Latest news with #TAL
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
This Quebec tenant won three cases at the TAL. Now landlords won't rent to him
A building with "For Rent" and "For Sale" signs is posted in Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press) When Steve transferred his Sherbrooke, Que., apartment lease and left for an exchange program in Australia last year, he didn't expect to be blacklisted by landlords for having contested rental hikes at the province's housing tribunal. The tenant, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of further housing discrimination, won all three cases that his former landlord had opened against him before the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL). Still, he says, landlords told him they now think of him as a 'problem tenant' for having enforced his rights. He claims that because of this no one will rent to him. 'One of the people that my girlfriend and I had visited online straight up said 'Hey, I don't want this. I don't want you to bring me to the TAL,'' Steve told CTV News. 'Why would I bring you to the TAL? You're not trying to swindle me, right? ... I just had an issue with this one specific landlord that was trying to double my rent every time.' Experts say Steve isn't alone, and the low housing supply in the province is making it easy for landlords to discriminate against tenants they think will be a headache. Steve says when he first moved from Montreal to Sherbrooke for work in 2021, he found an apartment for $1,200 per month, adding he discovered it was overpriced after moving in. Despite initial promises of a renovated apartment, the home lacked basic amenities and had a mould issue. Mushrooms were even growing in the bathroom. When Steve checked Section G of his lease, where landlords are obliged to declare the lowest rent paid for the unit over the 12 months, he saw the previous tenant paid about $600 per month. The landlord had doubled the rent. TAL mushrooms 'Steve' had mushrooms growing in the bathroom of his Sherbrooke apartment. Steve says he tried to negotiate with the landlord to bring the rent down to $900 per month, but was refused. A rent fixing case was then opened at the TAL, but before a judgment was issued Steve's landlord sent him another notice for a rent increase. 'At this point, I'm wondering, are you just trying to weaponize the system against me?' he asked. 'Now, I have two files open, right? What's going on here? This is weird.' A third case was then opened for rent fixation. Eventually, the TAL ruled in Steve's favour, setting his rent at $865 per month, and later at $881 per month, lower than the price he first asked for. In their decisions, reviewed by CTV News, the judges noted that the landlord had failed to provide evidence that would justify the requested increases, plus sections of the lease weren't properly filled out. During his time in Sherbrooke, Steve went back to school and was accepted for an academic year abroad. He transferred his lease and thought it would be easy enough to find a new place upon returning. However, he says finding a new home for July 1 has been anything but simple. As they're currently on the other side of the globe, Steve and his partner can't visit apartments in person. He claims that as soon as landlords look up his records, they see the TAL cases and flag him as a possibly difficult tenant. 'It's really sketchy for them to see my name come up, even though I was right,' he said. After months of searching, Steve says he and his partner started feeling desperate. The only landlord willing to have them as tenants refused to sign a lease with Steve. Instead, she was willing to sign just with his partner – and only if her parents signed on as guarantors. 'My girlfriend's like, 'Well, I'm 32 years old. Why do you need to get my parents to sign like I'm some sort of child?'' Steve said. 'I felt swindled and therefore I used the resources that were at my disposition … And now, because of that, I'm seen as some sort of problem tenant … is it really a fair system if I have everything to lose and the landlords don't?' A tenant blacklist Mario Mercier with the Association des locataires de Sherbrooke says he's heard dozens of stories like Steve's. 'It's basically systematic,' he said of the phenomenon. 'Landlords are using the docket almost like a tenant blacklist. Normally, they shouldn't because [the tenant] was within his rights … but it's absolutely not something insignificant that happens rarely.' He says landlords often use a form to screen applicants, which asks them if they have ever had a case at the TAL. When tenants are honest and say yes, Mercier notes their application is often not considered at all. Mercier says he tries to help tenants find legal recourse, but the burden of proof is so high that it typically goes nowhere. This was the case when CTV News spoke with a second tenant who said that despite her and her partner's high salaries and good credit, one case at the TAL was enough to face multiple rejections from landlords. TAL poll A poll in the 'Mordus d'immobilier' Facebook group shows 100 landlords would not rent to a tenant with a file at the housing tribunal. (Facebook) In an investigation online, CTV News found some landlords encouraged each other to refuse tenants based on their TAL history, no matter the reasoning behind the case. One landlord in the Facebook group 'Mordus d'immobilier' started a poll in 2024, asking others if they would rent to a tenant with a TAL history. The two options were 'YES, I could take them as a tenant,' or 'NO, as soon as a tenant has a case before the TAL I systematically refuse.' Though most of the 400 or so respondents picked the former, 100 landlords voted for the latter. 