Rule-breaking landlords and tenants could finally face fines as N.L. government revisits enforcement

The Newfoundland and Labrador government says it plans to plug a gap that has let landlords and tenants off the hook financially when they've broken the rules.

For years, no one has been responsible for launching court proceedings to punish violations of the Residential Tenancies Act with fines of up to $10,000.

The Department of Digital Government and Service N.L. now says it is "committed to working towards initiating proceedings" — essentially, figuring out a way to get those cases to court.

The move comes in the wake of a recent CBC Investigates story highlighting the issue and after years of lobbying by local housing advocates.

• CBC INVESTIGATES | He was wrongfully kicked out of his apartment. Why hasn't his landlord been fined?

Digital Government and Service N.L. Minister Sarah Stoodley declined interview requests this week.

But in an emailed statement, her department confirmed its intention to address the issue: "Specifically we are committed to working towards initiating proceedings under Section 51 of the act as warranted," wrote spokesperson Krista Dalton in an email to CBC News.

Section 51 deals with fines for contraventions of the law.

Those potential financial penalties were jacked up in 2018, to deter people from breaking the rules.

However, CBC Investigates has no evidence that anyone has ever been fined — largely because no one in the government is dedicated to bringing those cases to court to make that happen.

Advocates who have been pushing the government to fix that apparent oversight are happy that action is in the works.

"It's exciting to finally hear that it's something that they are going to take on, because I think that was a big gap in the system that we currently have," Sherwin Flight, administrator of the Newfoundland Tenant and Landlord Support Group, told CBC News this week.

"We still have to wait for the work to be done and for this process to start. And I'm hoping — fingers crossed — that it'll be a deterrent for some of the significant violations of the law that we see on a fairly regular basis."

The department cited concerns expressed by Flight, and others in the community, in "re-evaluating" its role.

Flight met with officials on Dec. 7, just weeks after a CBC Investigates report on the situation.

That re-evaulation includes reviewing the powers of inspectors under the act, and deciding how to best implement changes.

Officials cautioned that all of this is in the very early stages — the review and implementation will likely take some time.

Flight says he was told "there was a fair bit of work to do on their end to make this happen."

But he believes putting teeth in the penalty provisions would have a big impact.

"Basically, from our point of view, if there's no deterrent in a law, people won't follow it," Flight said.

"And we've seen for many years now, on both sides, landlords and tenants just make a habit of breaking the rules because they know nothing will really happen. So this is a great step forward in terms of holding people accountable for their actions."

Recent case shone light on gap in system

The gap in enforcement was brought into sharp focus in the case of Allan Kitonsa, a newcomer to Canada.

Kitonsa was paying his rent for a room near downtown St. John's and had a written agreement with his landlord.

But he was moved without notice to another rental property that he would describe at a residential tenancies tribunal as "so bad he wouldn't let a dog stay there."

His personal belongings were brought to a third address — on the other side of town. 

The adjudicator who heard the case sided with Kitonsa, finding that the landlord "acted with complete disregard to the rules and regulations under [the provincial Residential Tenancies Act] and with absolute disregard for the tenant's rights."

Kitonsa's representative at the hearing called the case "an egregious contravention of the act" and asked for fines to be imposed on top of an order to pay $2,000 in rent and other damages.

But the adjudicator said they couldn't do that because the tribunal doesn't have the authority to levy fines outlined under Section 51 of the legislation.

Minister said 'anyone' can bring case to court

In an interview two months ago, Stoodley defended the process.

She said "anyone" can lay an information that would work its way through the court system, and that court process would decide whether fines would be imposed.

But at the time, the minister could not say whether that had ever happened.

"We have laws, and I'm responsible for 176 pieces of legislation and regulations, and I would imagine most if not all of those have fines built in," Stoodley said. 

"The principle of having the law is, just because no fines have been levied — and I can't speak in this case if fines have been levied or not, because that would be up to the court system — and so having a law and having a fine, not having ever administered the fine doesn't defeat the purpose of having the law."

According to documents since released through access-to-information legislation, the department has been aware of the issue for some time.

Flight sent a petition to Stoodley in the fall of 2022, and corresponded with her about it.

"Thank you, Sherwin, you make excellent arguments," Stoodley wrote in November 2022.

"I will reflect on and consider your advice here."

Internal correspondence last year showed confusion between the departments of Service N.L. and Justice about the issue.

Dozens of pages of legal advice were redacted from the documents made public.

Now Service N.L. says it has taken the lead on figuring out how to kick-start the process.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.