11/5/2015
Topic:
Issues with Loud Guest in My Apartment
barryprop
|
Hi Jane;
To clarify your question, can the landlord deny you from having guests, especially considering no vandalism or destruction of property occurred? The simple answer is no, they can't. "Reasonable Enjoyment" includes the right to have the full use of a rental unit for all lawful purposes. Having guests, boyfriends, girlfriends, simple roommates, visitors is lawful and therefore part of what constitutes "quiet enjoyment" & "reasonable enjoyment" of a rental unit. Despite what your landlord may feel, having visitors is within your rights, regardless of whether or not any other person is listed on your lease either as a tenant or occupant.
Let's look at a LTB case similar to your situation.
Cunningham v. Whitby Christian Non-Profit Housing Corp.
In this particular case the landlord served a Notice of Trespass to Property against the fiancée of the tenant in an attempt to prohibit the fiancée from entering on the premise or being on the property. The Court, in this case, held that the landlord's action "constituted a breach of the landlord's obligations to the tenant" (read that carefully), and the tenant was awarded a 15 per cent rent abatement for the landlord's conduct. Now, that being said; it is NOT being suggested you can receive money over your situation. The key point is you are within your rights to have guests, providing they are not interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of other tenants (not harassing or assaulting them) and that the guests are not being destructive to the property. As a tenant, legal counsel comes at no cost if you call your local community clinch for some clarification too. Hope this helps.
|
11/6/2015
Topic:
Raising Rent on a Lease
barryprop
|
Hi JaneS;
Always nice to see a fellow Kingston ian. Jane there are two things I would like to touch on here. Let's start with our initial question about rent increases.
(1) Section 119 of the Residential Tenancies Act allows your landlord to increase your rent every minimum of twelve months without opposition. However, there are some rules that come into play.
(A) the biggest one is the your increase can NEVER exceed 2.5% of your current rent. So if your rent is $1000 per month, it can not be raised to $1025.01 after twelve months.
(B) Every year a new rent increase guideline is released for the following year. For 2016 the approved guideline amount is set at 2%. What does this mean? Well, If our $1000 a month rent become $1020 a month, the landlord is within his or her rights and allowed to do so. BUT (big but here) if it is over the guideline amount, say it's now $1021 a month, you have a legal right to file with your Landlord and Tenant Board and dispute the increase.
Now, about that (2) the demands for post dated cheques. Section 108 of the Residential Tenancies Act strictly prohibits any landlord from asking, demanding, requiring (you get the idea) post dated cheques from a tenant. Actually it prohibits requests for any form of negotiable instrument. What is a negotiable instrument? Money orders, bankers cheques, drafts, anything similar to a cheque, whether immediately or for down the road. A rule exists against requiring only pre authourized debits and electronic payments. As long as you pay on time, you can pay however you wish and are not required to pre-schedule future payments.
Hope this helps
|