'You shouldn't rent to tenants with a file. It's the only way we can exert pressure. It's clear to me if you have a file at the TAL, especially if it's to get rent fixed, then it's a no,' one landlord commented on a similar post. A tenant's rights Lawyer Julien Delangie warns that the Civil Code forbids landlords from refusing a lease to a tenant who has formally asserted their rights before the courts. However, proving discrimination is challenging — in fact, it's almost impossible. TAL facebook A landlord comments on a Facebook post saying refusing to rent to tenants who have rent fixation cases before the TAL is the only way to exert pressure. (Facebook) 'It's very often, very hard to prove that this is the exact and only reason for which they were refused, even if it's the case,' he said. 'If the landlord doesn't state the real reason behind the refusal, it's going to be hard to assert the tenant's rights about this.' He adds it's a symptom of the housing crisis. 'When you have so many tenants fighting for a given apartment and sometimes even offering more than the rent that is asked for, that's when it becomes very easy for landlords to discriminate on an unlawful basis,' he said. There are penal provisions that can result in fines ranging from $200 to $1,900 or punitive damages. However, Delangie says the fines are rarely applied. Useless fines? Quebec Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau admitted as much during debates around her housing law project, Bill 31, in 2022. Transcripts of those debates are available on the National Assembly's website. At the time, she said, 'In real life, in order for fines to be applied, there has to be a denunciation, there has to be an investigation, there has to be an investigation report, there has to be a provisional decision.' It takes prosecution, an indictment and a trial, she continued, for charges to be laid, and the money 'doesn't go into the pocket of the person who was the victim,' and instead goes to the government. While Liberal MNA Virginie Dufour pressed Duranceau, saying she would like for fines to serve a purpose, the minister insisted that punitive damages are the way to go. A spokesperson for Duranceau's office recently told CTV News the minister was simply stating the 'facts about the process of implementing these provisions.' France-Elaine Duranceau Quebec Minister Responsible for Housing France-Elaine Duranceau responds to the Opposition during question period, Thursday, September 28, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press) Bill 31 introduced punitive measures to condemn landlords who fail to comply with Section G of a lease, as well as those who neglect their buildings. 'The TAL has the power to order a party to a lease to pay punitive damages. All you have to do is apply and prove your allegations before the Tribunal,' said spokesperson Justine Vezina. Fines are criminal penalties and fall under the Ministry of Justice's responsibility. 'It is not criminal sanctions that guarantee a person's ability to freely exercise his or her rights, but our legal system,' she said. Delangie argues the minister's answer isn't satisfactory. 'Of course, there can be a civil suit against you, but it's also a penal offence, and you could be liable to a fine, but there's no one that's enforcing that,' he said. Landlord-tenant contract Eric Sansoucy, spokesperson for the Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec (CORPIQ), says it's crucial for both landlords and tenants to be transparent with each other because 'it's all about building a relationship of trust.' He stresses that CORPIQ does not endorse discriminatory behaviour. However, he says it's normal for a landlord to want to know more about who they are renting to and make sure there are no legitimate concerns about payments or behaviour issues. 'We strongly encourage tenants to be open, if there's a past issue, explain it upfront, rather than just let the landlord discover it, and it helps rebuild trust and establish the basis for a good understanding,' he said. On the other hand, CORPIQ says it encourages landlords to be understanding, as some tenants have legitimate reasons for contacting the TAL. 'We think landlords and tenants should be able to go to the tribunal if they feel that they are under a situation where their rights are not respected,' said Sansoucy. Steve, who admits he has had a hard time finding understanding landlords, says he wants the names of tenants who win their case to be removed from public documents to prevent discrimination. 'Look, if someone skips on their rental obligations or makes a mess or breaks things, 100 per cent name and shame them,' he said. 'But for people who are…in a situation where if they say 'no' to this double rent increase, even though it's an absolutely absurd increase and it'll never fly in court, just the fact that their name now pops up on the website where all the judgments in Quebec are, now suddenly life becomes very hard for them.' Delangie says removing names is easier said than done. There are various databases where landlords can look up potential tenants' past cases. Plus, the experts say that without proper enforcement measures and other ways to find tenants' files, it's unlikely that any discriminatory behaviour will stop.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why TAL Education Group (TAL) Went Down on Tuesday
We recently published a list of In this article, we are going to take a look at where TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) stands against other worst-performing stocks. TAL Education dropped its share prices by 7.46 percent on Tuesday to close at $10.17 apiece as cautious investors continued to sell off positions amid renewed calls for the delisting of Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. According to a report by Financial Times, top Republican financial officers from 21 states have asked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins, through a letter dated May 20, to review the possibility of delisting Chinese firms from US exchanges in a bid to protect US investors. The companies were accused of not complying with federal audit requirements, audit deficiencies, crackdowns on firms that do due diligence research on Chinese companies, alleged stock manipulation, as well as national security concerns. A teacher providing personalized instruction to a student in a small class environment. While headquartered in China, TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) chose the US stock exchange to list publicly. TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) is an education services company that is investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence in a bid to bolster its modern learning products and services. Overall, TAL ranks 4th on our list of worst-performing stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of TAL, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TAL and that has 10,000x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why TAL Education Group (TAL) Went Down on Tuesday
