When moving house is a deadly risk: Tenants fear rental viewings are dangerous
Despite orders to limit social contacts, landlords legally permitted to let prospective renters into units
Renters in Newfoundland and Labrador are faced with new challenges over moving house under public health emergency orders, as tenants trying to stay in their "bubble" are still legally required to allow landlords to show their homes to strangers.
Michelle Major, a nurse currently renting part of a house in Paradise, says her home-care work on the Avalon dried up as fears over spreading COVID-19 increased in recent weeks.
Left with no choice but to move next month for a new job, she and her husband, Ashley, handed in their 30-day notice on April 1.
Major said her landlord asked them to agree on a time to open the apartment for viewings — a prospect that terrified the couple.
Her husband has congestive heart failure, putting him at risk for severe complications from the disease and hospitalization.
"He can die, and that's the reality," Major said.
Both have been sheltering indoors as much as possible to avoid contagion. Now, Major said, they're being forced into possible exposure.
"You have strangers in, so if they sneeze or cough while in your home — the virus can survive on surfaces for hours," Major said. "If my husband comes home and then touches it … he has to fight it. There's no cure."
'Viewings are the No. 1 concern'
Major is quick to point out the inconsistency leading to her predicament. While health officials implore residents to curtail social contact, tenancy legislation hasn't changed to reflect those orders.
"Viewings are the No. 1 concern that I've heard from tenants in the last couple of weeks," said Sherwin Flight, who runs a social media page dedicated to informing tenants and landlords in Newfoundland and Labrador.
"The fact that we don't have any clear guidelines from the government on how these things are supposed to work together is making that very difficult for the viewing."
He said landlords are also struggling. Alternatives to in-person viewing, such as video tours, don't paint the whole picture: musty smells and noise levels, for example, don't translate virtually, and could scare someone away from signing a lease.
Despite those challenges, Flight thinks limiting viewings may be the best option for the province to adopt.
"We need to look at it from more of a public health point of view," he said.
"If there's income loss by landlords or homeowners through this process, then we need to look at that as well. But that should be secondary. We shouldn't be putting money before the health of everyone else."
Flight reached out to officials earlier this week to determine what advice he could share, but wasn't satisfied with the answers, and says he couldn't find any guidance for the general public.
In response to questions from CBC News on Tuesday, a statement from ServiceNL confirmed that landlords aren't currently prohibited by health officials from showing an apartment to potential tenants.
"When showing an apartment, landlords should follow the health and safety precautions recommended by the chief medical officer, including limiting the number of people viewing an apartment to maximize physical distancing," the statement advised. "Additionally, an apartment should not be shown to a person that is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19."
'We're sort of stuck'
CBC News contacted Major's landlord, who said she was trying hard to balance tenant safety with making her mortgage payments. She confirmed she had agreed to alter the viewing process, narrowing down prospective renters with video tours and then requiring anyone entering to wear masks and gloves.
While Major says she understands the dilemma for landlords, it hasn't prevented her from feeling frustrated and powerless to insulate her family.
"My thing is, we have to be protected as well," Major said, pointing to recent guidance in Ontario that recommends halting all in-person viewings.
Something similar should be implemented here, she said.
"We have no protection," she said. "There's a lot of people out there [whose] immune systems are even worse than my husband's.
"If they've given their notice because they have to, you mean [to] tell me that there's no protection for them?"
She urged regulations given that the pandemic may last for months.
But for now, Major said, they have little choice but to open their doors.
"They are within their rights legally to show the house," Major said. "So we're sort of stuck."
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