TORONTO -- The co-founder of online home-rental website Airbnb says he welcomes regulations being mulled by Quebec, adding that government oversight would boost the site's credibility.
But Nathan Blecharczyk says the rules should not be so onerous that they prevent regular people from renting out their homes and cripple the company's business model.
The Quebec government has said it wants to require people who rent out their rooms or homes to pay taxes and be subject to the same regulations as registered hoteliers.
Blecharczyk says it's important for regulations to differentiate between those who rent the homes they live in on an occasional basis to help make ends meet, and those that make a business out of renting space.
Airbnb, which is headquartered in San Francisco, allows users to rent rooms or entire homes from hosts in more than 34,000 cities, often at rates lower than those offered by hotels.
But some hosts have suffered damages from using the site.
In April, a Calgary couple who rented out their home returned to find the place trashed amid what police said was a "drug-induced orgy."