We recently published a list of In this article, we are going to take a look at where TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) stands against other worst-performing stocks. TAL Education dropped its share prices by 7.46 percent on Tuesday to close at $10.17 apiece as cautious investors continued to sell off positions amid renewed calls for the delisting of Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. According to a report by Financial Times, top Republican financial officers from 21 states have asked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins, through a letter dated May 20, to review the possibility of delisting Chinese firms from US exchanges in a bid to protect US investors. The companies were accused of not complying with federal audit requirements, audit deficiencies, crackdowns on firms that do due diligence research on Chinese companies, alleged stock manipulation, as well as national security concerns. A teacher providing personalized instruction to a student in a small class environment. While headquartered in China, TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) chose the US stock exchange to list publicly. TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) is an education services company that is investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence in a bid to bolster its modern learning products and services. Overall, TAL ranks 4th on our list of worst-performing stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of TAL, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TAL and that has 10,000x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After biggest rent hike in decades, Quebec changing method to calculate it
As tenants across Quebec prepare to get hit with a substantial rent increase, the provincial government is making changes to the way those rent hikes will be calculated. The changes to the calculation method were outlined Wednesday in Quebec's Official Gazette (page 2368). They come just a few months after Quebec's rental tribunal, known in French as the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), recommended an average rent increase for 2025 of 5.9 per cent for tenants living in homes were heat is not included. That's Quebec's largest year-to-year jump in at least three decades, according to TAL figures dating back to 1988. That recommendation is still in effect for this year and the new calculation method will be used as of 2026. Had the new method been used for this year, the TAL's average recommended rent increase would've been 4.5 per cent, according to a spokesperson for Quebec's housing minister. Each year, the TAL releases a set of calculations landlords can use before sending a notice of rent increase to a tenant. WATCH | Here's what the change means: Simpler and more predictable, minister says In an interview with Radio-Canada's Première heure, Quebec Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau said the old calculation was based on 13 variables. The new one will be based on four, she said. Under the new calculation, the TAL will take into account: The average consumer price index in Quebec for the reference year and the three years preceding it. Variations in municipal taxes. Variations in school taxes. Variations in insurance costs. "I'm expecting that there will be a better understanding from the tenant's perspective and the landlord's perspective, so less distrust," she said. "The less distrust there is, the less conflict there will be and we'll reduce the number of cases that end up at the tribunal." But a Quebec group advocating for tenants' rights says the reform is a "missed opportunity to curb the housing crisis and abusive property speculation." In a news release, the Regroupement de comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) argued that the new calculation method "in no way" responds to tenants' demands for real rent control in the province. "It opens the door wide for landlords to increase their profits on the backs of tenants, with rent increases now based on the average rise in the cost of living as well as the cost of major renovations," read the statement. "In this way, Duranceau has standardized rent increases based not on the actual costs of managing a building, but on the potential market value of the property, to the greater benefit of landlords." The group encourages people to join a national demonstration for the right to housing held in Drummondville, Que., on Tenants' Day, April 24. WATCH | This is what renters can expect in 2025: Increases over past decade Although the new method would've led to a smaller increase for tenants in 2025, that's not necessarily going to be the case every year. According to the minister's spokesperson, the TAL increases between 2014 and 2024 totalled 23.7 per cent. With the new calculation, that increase would've been 23.3 per cent. "We could therefore say that over the long haul, the increases would've been the same," spokesperson Justine Vézina wrote in a statement provided to CBC News in French. "Since the variations would be more stable since the [consumer price] index would take into consideration an average of three years, there are in fact years where the increase would've been higher and others where it would've been lower." With the 5.9 per cent rent increase recommended by the TAL in 2025, someone who pays $1,400 in rent will see it go up to $1,482. Had it been 4.5. per cent with this new method, the rent would've gone up to $1,463.
