Île-Bizard residents shocked by hefty fines for trying to rent out homes during Presidents Cup

Patricia McIntyre was getting ready to ring in the new year with family and friends at her home in Île-Bizard when there was a knock at the door. 

To her surprise, she was greeted by a bailiff who handed her a pair of envelopes. Inside there was a stack of papers from Revenue Québec explaining in detail how she had violated the province's short-term rental rules and that she and her husband were now facing fines of $3,750 each. 

"To me, this is very predatory and the government is acting in bad faith," McIntyre says. 

McIntyre never actually rented out her home, but in the lead-up to the Presidents Cup, hosted at Royal Montreal Golf Club last September, she decided to post it online with a short-term rental website that was recommended by the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA). With large crowds expected and streets closed to traffic, she thought it would be a good opportunity. 

She didn't have a tourism registration number, or CITQ, and says the site, Rent Like A Champion, never gave her any indication that she might be breaking local laws. But she knew that if she rented, there would be taxes to pay. 

"If we would have [rented], yeah, I'd call the government and find out what the protocol is, how do we proceed," she said.

"But just for simply putting your house on a website, to me it's shocking that they can get you for this."

McIntyre has since learned that she is not alone in her frustration. She says she knows of at least nine other homeowners in the area who were targeted by Revenue Québec investigators during the lead-up to the Presidents Cup. None appear to have successfully found someone to rent their house.  

Aisha Lasarni paid $250 US to post her home on Accommodation For The Event — a site based out of Ireland that caters to golf fans looking to stay close to golf tournament venues. 

She was served papers this week and was stunned to see that the province was coming after her and her husband for a total of $7,500. Lasari says she only posted her home because she was hoping to leave town during the tournament to avoid the crowds and traffic. 

She also says she didn't know she was violating provincial rules. 

"I mean we're not used to renting houses here," Lasari says. "We're not downtown where we have condos where there's the Jazz Festival, where we rent out our houses, where we're infringing on the housing market," she said. 

Like McIntyre, Lasarni's house was not rented. 

"It's not a slap on the wrist of $500 [that says], 'hey, you should have known that you need a permit.' I mean for a garage sale you need a permit but you don't need a permit if you're thinking of having a garage sale."