Lawyer vs. landlord

Tenants have rights, although they might
not know them, says legal aid advocate

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Jessica Lipes

Age: 36

Occupation: Lawyer

Bio: This charmer of a committed Outremont gal stands among that rarest of rare breeds, a lawyer “who’s not really doing this to make money, you know? The truth is I’ve always been more interested in social justice issues and human rights than money.” Operating a law practice out of über-swank Côte-des-Neiges since 2002, for the past couple of years, Jessica has been doing her law thing on a part-time basis so as to allow her more time to raise her two toddlers, Ravi and Clara. Specializing in tenant-landlord disputes, she’s also a whiz when it comes to refugee and immigration law, with the vast majority of her clients being CDN residents coming to her via legal aid. She drives a 2007 Volkswagen Golf.

The number of landlords she represents: “My clients are almost 100 per cent tenants. Occasionally I’ll represent a landlord but people don’t really know me for that. I also work closely with community organizations like Project Genesis so you sort of get categorized as being on one of the two sides, you know? But I like working for tenants. I find it more interesting.”

How often clients come to her in tears: Often enough. “Usually, it’s somebody who’s really frustrated about a case that’s been going on a long time. Or it’s people being harassed by their landlords through racist remarks and/or other nasty behaviour. Not long ago, I had somebody come to me in tears after being evicted and finding all their possessions thrown out into the street. There wasn’t much that could be done about it, but… You know, just because you’re a tenant doesn’t mean you don’t have the same attachment to your home as an owner does. Your apartment is still your home, and when people lose their homes, well, it can be a pretty emotional thing.”

Just how poor must one be before Legal Aid will pay to have Jessica represent you? “You pretty well have to be on welfare or pretty close to that level of income before you’re eligible.”

How long you can go without paying rent before you’re asking to be evicted: Three weeks.

Do tenants have to give their landlords their Social Insurance Numbers upon signing a lease? No.

What the Régie de Logement’s recommended guidelines are regarding how much landlords can reasonably raise their rents this year: “Usually it’s around one per cent for non-heated dwellings. It doesn’t generally change much, although it can get high sometimes if your heat is included in the rent.”

Why does the Régie never recommend that landlords reduce rents for, let’s say, oil-heated dwellings now that the price of oil has gone down? They had no problem raising it significantly when energy prices went nuts a couple years back: “In theory, they should. I’ve had this same thought but I can’t see it ever happening. I can’t see something like this going over too well with landlords either. The only way to get a rent decreased is to prove to the rental board that you’ve lost a certain enjoyment of your dwelling because, let’s say, your apartment is full of vermin. Rent decreases like that happen all the time.”

Last book read: The Shock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein.

Musical preferences: Joel Plaskett, Bonnie Prince Billy, Joni Mitchell.

Words of Wisdom: “Wealth is the self.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net