How one woman challenged her rent increase and won

Judy Duffy didn't know what to do when she got hit with a big rent increase.

She had rented an apartment in the Cornwall area of P.E.I. for about eight years with no problems. But shortly after the property was sold, she was hit with added expenses that used to be included in the rent including internet access, grass cutting, and snow clearing.

Then in December, her new landlord notified her that the rent would be going up from $565 to $700 a month, effective Feb. 1, 2018.

I was a bull in the china shop and I wasn't letting go.— Judy Duffy

That's an increase about 24 per cent— the allowable increase for her apartment set by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) was between 1.5 and 1.75 per cent for 2018.

"It wasn't nice, it leaves you very unsure — the unknown feeling," said Duffy. 

"What happened to me is wrong," Duffy said.

Challenging the increase

Duffy, 63, paid the higher rent for a few months, then decided to challenge the increase with the residential rental property division of IRAC in May 2018.

"I was a bull in the china shop and I wasn't letting go," said Duffy.

She won her challenge and the landlord, Kayla Pitre, was ordered to pay Duffy $800 to cover the unauthorized rent increase and the costs she incurred paying for internet.

Pitre appealed, but in October the commission again ruled in Duffy's favour.

According to the appeal decision posted on IRAC's website, her former landlord altered the standard rental increase form to remove the section that outlined what increases are allowed under P.E.I. rent controls. 

'Rather intimidating'

In its decision, IRAC included the landlord's evidence that she "was not educated about the rules," that she was a first-time homeowner and renting out a property for the first time as well. 

Sometimes tenants don't know their rights and sometimes landlords don't know the law.— Jennifer Perry, IRAC

"I did win, and the decision was upheld with IRAC that they indeed had to pay me back my money," said Duffy.

"It's wrong to give someone a written notice, deface the form, take out the portion that says what the allowable rent increase is, and say if you don't pay this somebody else will. That's rather intimidating," she said. 

Duffy said the court-like hearing was an intimidating process, as was the language used in the decisions.

"Try to decipher the lingo in their orders, you would have to be a lawyer," she said.

Growing number of complaints

Jennifer Perry, the acting director of residential rental property with IRAC, said rental appeal hearings are similar to small claims court.

"We'd like to think that we're very user friendly," Perry said, adding that her office gets about 600 requests each year from landlords and tenants.

"Sometimes tenants don't know their rights and sometimes landlords don't know the law," she said.

Her office is seeing more appeals, she said, likely due to the shortage of rentals available and because people are looking for more time to deal with evictions.

Number of appeals has doubled

In the past couple of years, she estimates the number of appeals has doubled from six to 12 per cent of the orders issued by her office.

Perry said her office doesn't police or investigate properties to make sure landlords and tenants are following the rules. Instead, it holds hearings to settle disputes between landlords and tenants.

"We're a complaint-driven system," Perry said, adding the office tries to negotiate, mediate and settle matters when possible. 

"I always throw out to the parties, 'Is there any way to settle this matter?'" Perry said. 

"You just don't want to see people evicted. It's very difficult," she said. 

The P.E.I. government has recently requested a review of IRAC to see if legislative changes are needed to provide better protections for tenants and landlords.

Won challenge, lost apartment

Duffy said she believes tenants need better protections.

"If it's happening to me, it's definitely happening to other people as well," she said. "There has to be tougher regulations."

Although she won her rent increase challenge, Duffy lost her apartment.

Her landlord handed her an eviction notice in May 2018, saying she needed the apartment for a relative — one of the reasons IRAC allows for evictions. 

Duffy missed the deadline of filing her challenge of that eviction within 10 days, so she started searching for a new place to live.

She said as a senior on a limited income with a small dog, there were very few affordable options.

Most apartments that were available ranged from $1,200 to $1,500 a month — far more than she can afford.

She's staying in a friend's basement for now.

CBC News contacted Duffy's former landlord but Pitre said she's no longer a landlord and had no further comment.  

She has given Duffy the $800 IRAC ordered her to pay.

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