Tenants' rights advocate says Saint John case highlights 'absurdity' of province's rules

A tenants' rights advocate says a bizarre series of letters that announced a rent increase, then cancelled it, then reinstated it illustrates how badly the New Brunswick system needs to be improved.

"What happened in this situation shows the absurdity of the system under which we are living," said Aditya Rao, a member of the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights. 

He said renters in New Brunswick have some of the worst protections in Canada. 

And even when they win a fight, as they did in a recent Saint John case, they ultimately lose. 

Courtney Pyrke is one of the tenants affected. 

Pyrke found a letter slipped under their door on July 30. It stated simply that the building had been sold and rent was going up by $100 effective Nov. 1 — from $1,300 to $1,400. It was signed "Management." 

"So when I got this letter, I was like, this doesn't seem legit and doesn't seem like anything I've ever received from [the property management company]," said Pyrke. 

"So right away, I called them just to confirm that it was from them and not just some random person who slipped a letter under my door."

Pyrke was assured the letter wasn't from the company and thought that was the end of it. 

Then, on Aug. 3, all tenants of the Mitchell Street complex were sent a letter by the property management company, which said the original letter had not been sent by them, but by the current owner, Viva Development, on behalf of a potential new buyer. 

The letter explained that the management company thought the increase was "unjust" and that the original letter did not meet the criteria set out in the Residential Tenancies Act for notification of a rent increase. 

"These letters are not valid and can be discarded," said the management company. 

Rao said the law is very clear about what is required when notifying renters about an increase. He said the letter from the owner did not include all of the criteria, including the name of the renter and the signature of person sending the letter. 

Rao said most tenants don't know their rights, and even if they challenge a notice and it's found to be invalid, the landlord can simply send a new notice that adheres to all the rules. 

"It's a hollow victory if you win an application against a defective notice, because in the end, your rents are probably going to go up."

He said the only recourse that renters in New Brunswick have is the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. 

We need ... a robust rent control regime so landlords can't willy-nilly jack up the rent on anybody they want by however much they want.- Aditya Rao

"Our guess is that the tribunal won't be able to do very much," he said.

Even if they find the first notice from the landlord invalid, the follow-up notice includes all of the required information. 

Rao said the example highlights "the absurdity of the system we have where exploitation of tenants is so easy."

He said there are also no rules governing how much landlords can jack up the rent. 

"They're free to increase it by as much as they want," said Rao.

"Our recommendations have been very clear. We need a strong Residential Tenancies Act that puts the right to housing at the centre of it. And that means doing away with all of this uncertainty. That means a robust rent control regime so landlords can't willy-nilly jack up the rent on anybody they want by however much they want."

He said tenants should also have better protection from eviction.

"Tenants have no idea at the end of their lease agreement whether or not they will be allowed to live there the next year simply because landlords have a full right to just not renew the lease agreement for absolutely no reason."

He said that freedom "doesn't exist anywhere else."

"In most places across the country, tenants have far better protections than tenants have in this province. And those are some of the basic protections that we're missing that we're calling for."

Pyrke contacted the Residential Tenancies Tribunal and provided all of the documentation in the Mitchell Street apartments case but has yet to hear back about what happens next.

A request for comment from the property management company, Leading Edge Property Solutions, was declined.

A voicemail message asking for comment from Viva, the building owner, was not returned.