Hamilton couple shares identical address with Stoney Creek Airbnb hosts

A retired couple on Hamilton Mountain is raising concerns over sharing an identical address with a residence in Stoney Creek, which they say is being rented out as an Airbnb causing people to show up at their home at all hours.

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Teresa and Steven Mercer say they understand their situation is not necessarily unique. “I think people should know we’re not the only street having this problem, I really do. And I think if more people know, maybe more people can get involved,” Teresa said.

According to numbers provided by the City of Hamilton planning department dating back more than 20 years post-amalgamation, the couple lives on one of more than 600 duplicate street names streets across Hamilton affecting at least 34,000 properties.

The Mercer’s say their address twin was first listed for sale in Nov. 2021 and they had real estate agents and prospective buyers just walking in their front door.

Since then, the property has been renovated and is currently being used as a short-term rental, making the issue progressively worse.

Teresa said, “They’re just coming up and trying the door to walk in because they assume they were given the address it’s an Airbnb, we have a code for a door, why can’t we just walk in?”

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The Mercer’s say they’ve taken the issue up numerous times with their ward councillor Esther Pauls, and the City of Hamilton, but have been told the only solution is to petition council to have the street name changed.

In order to change a street name, a request to council must be accompanied by a petition for the new name, signatures of 80 per cent of the property owners or residents affected, and a nonrefundable processing fee of nearly $2,700.

Heather Travis, manager at the City of Hamilton’s Planning and Economic Development department says otherwise it would be up to city council to bring forth the issue.

“…so right now there’s no plans to proceed for another review but we do try to work with property owners on a case-by-case basis when they come forward,” Travis said.

The Mercer’s believe a petition is asking too much of the people inconvenienced and have advice for anyone else in the same situation.

CHCH News reached out to the owners of the Stoney Creek home who were not available for an interview, but they say roughly 1 in 15 guests go to the wrong address and add they remind guests to make sure they have the correct one at the time of booking.

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