Imagine selecting a perfect on paper tenant to rent your property — an Engineering degree from a reputable University, 6 figure salary and a near perfect credit score with little to no debt and then you find out several months later that someone other than your tenant is on a short term rental site using your home for vacation rentals.
Then after investigating you find out that there have been at least a dozen other homeowners that are experiencing the same situation because of the very same tenant. After more investigation you find out that this has been going on for many years and in multiple buildings. Many of those owners were being defrauded by non-payment of rent while their units were hosting and accepting guests at staggering daily rates.
Conversations with affected landlords reveal a pattern of well thought-through tactics exploiting the weaknesses in the LTB practices and the blind eye of the short term rental platforms. The scheme is simple: the tenant stops paying rent, waits over a year for an LTB hearing and if the landlord has the financial and mental endurance to last until the hearing, the tenant consents to a payment plan (no interest, of course!). But for many landlords eating up a year’s worth of mortgage and property tax payments is too much to bear. Throwing into the mix tenant’s threats to declare bankruptcy should the LTB hearing conclude in the landlord’s favour. Many are forced into “cash for keys” deals, left with significant debt or being wiped out financially. These arrears amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in some cases.
There are 7 Public Orders showing that applications were filed against Mohammad Mehdi Golmakani aka David Golmakani and Mohammadreza Golmakany.
The Public Orders can be viewed by entering their names here in Openroom.ca
One public Order explains two options to avoid eviction or to be able to remain in the unit: the tenant pays the amount of $38,436.00 to the landlord or Board in trust to continue the tenancy OR if the amount owing is not paid before May 1, 2022 the eviction is granted and the amount owing will be $34,420.68.
Another public Order shows that the tenant shall pay to the Landlord $27,950 for arrears in a payment plan schedule of $15,000,then $4,000, then $4000, then $4000 and finally $950.00 and continue to pay rent on time for the next 12 month period.
Two of the Public Orders include Condo units on Queen’s Wharf Rd and Dan Leckie Way in Toronto.
After a further search both individuals also have public records in the Superior Court of Justice.
There has been a lot of juggling to stay under the radar of the City of Toronto’s short term rental bylaw requirements. Different host names were being used on the Airbnb platform as well as other short-term rental platforms, such as Stay.com. Airbnb has not been helpful in resolving the issue. In 2023 multiple requests were made with Airbnb customer service for the illegal renting of someone else’s property. Many steps have to be taken into consideration, particularly property and liability insurance.
Airbnb customer service replied “We find that communicating directly with the other party is the simplest way to address these types of complaints”.
Airbnb wants the rightful owner of the unit to communicate with a host that is not on the lease and/or has not been given permission to rent a unit on Airbnb? This is also the major flaw in the City of Toronto’s bylaw that permits a tenant who does not own a property to rent out their tenanted unit on the Airbnb platform and who does not have the owner’s permission. What happens when there is a serious injury? or a fire? or a death? Will the Police, Fire Marshall or Insurance Investigator only investigate the tenant? Is there no liability on the owner? Hmmm…
City of Toronto rules for Tenants
- As a tenant you can short-term rent your home as long as it is your principal residence.
- You should be aware of your responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and your lease agreement with your landlord.
The one great tool that the City of Toronto did provide was an open data portal so that these cases could be tracked and recorded to allow evidence to be built for future fraud charges.
If this has happened to you, reach out to us so that we can connect all of you together at solo@solo.ca. You can learn who to hire and how to file for running an illegal business.
We’re helping housing providers fight back. In addition to educational content such as documentation and webinars, we’re leading an effort to help landlords understand how they can initiate criminal prosecutions for fraud, Freedom of Information requests and how to enforce payment through Small Claims Court. If you are a landlord in need of help, we welcome you to join us for free.
