More than 10,000 Canadians received a medically-assisted death in 2021: report
Quebec Superior Court suspends Bill 96’s translation requirement until constitutionality determined
The Ontario government has given Maggie an ultimatum: the disabled teen can lose her funding or her independence
FBI took 11 sets of classified material from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home while investigating possible Espionage Act violations (US)
Ontario class action settlement reclassifies volunteers as employees, setting new precedent
Availability of Judicial Review in SABS Disputes
Are masking policies still valid?
Justice Canada releases commission report on impact of lack of legal aid in family law disputes
Harmonized sales tax part of maximum amount of attendant care benefits owed by insurer: court
New rules coming next month to help Canadians with cancelled and delayed flights
Stephen King set to testify for govt in books merger trial (US)
New law program in Quebec to begin next fall, a first in 50 years
The Impact of the Lack of Legal Aid in Family Law Cases
SCC rules that when someone is required by their partner to wear a condom but do not, they could be guilty of sexual assault.
Big Plastic suing feds over single-use ban — again
Tim Hortons offers coffee and doughnut as proposed settlement in class action lawsuit
The SCC has refused to hear the appeal to declare the renewal of the state of health emergency by the Quebec government invalid
Federal privacy commissioner investigating controversial ArriveCAN app
Kraken, a U.S. Crypto Exchange, Is Suspected of Violating Sanctions (US)
Ontario court certifies class action on former patients’ anxiety from notice of risk of infection
The stakes couldn’t be higher as Canada’s top court decides whether to hear climate class action lawsuit
Professor Barnali Choudhury selected by EU as trade and sustainable development expert
The Supreme Court decision on the ‘Ghomeshi’ amendments will help sexual assault victims access justice
AFN Reaches $20 B Final Settlement Agreement to Compensate First Nations Children and Families

Landlords must prove Airbnb conversions aren’t retaliation against tenants (NB)

Senior couple going through 2nd tribunal process after landlord sends notice of eviction.

 
PHOTO: Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson says the Residential Tenancies Tribunal would follow up to make sure a landlord isn't trying to get around the rent cap by evicting tenants and converting their space to a short-term rental. (CBC)
 
 
The province’s Residential Tenancies Tribunal is investigating whether a senior couple’s eviction to make way for an Airbnb-style conversion of their apartment is retaliatory.

The province’s Residential Tenancies Tribunal is investigating whether a senior couple’s eviction to make way for an Airbnb-style conversion of their apartment is retaliatory.

Last Christmas, a Fredericton couple received a notice of a 67 per cent rent increase. They complained to the tribunal, which decided the increase was too high considering the area.

This month, the couple are again facing eviction after they received a notice their apartment is to be converted into a Airbnb-style “short term rental.”

Pauline Tramble, 67, and her husband, Charles Tramble, 84, again went to the tribunal.

Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson said Friday that while landlords are allowed to change their business model from residential to tourism, the tribunal is looking for proof the conversion was not “retaliatory.” 

“The residential tenancy officer who is assigned to her case is looking into this,” Wilson told Information Morning Fredericton Friday. “Is it a retaliatory change? Is it a true change? Are the [landlords] acting in good faith or not?” 

The landord would have to have a plan for the conversion and follow through, she said.

Charles Tramble, 84 and his wife Pauline, 67 have lived in the same Fredericton apartment building for 33 years. New owners want to covert the apartment to a short-term rental. (Ed Hunter/CBC News)

The Trambles and their neighbour all received the notices three days after the New Brunswick government passed legislation to limit rent increases by 3.8 per cent and “protect tenants from terminations without just cause.”

After the rent-increase cap was announced, a video surfaced of landlords discussing ways to get around the temporary rent-increase cap. They discussed converting to short-term rentals and planning extensive renovations as ways to get current tenants out, so they can increase the rent as much as they want for the new renters.

Tribunal only investigates if tenants complain

Wilson said it’s up to tenants experiencing these problems to alert the tribunal. The tribunal will then investigate, and decide if the landlord truly intends to go through with the renovations or lease the apartments for less than 90 days at a time.

“These are the rules,” she said.  “[Tenants] have to reach out to us. We will follow up. We will make sure it’s being done.”

Wilson said the onus is on the tenant to complain, and not on the landlord, because “a lot of situations don’t require any intervention.”

“Often there is an agreement between the tenant and the landlord that, yes, you know what, there’s asbestos in the walls, I can’t live here. It works that all we require is contact from that tenant and that’s it.”

Wilson said if the landlord is found to not be acting in good faith, the province will charge them accordingly. This can mean penalties for the landlord and financial compensation for the renter.

The landlords’ defence

Willy Scholten, president of the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association representing landlords, said he couldn’t speak to the Trambles’ case specifically.

However, he said he would support a landlord converting a home to a short-term rental if that’s the only way to avoid missing their mortgage payments and losing a property.

He said it’s not acceptable if the reason is to maximize profit.

“If they’re getting extraordinary increases in their costs … if that is the case, then they’re fighting tooth and nail maybe to to keep the property,” he said.

“If somebody is solely trying to make an exorbitant increase, I would certainly not support that.”

Willy Scholten, president of the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association, says he can’t comment on the Trambles’ case, but generally he does not support evicting tenants solely to maximize profit. (CBC)

Scholten said the video showing landlords discussing how to get around the rent cap came out when landlords were facing 20 per cent increase in property taxes, and inflation on everything else. 

“Landlords are scrambling,” he said. “The costs were astronomical coming to landlords, and they’re just trying to deal with that.”

When asked about the imbalance between the risk of losing profitable property versus the risk of tenants losing their homes, he said the imbalance falls on the government. 

He said if the government is going to limit landlord revenue, then it should limit expenses as well, to “balance it out.”

He did not give examples of how the government could limit expenses for landlords, but noted it’s already helped landlords with a lowered property tax increase.

“We need to start to figure out how to decrease the cost of providing housing so we can make the rents more affordable,” he said.

With files from Information Morning Fredericton

Hadeel Ibrahim is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick based in Saint John. She’s been previously awarded for a series on refugee mental health and for her work at a student newspaper, where she served as Editor-in-Chief. She reports in English and Arabic. Email her at hadeel.ibrahim@cbc.ca


GOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT

Want direct access to the latest LITN content?

Stay in the loop ➞ Subscribe to LITN instant notifications.
Receive the latest content delivered directly to your device.
Unsubscribe at anytime.

Latest News

Subscribe

Join the LITN Newsletter ➞ the latest news delivered to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.


GOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT

Instagram Feed