Real Estate

Tenant does not want to agree to rent increase

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  • Aug 13th, 2021 2:46 pm
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Feb 29, 2008
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kr0zet wrote: Where did the government say that renters don't have to pay rent? Can you provide me a source?
Both Ford and Trudeau. Google it. It's everywhere.

A lot of renters took advantage of this. That's besides the point. Renters have a lot of protections here and it will just increase in their favor...so expecting that the rent exempt buildings will remain that way is silly.
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JayLove06 wrote: Both Ford and Trudeau. Google it. It's everywhere.

A lot of renters took advantage of this. That's besides the point. Renters have a lot of protections here and it will just increase in their favor...so expecting that the rent exempt buildings will remain that way is silly.
You made the statement, back it up. Now your saying 'A lot' of renters took advantage of this, do you have a source for this statement?
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Earlier in the thread, it was mentioned that newer buildings are exempt from rental freeze but this link (from above) https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases says
Rent freeze for 2021
The Government of Ontario has passed legislation to freeze rent at 2020 levels. This means that rents will not increase in 2021 for the vast majority of rented units covered under the Residential Tenancies Act.

The rent freeze applies to most tenants living in:

rented houses, apartments and condos (including units occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018)
basement apartments
care homes (including retirement homes)
mobile home parks
land lease communities
rent-geared-to-income units and market rent units in community housing
affordable housing units created through various federally and/or provincially funded programs
While the rent freeze will end on December 31, 2021, landlords can give proper 90 days’ notice beforehand for a rent increase that takes effect in 2022.

Exceptions
Above guideline increases approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board prior to October 1, 2020 may be applied to 2021 rents. New above guideline increases may still be approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board and may still be applied to 2021 rents if they are for costs related to eligible capital repairs and security services, but not if they are for extraordinary increases in municipal taxes and charges.
Tenants and landlords can still agree on rent increases in exchange for an extra service or facility (for example, air conditioning or parking)
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kr0zet wrote: You made the statement, back it up. Now your saying 'A lot' of renters took advantage of this, do you have a source for this statement?
Ford's official message was (from https://www.cp24.com/news/tenants-who-c ... 760?cache=):
“No one will be kicked out of their home or their rental apartments based on not being able to pay the rent – it’s just not going to happen, we won’t allow it to happen,” the premier said during a news conference held at Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon.
...

“We’re going to get through this,” he said. “The landlords will get through it, but some people are going to face some tough times, but it doesn’t give a free pass to people just to say they aren’t paying – be responsible, pay if you can, but if you’re down and out and just don’t have the money, food is more important to put on the table than paying rent.”
But many tenants stopped listening/reading after the first statement, and took it as permission to stop paying their rent. And since the LTB was not taking eviction hearings, there was no ramifications to tenants that didn't pay their rent. Eventually, it could catch up to them, but even now, things are still backlogged.
https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/ ... o-pay-rent

According to a CMHC study released in January 2021, 11% of rental units in Toronto were in arrears.
https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cm ... 9b1d63cc14

Windsor Ontario was at 22%. The national average was around 6%
https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazine ... rgiveness/

As a whole, Ontario was 32% higher than the next highest province (10.2% in arrears compared to 7.7% in Manitoba), and more than 50% higher than the national average (6%). Vancouver (one of the other high COL municipalities) was only 2.6% in arrears, and BC was only 3.2%, so it wasn't just the high cost of living on Ontario that was a factor.

So yeah... It seems like "a lot" of Ontario renters took advantage of the situation. There was a lot of social media at the time, pushing the notion that renters could get away with it, and the government there twiddled their thumbs.

