Landlords could cancel rental lease transfers under new Quebec bill
Restrictions around evictions also on the table
Tenant rights groups and landlord associations are criticizing the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government's newly tabled housing legislation.
Bill 31 proposes several changes to leases, including modifying eviction procedure and lease assignments, also known as lease transfers. It was tabled Friday as the National Assembly goes into recess for the summer and won't be debated until fall.
Quebec's minister responsible for housing says she knows the bill will be controversial, but she believes it covers major concerns for both tenants and landlords.
"Tenants aren't happy. Landlords aren't happy…. but I think it's quite balanced," Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau said.
Owners of new buildings can increase the rent as much as they want for the first five years. Now, landlords would have to disclose the maximum increase for those years in their leases.
It also restricts evictions by placing the burden of proof on landlords. Tenants who don't respond to an eviction notice will be assumed to have refused, and owners would then have to go to the housing tribunal and plead their case for eviction. Currently, a tenant who doesn't respond to an eviction notice is assumed to have accepted it.
WATCH | Why lease transfers could become a thing of the past in Quebec:
Required compensation for those evicted will also be higher, as landlords would be forced to pay them up to one month's rent per year of continuous residence in the dwelling.
The most controversial provision in the bill deals with lease assignments. Bill 31 would allow a landlord to reject any request for a lease transfer without specifying why — and then cancel the lease.
Lease assignments as rent control
Tenant rights groups say it could exacerbate the housing crisis by allowing landlords to dramatically increase rent for a new renter, and it's become common for people to rely on lease transfers to limit rent hikes.
"Considering there is a spike in the rents, there is a lot of rent increase. This is one of the ways tenants can protect the affordability of the rent," said community organizer with the housing group Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) Catherine Lussier.
"By removing it, we're accepting that rents will go higher and higher."
Duranceau says it isn't up to tenants to control rent increases.
She says it infringes on landlords' property rights for tenants to "shop for bargains" on apartments as lease assignments were designed to let tenants out of a lease early.
"The measure isn't meant to be for tenants to decide which tenant succeeds them," she said.
"The landlord owns the building, they invested in it and took the risks, and it should be up to them to decide who lives there."
Duranceau said landlords still have to fill out Section G of a lease, which indicates how much the previous tenant paid per month. A tenant can then ask the provincial rental board to fix the rent retroactively based on the old rent within 10 days of signing the lease.
She told Radio-Canada's Tout un matin that tenants should assume good faith for the landlord since there's no way to verify that the information was filled out correctly.
Québec Solidaire launched an online petition demanding the province back down on its intention to block lease assignments.
"It's not acceptable. By allowing landlords to block lease assignments, the CAQ government favours landlords to the detriment of tenants," says the petition.
"Not only are lease assignments a legal and legitimate way for tenants to get out of their lease when they have to move, but they allow new tenants to find housing at a reasonable price, without suffering excessive increases."
Landlord association disappointed
Martin Messier, the president of the Quebec Landlords Association, said the only advantage for landlords coming out of Bill 31 is the end of lease assignments.
"The bill is a bit of a nightmare for landlords. It fails to see that there is a right of ownership for landlords, going as far as saying that landlords have to prove that they are of good faith," he said.
"For us, it goes way too far."
Landlords will have to expend more money and energy to demonstrate good faith when wanting to evict a tenant, which Messier says makes things more complicated for them.
Messier said landlords have been pushing the government to change regulations around security deposits and rent increases for major repairs "for a long time" and are disappointed not to see those addressed in the tabled bill.
"We're disappointed in the fact that they didn't address our main issues, and we see for the tenants that they feel like it's not enough so we're really at odds with each other," said Messier.
LISTEN | Montreal-area rents may rise up to 30 per cent over the next two years:
Montreal's housing crisis
Montreal is dealing with a housing crisis and many Montrealers took to social media to express their discontent with the new bill.
By July 1 last year, an estimated 750 renter households did not find housing and there were 24,000 families or people on the city's waiting list for subsidized housing.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the city has not had time to look at the bill in depth yet, but the city will participate in studies and consultations on Bill 21.
"Of course not being able to transfer your lease is worrying. We're listening to the population saying that in this context, with the housing crisis, there's a lot of pressure for people trying to find affordable housing," she said.
"If there's an increase in people transferring their leases, there's a reason for that, and it's because people want to keep affordability. I think we can bring propositions to achieve that goal."
She also said there is some good in the proposed law project, like putting the burden of proof on landlords to prevent renovictions.
Plante has said in the past that housing is one of her top priorities and her administration wants to help tenants and reward landlords who follow the rules. For example, she introduced owner certificates based on the conditions of buildings and how much tenants pay.
She said she understands that some landlords want more control over who lives in their buildings while being sensitive to the city's current housing situation.
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with files from Sharon Yonan-Renold and Radio-Canada