Latest news with #tenantRights
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘It's a plague': Advocates renew calls for renoviction bylaw in Kitchener
Local advocates are renewing their calls for a bylaw that would prevent renters from losing their homes and protect them from bad landlords. Known as a 'renoviction,' the term refers to the practice of forcing a tenant out of a building, citing the need for extensive renovations or repairs in the unit. On Monday, more than a dozen people took their fight to Kitchener City Hall, hoping to grab the attention of councillors and city staff. 'People need a renoviction bylaw passed,' said Ryan Murdock, secretary of the Waterloo chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). 'They need it passed now. They needed it passed yesterday.' Linda Vos is one of several tenants at 250 Frederick St., who received a renoviction notice earlier this year. While her case was dismissed by the Landlord Tenant Board last week, she said other people in her building aren't as lucky. ACORN RALLY Local housing advocates are renewing their calls for a bylaw in Kitchener that would prevent renters from losing their homes and protect them from bad landlords. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News) '(The landlords) seem to be targeting the individuals that have lower rents, that have been living in my building for decades,' said Vos. To put the problem into perspective, ACORN said it surveyed 160 tenants in Waterloo Region, with 28 per cent saying they received one or more eviction notices in the last five years. Of those, 54 per cent were notices to vacate for renovations or demolition. 'It's a plague that's really going across the country,' said Murdock. 'And that's why you see other municipalities, other regions stepping up and protecting their citizens, protecting their tenants, and that's what we need Kitchener to do here.' Back in February, city staff told council they needed time to review how similar bylaws worked in other jurisdictions like Hamilton, London and Toronto. They're expected to share their findings in a report at a committee meeting on June 16. 'There's no reason that Kitchener can't do it,' said ACORN's Ken Vogelpohl. 'All we've been hearing is excuses. What we want is some action.' But according to one city councillor, action requires resources – something the city doesn't have. 'The province hasn't provided the tools to us to do that,' said Ward 9 Councillor Debbie Chapman in an interview with CTV News. 'But the fact that these other cities are doing it, I'd love to see Kitchener follow suit.' It's still not clear when a renoviction bylaw could come into force, but advocates say they're not going anywhere until something is done. 'It's time to actually do something,' said Vogepohl. 'We're going to be here. We're going to be at the mics. We're going to be putting more pressure on council to make sure that this happens.'
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.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Housing regulator finds 'serious failings' in Brent Council
The housing regulator has highlighted "serious failings" by Brent Council in ensuring the health and safety of its tenants, including fire risk cases that had been closed despite not being completed. The north-west London authority referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in April after it "identified weaknesses" in how it followed up on completing housing repairs and said it had "let tenants down".The RSH's review focused on the safety and quality standard of Brent Council as a landlord and found "significant improvement" was council said it was "determined to improve the quality" of its homes and had "made real progress in recent months". 'High risk' Brent Council owns around 8,800 homes across London, most of which are under its direct management, alongside an additional 4,000 leasehold homes in blocks, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).The law requires councils to have up to date evidence of the condition of the homes under its management, as well as for necessary works to be carried out "within appropriate timescales".The LDRS found that within the last year, about 12,500 actions arising from fire risk assessments had been closed by the council. However, the council referred itself to the regulator after a spot check revealed that despite a case being closed "evidence of the completion of the actions was not available in all instances and some actions had not been completed at all". Most of these were deemed to be of a high and medium risk and were being treated as "overdue".The review by the RSH earlier this month revealed the data for fire safety, smoke and carbon monoxide safety, asbestos management and water safety "cannot be reconciled" and the council "is not able to determine which legally required checks and assessments have been completed".It also found that despite the council reporting it has condition data on 95% of its housing stock, almost half of its homes "have not had a recorded survey". 'Much more to do' The council "has plans in place" to understand the impact of its current position, according to the RSH judgement. These include working to understand the root causes of the problems, reviewing the completion of all closed fire safety actions and working to develop a suitable action plan to resolve the RSH judgement added: "We will continue to engage with [Brent Council] as it seeks to address the issues that have led to this judgement. "We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as [Brent Council] seeks to resolve these issues."Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Brent's cabinet member for housing and resident services, acknowledged there was "still much more to do".She said: "We take our responsibilities as a landlord very seriously and the council accepts that we have let tenants down and for this we apologise unreservedly."We will continue to work proactively, positively and in an open and transparent way with our residents and with the regulator to fix the issues identified."
