Tenant Support - Sandy Hutchens support for tenants
Maintenance and Repairs
Your landlord must make repairs on your verbal request. If your landlord has a history of not making repairs, you should put your request in writing, including the date of the letter, and keep a copy.
If the landlord has still not done the repairs in a reasonable time, then call your city Building Inspector to make an appointment for them to come out and look at the problem. If an inspector doesn't come then ask to speak to their supervisor. Get a copy of the inspectors report for your records.
If problems persists, it is a good idea to contact a lawyer or Community Legal Clinic, City Councillor. It may even be appropriate to apply for a rent reduction based on the lack of repair being tantamount to a reduction of services in your apartment.
Evictions
If you have been given an Eviction Notice by your landlord, you should contact a lawyer or the local Community Legal Clinic in every instance. Legal Aid community legal clinics provide primarily free services to lower-income people and families. Evictions can be done in the winter.
You can be evicted for the following reasons:
- Not paying rent on the day it is due. Your landlord can serve you with a Notice of Termination, which would take effect on the 14th day after the notice is given, (or only 7 days if you pay your rent on a daily or weekly basis). This notice has to include the information that the termination can be avoided by paying the amount due before the date it is to take effect.
- If you are a tenant in subsidized housing and provide fraudulent information on your income or the incomes of those living with you, or changes to those incomes as per Section 60;
- If you act illegally or allow someone else to perform illegal acts on the grounds or in the building. Section 61 says this is the case if you commit such act. It does not say that it is required for you or the other person(s) to have been found guilty in a criminal court, so if this follows the protocols of the previous law then it is likely it only has to be proven to the satisfaction of an adjudicator of the Landlord and Tenant Board;
- Section 62 on damage says if you, other residents of your unit or your guests wilfully or negligently causes undue damage to your apartment, the building or property you can be evicted. The notice of termination of your lease must state how you can remedy the situation and thereby prevent the eviction; Section 63 may also apply;
- If you, other residents of your unit or your guest "substantially interferes" with the reasonable enjoyment of the building for other tenants as per Section 64 or in the case of a building with 3 units or less where the landlord also resides under Section 65;
- If you, other residents of your unit or your guest impair the safety of any person in the residential complex as per Section 66;
- If the number of persons occupying the rental unit on a continuing basis results in a contravention of health, safety or housing standards required by law, under Section 67, on overcrowding;
- Animals can be a cause for eviction if the Landlord and Tenant Board is convinced that the tenant is keeping an animal and that the animal(s) is substantially interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the premises, causes allergic reactions, or is inherently dangerous to safety.
Other grounds for eviction include: if the landlord personally needs the apartment to live in, if they are demolishing the building, converting the building (such as to a condominium) or doing such major repairs or renovations such that they need your unit vacated. As unscrupulous landlords could falsely use these other situations as an excuse for eviction, contact your legal advisor or legal clinic immediately, and if you are certain they are in violation of the law the Investigation and Enforcement Unit. See Sections 72 through 75 in Part V of the Residential Tenancies Act and it might be an idea to read all of this part of the Act.
Being locked out of the apartment
If no Eviction Order has been issued by the Tribunal the landlord cannot lock you out of your apartment. If an Eviction Order has been issued, then the Sheriff can have the locks changed but the landlord must not do it themselves. Corrupt landlords may break the law and lock you out. You must immediately contact the police and get legal advice from your lawyer or the IEU as this is a violation of the Act.
What is legal rent?
Under the new Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord can charge a new tenant in a unit anything they wish. This is called "Vacancy Decontrol". If you believe the rent being asked for is too high, you should try to negotiate a lower rent with the landlord before you move in. This means you really need to compare apartments and prices to make sure you are not being charged higher than market rates.
How this is phrased in the act's section about lawful rent for new tenant is "The lawful rent for the first rental period for a new tenant under a new tenancy agreement is the rent first charged to the tenant", that is whatever the landlord can get away with charging you. It is unspecified in the Act, but very likely, that if you moved into a different unit in the same building you will be considered a new tenant.