Cision Canada
24-04-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
13th Tenants' Day - Tenants demonstrate to demand a rent freeze and effective rent control after unprecedented rises Français
DRUMMONDVILLE, QC, April 24, 2025 /CNW/ - Faced with an unprecedented crisis for tenants across the province, members of the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) issued a call to action today for the 13th annual Tenants' Day. Several hundred people responded to the call and converged on Drummondville for a large demonstration under the theme 'Rents are going through the roof, we need a freeze!'. By blindly following an illogical and unjustifiable regulation on rent-setting criteria, the Rental Administration Tribunal (TAL) has set the rate for calculating rent adjustments at 5.9% for 2025, a 30-year high. The recent changes proposed by the Minister for Housing will do nothing to change this situation. The Minister refuses to revise this year's rate of 5.9%, leaving tenants to face an uncontrolled explosion in rents and a lack of effective rent control measures. "The government and the Minister, with their new version of the regulation on rent-setting criteria, are pretending that they have resolved the crisis and that they have listened to tenants, when in fact the opposite is true. Once again, they are standardizing rent increases based not on the real costs of managing a building, but on a market logic that enriches landlords at the expense of tenants", denounces Mélanie Baril, coordinator of the Comité logement de la Petite Patrie and spokesperson for the RCLALQ. To defend tenants' rights, RCLALQ members are demanding an immediate rent freeze. This emergency measure must be accompanied by the introduction of genuine rent control, including a mandatory and universal public lease registry, and real reform of the rent-setting method to exclude elements that disproportionately favour landlords' profits at the expense of tenants' rights. Focus on Drummondville, symbol of an out-of-control housing crisis The crisis is affecting the whole of Quebec, and the choice of Drummondville for the demonstration is not insignificant. According to the most recent CMHC figures, the cost of renting in Drummondville rose by a staggering 14.1% in 2024. This dramatic increase, which can be explained in part by the very high increase rates published by the TAL last year, illustrates the devastating effects of a market left to its own devices: growing insecurity, fraudulent evictions and a marked rise in homelessness. "Behind these figures are families, the elderly, young people and single people struggling to find housing, food and a decent life. Homelessness is on the rise, the demand for help is exploding, and the social safety net is crumbling. This can't go on," says Mélanie Gamelin, a tenants' rights advocate with ACTION location Drummond and spokesperson for the RCLALQ. Despite the alarm bells ringing from members of the RCLALQ, the government continues to turn a deaf ear, and the consequences of its inaction are serious. On the one hand, the TAL is favouring the interests of landlords with calculations that normalise abuses; on the other, the CAQ is refusing to adopt effective measures while knowingly fuelling a crisis where inequalities are widening at breakneck speed. Inaction is inexcusable. The RCLALQ is calling on the public at large to take part in its "Red E-mail" campaign addressed to the Minister of Housing, calling for an immediate rent freeze and genuine mandatory rent control, including a lease registry, to protect all tenants. For more information, see the RCLALQ website: Pour plus d'informations, contactez les porte-paroles du RCLALQ: Pour les informations en anglais, contactez: Félix Marois, organisateur communautaire au Bureau d'animation et information logement du Québec métropolitain (BAIL), 581-995-3429; Nicole Dionne, coordonnatrice au Bureau d'animation et information logement du Québec métropolitain (BAIL), 418-456-6597; Mélanie Baril, coordonnatrice au Comité logement de la Petite Patrie, 438-524-4514.
