Tenants
must insist upon healthy living conditions: Project Genesis
by Irwin Rapoport
Despite the ongoing shortage of available apartments, the Côte des Neiges-based
Project Genesis is urging low and middle-income tenants to be concerned with
their health and safety in regards to mould and other major problems that can
affect the quality of life in their dwellings.
?Taking advantage of the crisis, landlords are refusing to carry out even some
of the most basic repairs,? claims Project Genesis?s David Austin. ?Their motives
are often sinister, hoping that, fed-up with the conditions of their apartment,
weary tenants will leave. Landlords often tell tenants that ?if they don?t like
the conditions of their apartment, they can leave.? Once gone, the landlord
is in a position to make minimal repairs to the apartment and maximize the rent
for incoming tenants.?
Focusing in on Cote des Neiges, Austin asserts that housing conditions have
deteriorated rapidly over the past two years. He says that common complaints
include rats, roaches, poor heating, faulty pipes, discoloured water, lack of
hot water, unsafe fire exits, uninsulated windows and doors, and poor and occasionally
treacherous snow removal.
?And yes, accumulated mould and mildew,? said Austin. ?The same problems we
have recently heard about in the northern part of the city is also a problem
in our neighbourhood. The problem is grave and warrants immediate and decisive
attention. It is only a matter of time before someone?s life is seriously imperiled
or worse.?
Project Genesis is calling on the municipal and provincial governments to promptly
respond and react to this problem. Noting that it can take days or weeks for
a landlord to have a hearing upon filing a complaint for non-payment of rent
with the Rental Board, Austin says tenants can wait months ? sometimes a whole
year ? to have a complaint against the landlord heard.
The community group also claims that city inspectors, who are responsible for
health and security, must follow a lengthy bureaucratic process to lodge a complaint
against a delinquent landlord; and which often only leads to minimal fines,
which are not always paid.
?In the N.D.G./Cote des Neiges area, the vacancy rate hovers at around 0.8 per
cent,? said Austin. ?Essentially, there are no apartments available. Most tenants
will spend their lives or, like a number of elderly Cote des Neiges residents,
the rest of their lives, in their current homes. With nowhere to go, addressing
the problem of wayward landlords must be dealt with decisively. The quality
of health and well-being of Montrealers depends on it.?
Knowing your rights: you don?t have to accept a rent increase
As the deadline approaches to inform your landlord as to whether you intend
to stay in your apartment for another year and whether or not you are willing
to accept a rent increase, Project Genesis would like to remind you of the following:
? You have the right to refuse a rent increase within 30 days of reception of
a notice to increase your rent from your landlord.
Y Your refusal to accept an increase should be sent to your landlord by registered
mail.
? Your landlord does not have the right to ask you to leave your apartment if
you refuse a rent increase.
? If you refuse a rent increase, your landlord may decide to take you to the
Rental Board where a judge makes a decision as to whether a rent increase is
justified or not.
? Not only is it possible that a judge may make a decision in the landlord?s
favour; it is also possible that the judge may impose an increase that is either
higher or lower than the increase requested by the landlord.
? A Rental Board judge?s decision on rent increases is based on the amount of
repairs that have been carried out in your apartment and building, and the cost
of heating.
? Each year the Rental Board issues the percentage that the landlords are permitted
to increase your rent to cover the cost of heating and other expenses.
? It is possible to estimate the permissible increase for the year using the
average figures published by the Rental Board. Doing so will help you make an
informed decision regarding the refusal or acceptance of a rent increase.
For more information, call (514) 738-2036.
