’s clear we need some new tools.”

The motion outlines a range of concerns, including unsafe and unpermitted unit subdivisions, harassment and unauthorized surveillance of tenants, patterns of bad-faith evictions, and the use of evasive sub-tenancy arrangements that can deny renters full legal protections.

It also highlights unlawful short-term rental activity in multi-tenant buildings, which Fry suggests can be difficult to track when landlords shift listings across platforms and identities.

If approved, the motion would direct City staff to report back on potential amendments to bylaws, such as the introduction of a new rental housing business licence category for landlords with multiple units. Proposed changes include annual licence renewals tied to compliance, mandatory disclosure of ownership and property management information, and a requirement that landlord licence and contact details be clearly posted in rental buildings.

The motion also calls for stronger enforcement measures, including fines and the suspension or revocation of licences for repeat offenders, as well as targeted action against illegal short-term rentals. It seeks to leverage new provincial authority under the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act to apply higher municipal penalties for violations.

“Most landlords do the right thing, but when bad actors exploit gaps and loopholes, we need new tools to enforce rules and protect tenants,” said Fry. “This motion seeks to add conditions to the businesses we license in our city, to protect renters, improve transparency, and hold repeat offenders accountable.”

The motion’s proposed measures have been endorsed by the City of Vancouver’s Rental Advisory Committee and calls for coordination with provincial agencies, exploration of proactive inspection and enforcement strategies, and consultation with tenant advocates, housing providers, landlord associations, and privacy experts before any by-law changes return to City Council for consideration.

You might also like: