What is a “disruptive” short-term rental?

We’ve all seen in the news or read about the stabbings and shootings at short-term rentals around the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.Transient visitors to these short-term rentals arriving in large groups of 8 to 20 people or more are often the cause of significant disruption to neighbours and neighbourhoods. Since 2017, reported problems associated with disruptive short-term rentals in Oro-Medonte include:

• • Loud music at any hour of the day or night;
  • Shouting, and profanity at any hour of the day or night;
  • A radio station contest turning a cottage into a rock concert venue with an outdoor sound system, loud music and amplified jokes about disturbing the neighbours.
  • Verbal abuse of neighbours who try to quell the disruption by themselves or after they contact the police;
  • Trespass to neighbouring properties;
  • Dangerous and unlawful use of fireworks;
  • Theft and vandalism of neighbours’ property;
  • Overflowing septic systems;
  • Vehicles parked on lawns, tile beds and along roadways hindering traffic flow and emergency vehicle access;
  • Garbage left at the roadside for days only to be strewn about by animals;
  • Smoke from recreational fires contaminating neighbouring homes at all hours;
  • Public intoxication;
  • Operation of watercraft while consuming intoxicants, endangering the safety of residents using the waterfront;
  • Public urination and defecation;
  • Raucous stags and stagettes including prostitutes plying their trade on the front lawn in mid-afternoon in full public view;
  • Unlawfully discharging firearms in a settlement area while consuming beer and then using the cans for target practice.

After reading these problems, you wouldn’t want to live next to a disruptive short-term rental, would you?

For actual Home Owner Impact Reports from Oro-Medonte and its surrounding county click here.

Also see:

• Frequently Asked Questions about STRs
• Oro-Medonte residents support restricting STRs