N.B. to close renoviction, lease 'loophole' with new rules, minister says

Landlords in New Brunswick could soon have to prove an eviction is necessary for renovations, and that those renovations are actually happening, before terminating a lease.

Landlords could also be required to give people three months' notice before turning the unit into commercial space or evicting tenants and moving in family members.

Jill Green, the minister responsible for housing, said the province has found that some landlords are taking advantage of loopholes in the legislation. Green introduced changes to the province's Residential Tenancies Act Thursday to address the issue.

"I think we've all heard stories and we're listening to them," she said.

One loophole, as reported by CBC last week, has meant tenant protections did not extend to people with annual or monthly fixed-term leases. Green said the new amendments will close that loophole as the legislation was not meant to have exceptions.

The other is related to landlords evicting people for renovations in order to increase rent freely without risking delay and rent-increase complaints.

"There's a lot of discussion around renovations and this will close that loophole as well," Green said.

If passed, landlords would have to apply to the Residential Tenancy Tribunal to get permission to end a lease for a renovation. Green said the landlord would need to show permits and approvals for the work, as well as show that the unit has to be vacant for a long time in order to complete those renovations or repairs.

"The landlords will now need to apply and have to show that the renovation is going to be happening and it has to happen in a timely manner."

Protections weak without rent cap, advocate says

Housing advocate Nichola Taylor said without a rent cap, tenants still have few protections.

"If there was a fixed cap in place along with this renovation rule, then that would be very hard on the landlord to even try and renovict somebody to get a higher rent increase," said the chair of New Brunswick ACORN.

Green and Premier Higgs have both previously said a rent cap is not off the table.

The province had a temporary rent cap that was removed at the end of 2022. Instead, new rules were introduced to allow a tenant to file a complaint with the tenancies tribunal about a rent increase above a certain percentage. The tribunal has the power to spread the increase over two or three years if it finds it's unreasonable.

Taylor said landlords were finding a way around the delays caused by tribunal complaints by evicting tenants for renovation without actually proving an eviction is necessary. Once people were evicted, the landlord would increase the rent by any amount they want, then re-list the unit.

She said this new renoviction rule won't actually stop landlords from raising rents to any amount they choose.

"It can be spread over two to three years, but if you're getting a huge increase," she said, "it's still way too much if you're on low-to-moderate income."

Green said the province will be releasing its housing strategy in June and did not rule out a rent cap at that time.

The changes still need to go through second and third readings before they're law.

Green said there will also be fines and penalties for contravening this new rule.