Sorry, got bored for a bit... :)

C
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CNeufeld wrote: Ford's official message was (from https://www.cp24.com/news/tenants-who-c ... 760?cache=):


But many tenants stopped listening/reading after the first statement, and took it as permission to stop paying their rent. And since the LTB was not taking eviction hearings, there was no ramifications to tenants that didn't pay their rent. Eventually, it could catch up to them, but even now, things are still backlogged.
https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/ ... o-pay-rent

According to a CMHC study released in January 2021, 11% of rental units in Toronto were in arrears.
https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cm ... 9b1d63cc14

Windsor Ontario was at 22%. The national average was around 6%
https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazine ... rgiveness/

As a whole, Ontario was 32% higher than the next highest province (10.2% in arrears compared to 7.7% in Manitoba), and more than 50% higher than the national average (6%). Vancouver (one of the other high COL municipalities) was only 2.6% in arrears, and BC was only 3.2%, so it wasn't just the high cost of living on Ontario that was a factor.

So yeah... It seems like "a lot" of Ontario renters took advantage of the situation. There was a lot of social media at the time, pushing the notion that renters could get away with it, and the government there twiddled their thumbs.

Sorry, got bored for a bit... :)

C
Don't apologize, thank you for the info. I didn't realize that rental defaults were as high as 22% in Windsor.
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kr0zet wrote: Don't apologize, thank you for the info. I didn't realize that rental defaults were as high as 22% in Windsor.
One thing to keep in mind is that the data in that study wasn't "comprehensive". It only covered
CMHC data captures purpose-built structures with three or more units, or roughly 46 per cent of all rental units in the market.
Not sure if tenants in someone's basement suite are more or less likely to attempt to screw over their landlords... I'd like to think people are more likely to try to take advantage of a faceless company than someone just trying to supplement their income to pay their own mortgage, but some people have no conscience.

My personal take (not that it matters, as I'm neither a tenant or landlord) is that landlords in most provinces got the shaft. Individuals and businesses both got supplements. Landlords (meaning people renting out their personal property) were lucky to get a mortgage vacation, but they still had all their other expenses to deal with.

C
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kr0zet wrote: You made the statement, back it up. Now your saying 'A lot' of renters took advantage of this, do you have a source for this statement?
Get off your ass and do your own research. It’s widely known. The government was reckless in their messaging and some renters took advantage of it. Not only is it all over the net but plenty of stories from landlords here who had tenants that simply stopped paying. And since it’s very difficult to recoup unpaid rent many landlords got screwed.

Took 3 seconds.

https://www.cp24.com/news/tenants-who-c ... 760?cache=

https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/small- ... oronavirus

https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/coronav ... ds-2429700

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/0 ... ent-strike
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senator10 wrote:
I think it will happen eventually, and there's really no basis for a legal challenge. But it will be something like in 2030, rent control only applies to buildings completed pre-2028. By then builder's will have made their profits and can move on, and with landlords, it's like any other business...investor beware of the PESTEL factors before investing.
rob444 wrote: Have they? From what I recall, pre-2018 there was only rent control on units built before 1991. Then in 2017, Wynne's Liberals pushed though their rent control policy which forced rent control to everyone. There was no grandfathering for any landlord with existing units. So someone that had just built a new unit in 2016 under no-rent-control rules, now had rent control policy forced on them. Please correct if I'm wrong here.

So similarly I see no reason why a future Premier can't simply force rent control back onto everyone again, and simply remove the "Nov 2018" exemption. Not sure if there is any basis for lawsuits by investors based on government policy changes in this area.
Will be an interesting topic in the next few months as we get close to election time.
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CNeufeld wrote: Not sure if tenants in someone's basement suite are more or less likely to attempt to screw over their landlords... I'd like to think people are more likely to try to take advantage of a faceless company than someone just trying to supplement their income to pay their own mortgage, but some people have no conscience.
You could look at it the other way - that someone trying to make some side income renting out a basement or a tiny investment condo is more likely to get messed around (not know what forms to use, what their lease should say, what they're allowed to do and not allowed to do) than a faceless corporation which probably has the "what to do if someone isn't paying" process fine-tuned with legal advice of what loopholes they can make use of etc. At the end of the day it's a business, and generally the people who treat it casually are going to lose out compared to those who are 100% business.
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kangarooz wrote: Will be an interesting topic in the next few months as we get close to election time.
Can’t wait to see the promises coming from the left. Probably give tan ants part ownership of the property thryre renting.

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