CTV News
6 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Tenant rights group calls for greater protection against dangerous heat
London ACORN is calling on council to keep Londoners from unsafe heat in their homes during the summer. With summer heatwaves on the way, tenant advocacy group London ACORN held a rally outside city hall. About 20 members called on City Council to better protect vulnerable Londoners from unsafe temperatures inside their apartments. ACORN Canada recently surveyed 750 tenants across the country about summer heat and related building maintenance. It found that 44 per cent of the low and moderate-income respondents lack access to air conditioning. The cost of energy was the most common reason. On Wednesday, London ACORN called on council to: Implement a maximum heat bylaw that applies to all units in the city, not just those that already have air conditioning Implement landlord licensing that applies to all units in the city, not just those in buildings with four units or less 'Having A/C in each unit, that is controlled by the tenant, is incredibly important,' said Farrah Sherrard, Secretary of the London-at-Large Chapter. 'That is something that the landlord needs to do, but in addition, we need regulations that put that cost onto the landlord without having that impact the tenants in terms of AGI's (Above Guideline Increases) or other expenses.'
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Hamilton landlord fined $100K for illegal renovictions that had 'devastating' impacts on tenants, court hears
A Hamilton tenant says she's impressed with a "fantastic" judge's recent decision to fine her former landlord $100,000 for illegally renovicting her and three other tenants, even if they'll never get their homes back. "That's a good place to start to show the landlords of Ontario they can't just throw their tenants out," Darlene Wesley told CBC Hamilton. The senior had lived in her downtown apartment for nearly 20 years and never missed a rent payment when, in February 2023, the building's owner Kevin Moniz evicted her in order to carry out extensive renovations. Wesley informed him in writing and in person she intended to move back in after the work was done — as is her right under Ontario law. But within months, he'd rented it out to someone else. He did the same to three other tenants living in the five-unit building, including Wesley's daughter. The tenants testified during a trial against Moniz and property management company Cornerstone Select Properties at Hamilton's provincial offences courthouse on May 12. Justice of the Peace Linda Crawford found Moniz guilty on four counts of knowingly failing to give the tenants the right of first refusal for their units and fined him $25,000 for each. "A general deterrent in my view is very important in these kinds of circumstances, where there's a landlord with a small building that was once affordable for people," Crawford told the court. Moniz was not present for the trial and did not respond to requests for comment. Crawford gave him two weeks to pay the $100,000 — a high amount for Residential Tenancy Act violations. The charges against Moniz were laid last year by Ontario's Rental Housing Enforcement Unit (RHEU), which is mandated to uphold landlord and tenant rights and investigate complaints. It works independently from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). By comparison, in all of 2022, fines stemming from charges laid by RHEU totalled $121,800. Tenant can't afford new place Crawford found Moniz acted deliberately and the impacts on the tenants have been "devastating." "In my view, there was quite a bit of foresight to renovate apartments and he made a decision to essentially flip them and rent them out more than double what he had been getting before," she said. Before being evicted, the four tenants said they each paid less than $700 a month in rent. A new tenant who moved into one of the units after the renovations told the court she currently pays $1,500. The eviction process began for the four tenants in March 2021, when they received N13 notices from Moniz. Their cases went to the LTB, which ruled in Moniz's favour that the units did need to be empty for him to complete renovations. Three of the tenants moved out before Wesley. They all testified they told Moniz in writing that they'd move back into their units when the work was done. Tenant Robert Jewel said he had no other option. He worked a minimum wage job and wanted to keep the unit he'd been able to afford for 25 years, he testified. But one night, when renovations were supposed to still be happening, he walked by the building and through a window saw someone in his unit's living room, watching TV. He later learned it was a new tenant. "And to be honest, I cried that night when I discovered my apartment had been taken away from me," Jewel said. "It's like I'm a second class citizen all of the sudden just because this greedy person comes along." Unable to afford to rent a new place, Jewel said he has been couch surfing at friends and family's homes since he was evicted. "I'm almost out on the street and I don't have my own place anymore and that loss of freedom, I really, keenly feel," Jewel said. Property management company fined Wesley and her daughter had no choice but to find a place together and now pay $2,000 a month, an arrangement Wesley described as a "nightmare." "Now I've got nothing because all my money goes to rent," she told the court. She said she left her place in 2023 thinking she'd definitely be coming back as she took all the steps she was supposed to. In the weeks before she moved, she had provided Moniz with several copies of a signed letter stating her intentions, and verbally told him the same thing in front of a representative from Cornerstone — the property management company Moniz had hired to find new tenants. Welsey testified that on another occasion somebody from Cornerstone was showing a unit to prospective tenants. She told that person, "'all of the apartments ... have the right of first refusal' and he said, 'I know, I know, I know.'" Company president Jeff Varcoe represented Cornerstone in court. He denied the allegations, saying nobody at his company knew about the "entire building being renovicted" and he hasn't been able to substantiate Wesley's account. Crawford said she did not find Varcoe's testimony credible and fined Cornerstone $25,000, plus a $6,250 victim surcharge, for not ensuring Wesley had the opportunity to move back into her unit. "That's not something we have the financial ability to cover at all," Varcoe said. "This will bankrupt us."
