City launches short term rental complaints hotline and online form
Residents who live near a short term rental in Kawartha Lakes and have been experiencing issues such as loud parties, trespassing, violation of occupancy limits, parking issues and more, can now report the issues at any time to the municipality’s 24/7 complaint hotline at (705)-990-2497, and/or online form, which can be found here: STR Complaints Hotline.
Reporting complaints or issues through these channels will help the municipality to monitor Kawartha Lakes’ short term rental units for non-compliance and possible by-law infractions. This in-turn, will help the municipality to ensure that short term rentals are complying with licensing regulations.
Not only does the new tool track tips and complaints, it also tracks short term rental property listings to ensure that all operating STRs are either licensed or in the process of getting licensed.
“While meeting with the community to discuss what would eventually become the new Short Term Rental (STR) By-law and Licensing Program, a lot of the feedback received revolved around STR owners/operators not being held accountable for the actions of their guests or renters in real-time. We’re happy to share that we’ve launched a brand new 24/7 Hotline and online platform to help alleviate some of those concerns,” noted Aaron Sloan, Manager of Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing.
For short term rental owners/operators, it is mandatory for all short term rental businesses in Kawartha Lakes to be licensed as of January 1, 2024. If you haven’t already started the licensing process for your property, you can do so by filling out the online short term rental accommodation business license application.
Those who have applied for a short term rental license are asked to please note that due to the high number of applicants, we are anticipating that the turnaround time for the applications will be increased. As an applicant, if you have a question about the status of your application or general compliance issues you may contact the Municipal Law and Licensing Clerk by calling 705-324-9411 extension 1238 or by emailing .
For more information about short term rentals in Kawartha Lakes, visit our short term rental page. Any questions about the hotline or online form can be directed to .
