Tag: halifax landlords

Nova Scotia Needs Better Enforcement Of Their RTA

The provincial government has introduced changes in the bill

Nova Scotia’s population is booming. The pandemic-driven influx of people moving to the province coupled with the trend of rental properties being sold or converted to short-term rentals is creating a housing crisis. One of the ways that the government is dealing with the housing shortage is by changing the province’s tenancy laws.

People on both sides of the issue may have different views, but feel that there should be more compliance and enforcement of the province’s Residential Tenancies Act. When either landlords or tenants are found to be in violation of the law – and there’s plenty of that – there should be action.

The proposed changes to the bill, introduced last week as part of the government’s housing strategy, provide added protection against renovictions, higher rates of compensation for displaced tenants, and a two-year cap on rent increases. As per the CBC, Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services Minister Colton Leblanc said the rent cap bill, which holds annual increases for tenants staying in the same place to two percent, will mean security for renters while the government works to get more housing stock in place.

“Most landlords have been respectful and understanding to their tenants during these very difficult times and I would like to thank them for that,” Leblanc said during a bill briefing.” – Colton Leblanc

The housing crisis in Nova Scotia is drawing attention to the use of fixed-term leases, which are quickly becoming the new norm in the province and provide a potential loophole for landlords to bypass the province’s rent control cap. In monthly and yearly leases, the lease will automatically renew itself each month or year (depending on the type of lease) unless you give your landlord proper notice that you will not renew the lease. Fixed term leases do not have a notice period. The tenancy period ends on the date stated in the lease.

“While I’m super excited that Nova Scotia’s population is at a historic high, it’s also making those that are marginalized even more so. The ones that can’t afford the average market rents are suffering.” -Krista McNair of the Truro Homeless Outreach Society

The Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission, formed last November to study the province’s affordable housing situation, released recommendations on May 31, including a 61-page report from the province’s Affordable Housing Commission. It urged the government to spend a “quick-start investment” of $25 million to help 600 to 900 Nova Scotians find adequate and affordable housing in the next 18 months. On July 6, the provincial government announced it had committed to all 17 of the commission’s recommendations, including the quick start investment to build affordable units.

Are you a landlord in Nova Scotia? What has your experience been? Share with us!

RCMP Warns Alberta Landlords and Tenants About Kijiji Rental Scam

Came across this informative piece courtesy of the Alberta Landlords Association. The RCMP issued a formal warning to landlords and tenants in Canmore, Alberta about a Kijiji scam. I took special notice of this, because this is the kind of thing that gives landlords a bad name.

Culprits posted ads on the classifieds website Kijiji advertising houses or condos for rent, with all money transactions completed through e-mail. The victims were advised that 24 hours before their arrival, they would receive a pin code to enter the property. But in one case, after thousands of dollars was transferred, all correspondence halted before a pin code could be sent. Further investigation found that the properties were never really in fact for rent in the first place (big surprise).

A similar occurrence was reported in Halifax. Check this out. There’s a nice Soundcloud clip of a rundown of how it occurs courtesy of Scott Simpson with the Halifax Regional Police.

Unfortunately, this has become a common thing. Similar incidents have occurred in Montreal, Winnipeg, and Calgary.

Most of the cases involve a landlord out of town, unable to show the unit, who asks for a damage deposit or first and last month’s rent to be wired to them. Sometimes – as in the case in Calgary listed above, someone has the gall to show up and actually conduct showings on a unit, and then ask for money.

The ALA has some valuable tips to share on how landlords and tenants can avoid getting caught up in these kinds of messes. Tenants should ask to see the property before committing anything financially, and receive a receipt for any monies given. Landlords should make sure tenants know who they are, where the property is, and give a receipt for any rent paid.

Hub Pages posted a nice little ditty on how to avoid getting scammed here. Kijiji has also posted some valuable tips on how to avoid getting victimized here.

Nova Scotia Changes Their Landlord & Tenant Act

Changes are a brewin’ in Nova Scotia. The province has made some amendments (what many landlords and renters consider to be overdue) to their landlord and tenant act that have taken effect November 15th.

Nova Scotia is a bit of a unique landscape for landlords and renters alike. OpenFile published a story in August entitled How To Survive Renting in Halifax – a piece that shone the light on some bad Haligonian landlord situations involving security deposits and issues related to the reasonable enjoyment of some occupied units.  The below is an excerpt from the piece by Lizzy Hill:

At first glance, our city seems like an ideal spot to rent an apartment in. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in 2011 was $925, compared with $1,237 in Vancouver and $1,149 in Toronto. And while other cities across Canada recently experienced slight decreases in their apartment vacancy rates, Halifax’s vacancy rates increased from 2.8 per cent in April 2011 to 3.2 per cent in April 2012—people haven’t been snatching up apartments as quickly as they did in years past, so renters presumably have a little more to choose from.

The Residential Tenancies Program sees around 5,000 applications to the director each year—meaning around five per cent of tenant-landlord relationships require dispute/resolution services each year, according to Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations’ spokesperson Susan Mader-Zinck. And those are just the cases that make it through theboard program’s bureaucratic application process.

CBC also published a story back in April of this year about groups of residents who were demanding better conditions on units they’ve been renting, and calling for a crackdown on bad landlords. Yikes.

The first significant change is that renters will now have automatic tenure – or right to tenancy, which means landlords have to provide a reason to evict a resident, and there has to be a hearing. Fixed term leases are an exception to this. Prior to these changes, tenants didn’t have tenure until they’d been living in an apartment for five years – at which point they were considered a long-term tenant and were afforded more rights. In that five years, a landlord could opt not to renew a tenant without reason. Some landlords will view this as a negative implication in the act’s changes, as in effect, it makes evicting tenants who pose a problem more difficult. Another perspective on this is that landlords will be extra particular when choosing a candidate to sign a lease with.

Another big change is that rent can only be 15 days late before the landlord can give a tenant notice that the lease will end. Tenants used to have 30 days under the old act. This is a positive change for landlords to be able to react at the RTP level. Another big change includes giving tenants on fixed-term leases the ability to end their leases early, without financial penalties, for health reasons, as landlords need to have the properties in good condition on all times if they want to rent it, and that’s why if a problem happens and a pipe broke they need to use a Water Damage Restoration Matawan service to fix this as soon as possible.

Landlords are now required to give a copy of the Residential Tenancies Act to tenants within 10 days of the lease being signed, the keys being provided, the stated date of move in on a lease, or the move in date itself.

Some of these changes are efforts to address some of the concerns residents have about complaints to landlords resulting in a simple request to leave.

For more information on these changes, check out the following links:

Are you a landlord in Nova Scotia? What do you think of these changes? Share your stories and perspectives here. We’d love to hear them.