Leases, landlords and the law
>> How to fight a rent hike in Quebec

by CRAIG SEGAL

It’s the new craze that’s sweeping the province. Landlords are requesting ridiculous rent hikes and gullible tenants like you are helping them stuff their pockets with your hard-earned loot. The rental board (Régie du logement) doesn’t keep track of the number of landlords that hike rents, but the board says twice as many landlords applied to the rental board to modify leases—usually by increasing rents—between 2000–2001.
The number of modified leases doubled last year, from 5,589 to 10,100 (and counting), says communications rep Mary-Andrée Jobin. And that doesn’t include all the landlords who hiked rents without resorting to the court. Many tenants don’t know that fighting rent hikes at the rental board can be a lot easier and less time consuming than searching for a new pad.
Now that Quebecers stand to get ripped off by their landlords, the Mirror has prepared a handy Guide to Fighting the Quebec Rent Hike.

The Notice

It is not good enough for your landlord to tell you verbally that he will pump up your rent. If you don’t get anything in writing, you can just go on paying your regular rent. He must break the bad news in writing three to six months before the end of your 12-month lease, or one to two months before the end of a lease shorter than 12 months. His letter has to say how much he wants to increase the rent, and that you have 30 days, or one calendar month, to respond to his letter.

Your rent hike letter will probably say something like this one, received by nine tenants of a rundown building at St-Urbain and Rachel:

“Dear Tenant(s): We will like [sic] to inform you we have recently done an analysis of the housing market in your area, and we have found that the average rent for a 5 1/2 unheated apartment is approximately one thousand and fifty dollars ($1,050.00) per month. Since your rent is only four hundred and seventy five dollars ($475.00) per month...we are informing you that we will be increasing your rent by four hundred and twenty five dollars ($425.00) to a total of nine hundred dollars ($900.00) per month. This increase will be effective starting July 1, 2002 till June 30, 2003.”

Don’t panic. The landlord has the right to ask you for a rent increase of any amount he wants. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to get it. Just as he has the right to ask for a ridiculous rent increase, you have the right to fight it.

The Hike

Keep in mind landlords are legally allowed to raise the rent a lot less than most people realize. If you pay your own heating bill, your landlord is only allowed to raise your rent by one per cent this year, barring big repairs or tax changes. If your heating is included in the rent, he can raise rent by up to 2.9 per cent, depending on the type of heating. For example, if heating is included in your rent, and your $500 pad is heated by electricity, your landlord can legally raise the rent by only 1.2 per cent, or $6 a month.

Your landlord is also allowed to raise your rent an additional five per cent of the costs of major repairs. So, if the landlord put $1,000 into your mouldy bathroom during the year, your annual rent goes up $50, or $4.17 a month.

If you think your landlord is hiking the rent too high, ask what it’s about. Then check with the rental board or a tenants’ group to see if the increase is okay. And remember, your landlord can only hike the rent once every 12 months.

The Letter

If you’re scared to fight the rent increase, you’re not alone. Many people, especially immigrants, are intimidated by landlords. “Immigrants are so scared of their landlords that it is difficult to convince them they are protected by the law,” says Brian Curnock, a tenant advice counsellor with the Parc Extension Action Committee. “Landlords are getting pretty greedy. I think they’re seeing there’s a decrease in rental housing and when they have apartments to rent, they’re tending to ask a lot more than what previous tenants paid.
“In Park Ex we have a very large immigrant population, with very new immigrants, and they don’t really know what the law is. A lot of them think that if they refuse a rent increase, the landlord can throw them out. The tenant has the right to refuse the increase and renew the lease.”

Though Curnock’s group distributed 3,659 letters to residences advising tenants they don’t have to accept rent hikes, many still did not believe they could fight it. Remember that your landlord can’t evict you unless the Régie du logement says he’s allowed.

When your mailman brings you your landlord’s rent hike letter, he’ll probably ask you to sign for it. That’s okay. It just means it’s registered. Send all letters to your landlord registered so you can verify when your landlord picked it up by looking up your Item Number on the Canada Post Web site (www.canadapost.ca) or phoning their toll free number (1-888-550-6333). Make sure to get a print out—off the site, or get a fax by calling Canada Post—so you have proof your landlord picked it up. “Sometimes landlords claim they never got the reply,” says Housing Hotline lawyer Pat Moore. “So when the new lease starts, they’re expecting the increased rent. Then they file for non-payment of rent. Then cases go to the rental board and tenants argue they sent [the reply].”

Your Options

You can do one of three things:

1) Nothing. By doing nothing, you are telling your landlord you accept a rent increase.

2) Move out. Within one month of receiving the hike notice, send your landlord a letter saying you do not intend to renew your lease and then move out. “Think twice before exercising this option,” says a flyer put out by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ). “In the present housing shortage (0.5 per cent vacancy rate in Montreal compared with 1.5 per cent a year ago), if you send the landlord a non-renewal notice before finding another apartment, you risk being disappointed or even homeless.”

3) Fight the hike. To fight the hike, send your landlord a registered letter within a month of receiving the hike notice saying simply, “I want to renew my lease but I refuse the proposed increase.” You have a month to send it, but you may as well send it right away. You can also get a form letter from tenants’ rights groups such as those listed below. A few days after sending the letter, get your receipt from Canada Post ensuring your landlord has picked it up. Once you’ve got that, the ball is in his court. If you don’t send a letter, or send it after a month, the lease will automatically renew with the higher rent, and you’ll have to pay it.
Many landlords try to change the conditions of the lease, like removing privileges such as parking or suddenly disallowing pets. If you object to these new conditions, write a letter just like you did for the rent increase: “I want to renew my lease, but refuse the new conditions proposed.” If the landlord wants a rent increase and new conditions make sure you clearly refuse both.

The Landlord’s Next Moves

A: Stay cool if you receive a legal-looking green paper from the Régie du logement with “DEMANDE DE MODIFICATION DU BAIL” written at the top. This is just your landlord’s way of saying he’s trying to get the rental board to help him raise your rent. Just hold onto the letter and wait for your hearing at the rental board, which can take up to a year to get to court. It’s a good idea to get a cheap lawyer from a tenants’ organization who can represent all the tenants. The landlord will probably end up getting his rent increase, but chances are it won’t be anywhere close to what he demanded from you initially. He could even win retroactively to the first day of your latest lease. Pay it with a smile. You have probably saved yourself hundreds of dollars.

B: The landlord may try to negotiate. Whether or not you agree to his increase, don’t sign anything before checking with the rental board to see if your landlord filed for a rent increase within a month of receiving your refusal letter. If it’s been more than a month, you can relax. He’s not allowed to hike the rent. If it’s been less than a month, you can try negotiating. Even if you don’t come to an agreement, at least you showed your landlord that you are open to a modest hike after all his hard work. If you come to an agreement, don’t sign anything before consulting one of the city’s many tenants’ groups. :

Tenants’ groups

Parc Extension Action Committee, 278-6028
Comité logement du Plateau: 527-3495
Comité logement de la Petite Patrie: 272-9006
Project Genesis: 738-2036
Housing Hotline: 488-0412