The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) offers little protection to tenants in Nova Scotia. Our Act does not give tenants in Nova Scotia the same rights enjoyed by people who are renting in other provinces—and our provincial government doesn’t seem to be interested in changing that fact. A revision of the RTA is currently under way and we need to make sure that our voices are heard and that the provincial government knows that we demand that Nova Scotia be brought in line with other provinces.
The Tenant Alliance of Nova Scotia (TALONS) is lobbying the provincial government for tenant friendly reforms to theRTA. We are one of the few tenant organizations active in Nova Scotia, and we are asking you, as university students, to let the provincial government know that you are tired of not receiving proper protection under the RTA. Students can be especially vulnerable to landlords who don’t make repairs, return security deposits, or take advantage of them in any number of ways.
Some members of TALONS are also volunteers at the Tenant Rights Project at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service. As one of the few resource centres available to tenants to learn about their rights and receive help in dealing with landlords, our members receive first-hand information about issues that tenants are currently facing and the many pitfalls of theRTA. Many of the calls and drop-ins received by the Tenant Rights Project are made by tenants facing illegal evictions, problems getting landlords to make repairs, and illegally withheld security deposits.
TALONS proposes the following solutions to these serious and, unfortunately, common issues:
Security of Tenure
The current RTA provides landlords with unreasonable powers to choose not to renew a tenant’s lease. Landlords who receive complaints, repair requests, or quite simply want to discriminate against a tenant can choose not to renew the lease and the tenant has no recourse even if they have done nothing wrong. Most provinces have already recognized the importance of this issue and dealt with it by granting security of tenure at the outset of a lease. TALONS suggests that Nova Scotia follow suit and eliminate the five-year period of insecurity.
Repairs
Where a landlord fails or refuses to make repairs, the only option available to a tenant under the current RTA is to pay a fee and file a complaint with the Residential Tenancies Division (RTD). A hearing will then be scheduled and both the tenant and the landlord will be asked to attend. If the tenant is successful at the hearing, the landlord will then be ordered to make the required repairs—but the tenant has no way of enforcing the order. What this means is that the complaint may not fix the tenant’s problem at all, or worse, the landlord could decide not to renew the tenant’s lease (if they do not have security of tenure—see above) in retaliation. Manitoba has dealt with this issue by establishing an enforcement mechanism that redirects rent payments to the RTD thereby preventing landlords from collecting rent until the repairs are made. TALONS suggests that Nova Scotia institute a similar mechanism so that orders for repairs can be enforced.
Security Deposits
Most landlords require that a tenant pay a security deposit at the beginning of their lease. While landlords are legally required to return the security deposit at the end of a tenant’s lease, in reality, they sometimes withhold the money as it is already in their possession. Tenants are then burdened to pay a fee and file a complaint with the RTD to retrieve what is lawfully theirs. In New Brunswick, security deposits are paid in trust by tenants to the Office of the Rentalsman (their version of the RTD) and not the landlords themselves. This way, the landlord is required to file to keep part or all of a security deposit instead of placing the onus on the tenant who is often unsure of their rights or the process.
TALONS believes that these solutions are modest in scope and will not greatly burden Nova Scotian tax payers. These could be the initial steps taken toward a fair and balanced Act. With the development of the new RTA, we cannot allow the provincial government to dismiss these solutions and allow further inaction on fundamental issues of security in housing.
We are asking you to cut out the form letter printed here in the Dal Gazette, add your own comments and experiences, and mail it to the Honourable Ramona Jennex. The provincial government needs to know that tenants demand to have more rights under the RTA. Your letter will make a difference.
Sincerely,
–TALONS
If you are experiencing problems with your landlord or have any questions about your rights under the RTA, please call the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service’s Tenant Info Line at (902) 423-8105. You can visit them online at:tenantrights.legalaid.dal.ca
Also, support our cause by “liking” us on Facebook. Simply look up “Tenant Alliance of Nova Scotia” and you’ll find our page. You can also read more about our recommendations for the RTA.
Find a printable form letter at: http://www.scribd.com/full/44777035?access_key=key-1f87ypcvuqhrbwmydq3o
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