Vancouver residents renting their homes out on Airbnb are running out of time to comply with new bylaws that aim to bring the booming industry under a modicum of control.

"Short-term rental operators in Vancouver have just over one month left to obtain a valid business licence before they will be subject to fines or other enforcement," reads a July 24 media release from the city. "On August 31, the registration period to understand and comply with the city’s new short-term rental requirements ends andanyone who advertises a short-term rental without a business licence will be subject to fines of $1,000, prosecution, or other enforcement actions."

The release states that the city has issued 1,556 of these short-term business licences since last April.

Vancouver city council made peace with Airbnb and other short-term rental services last November. Rather than banning such services outright—which very likely would not have stopped people from using them—councillors voted to legalize and regulate Airbnb, FlipKey, and their competitors.

The framework includes many restrictions on how residents can use these digital services to rent a portion or all of their home to travellers.

The rules state that residents are only allowed to share their primary residence online. That means you are not allowed to purchase an apartment as an investment, for example, and then never live it in but instead rent the unit on Airbnb. The framework also forbids people from renting out secondary basement suites for less than 30 days at a time.

Next, it requires people who want to rent out all or a portion of their primary residence—a spare bedroom, for example, or all of their home while they’re out of town for a weekend—to acquire a new class of business license. These will cost $49 a year plus a one-time administration fee of $54.

After adopting these new rules, the city of Vancouver signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb last April.

“To help ensure compliance with the city's new short-term rental regulations, Airbnb will provide a list of all Vancouver licences and associated addresses that short-term rent via their platform to the city on a quarterly basis,” reads an April media release. “The city's enforcement team will then cross-reference it with their licensing records to identify any illegal operators.”

Separately, B.C.'s provincial government reached an agreement with Airbnb in February that concerns taxation.

In addition to emphasizing Airbnb operators' deadline to come onside with these regulations, the city's July 24 release also details enforcement actions that the city has taken since council voted to adopt the new rules.

"A total of 2,181 suspected illegal listings have been investigated including 223 listings with duplicate or incorrect business licences, which are under audit and subject to enforcement," it reads.

"129 listings have been targeted for enforcement, with multiple actions taken including warning letters, safety violation inspections, and additional legal action," the release continues. "627 short-term rental listings have been delisted or converted to long-term rental units for Vancouver’s residents; and prosecution has been initiated against 89 listings, with the potential to collect fines of up to $890,000."