It’s becoming increasingly common for landlords to look for loopholes in the law to get rid of tenants paying below-market prices.
Real eState
Real estate: More renters face eviction as vacancies hit 15-year low – Montreal Gazette
Demonstrators take part in a Montreal rally led by the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) in June 2019.
It’s not easy to find an affordable apartment in Montreal these days. Vacancy rates are lower than they have been in 15 years, hovering around one per cent — or even lower in some areas. The cost of rent is rising in response. And so are the number of evictions.
According to lawyer Daniel Bitton, who specializes in defending tenants facing eviction or repossession, now that the rental market is so tight, it’s becoming increasingly common for landlords to look for loopholes in the law to get rid of tenants paying below-market rent so they can re-list those units at a higher, more profitable rate.
“No one keeps track of who’s getting evicted. It’s a private matter. But the phone’s ringing off the hook,” Bitton said.
In some cases, units are repossessed with the excuse that a family member needs to move in, but the unit is put back on the market soon after — and the rent is much higher. In other cases, building owners may say they want to do a renovation project that will require the tenant to move out for an extended period, in the hopes that the tenant will leave. Those who are exploiting the system often don’t follow through on those renos, Bitton said, and go on to rent the now-vacant apartment to someone else at market rates.
Tenant protection laws are supposed to prevent tenants from being evicted in order to renovate and re-list apartments, yet complaints of “renovictions” are becoming more frequent, said Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) spokesperson Maxime Roy-Allard.
“Here in Quebec, when the landlord wants to make renovations, the tenants have a right to come back and still live there,” Roy-Allard said. “But many landlords try to convince people to move out and never come back.”
When the landlord does have the legal right to evict a tenant, Roy-Allard said, they are required by law to provide notice and to pay compensation to the tenant. The problem is, many tenants don’t know their rights. Others don’t have the time or financial resources to take their concerns to the Régie du logement.
With affordable apartments downtown increasingly difficult to come by, it’s more important than ever for renters to read up on their rights and act to protect themselves if served with an eviction notice, Roy-Allard said.
Bitton rallied tenants to come out to the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council meeting on Feb. 3 to ask municipal politicians to declare a moratorium on issuing permits for major renovations of tenanted apartments until council can study the issue and implement bylaw changes that would help stop renovictions.
“We have rent control, but this would make rent control actually have teeth,” Bitton said.
The RCLALQ has also been advocating for these measures, as well as an increase in the compensation paid to tenants when a landlord takes a rental unit off the market, as when a family member moves in.
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According to Michelle Tompkins, who was served with an eviction notice less than two weeks before Christmas, if there’s one piece of advice for tenants in this situation, it’s this: If you feel your landlord is pressuring you to sign papers, don’t — at least not before getting advice from a lawyer or your local comité de logement.
In Tompkins’s case, she was told she had to leave so that a family member of the owners of the Rosemont triplex could move into her unit. She turned to Bitton and her local tenants’ association for advice. It was only then she learned she is entitled to compensation from her landlord for moving expenses. Had she signed the papers given to her along with the eviction notice, she said, she would have had more difficulty disputing the terms.
“Trust your gut. No one should be pressing you to be signing anything at that moment,” she said. “My advice, don’t sign anything until you go to your comité de logement to show them the papers, and they will advise you correctly.”
The family has lived in the triplex for seven years, and would like to stay in the neighbourhood, but rents have increased so much that it may be financially impractical. Tompkins currently pays $985 per month for the large one-bedroom-and-den she shares with her partner and three-year-old son. Few comparable vacant apartments are available. Those Tompkins has seen are renting between $1,500 to $2,000 per month.
Spouses Michelle Tompkins and Mike O’Brien, who perform together in a local country-folk duo called Sin & Swoon, were served with an eviction notice less than two weeks before Christmas.
HANDOUT: OLIVIER BOURGET /
Postmedia
The stressful experience has become the seed of a song for Tompkins and husband Mike O’Brien, who perform together in a local country-folk duo called Sin & Swoon. The song’s working title is Quand on vit comme on peut, and is their personal take on Montreal’s rental housing crisis, O’Brien said.
“The whole thing is about how we’re just trying to get by. It would be nice to just be able to get a break somehow,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re frustrated you’ve just got to do something to make yourself feel better. For us, sometimes that means singing about it.”
The duo plans to release the song next July, around moving day.
Free resources for tenants to learn about their rights:
• Éducaloi provides plain-language explanations for common legal concerns, including tenant and property rights.
• Local tenants’ rights organizations (find one near you)
• Mile End Legal Clinic
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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.
The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.
“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.
“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”
The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.
New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.
In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.
The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.
“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.
“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”
He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.
“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.
“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”
All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.
Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.
“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.
“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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