Opening Doors to Renting Reform Consultation Submission by QAI
Recommendations
- Lessors must provide a statutorily mandated reason to end a tenancy.
- Prohibit the use of ‘end of fixed term’ notices to leave except for statutorily mandated reasons.
- Prohibit false, misleading or deceptive representations by lessors or agents.
- Stipulate pre-contractual disclosure of;
– plans to sell
– asbestos - Limit bond maximum to four weeks’ rent.
- Limit rent increases to no more than one per year.
- Pets less unwelcome in rental properties.
- No additional bond should be required or permitted, should the tenant keep a pet.
- Extend the jurisdiction of the Housing Appeals and Review Unit (HARU) to include community housing tenants.
- Social and affordable housing providers should be required to give their tenants grounds for all evictions.
- Extend the administrative appeals process to community housing tenants.
- Termination clauses inserted into RTRAA in 2013 that target social and affordable housing tenants are onerous and unnecessary and should be removed.
- Remove the provisions that separate the termination provisions for social housing tenants from those in the private rental market and extend responsibilities for social housing tenants. In particular, remove section 290A which unreasonably extends responsibilities to social housing tenants and reverses the onus.
- Remove the anti-social behaviour agreements (at s 527D) from the legislation. They are a form of indirect discrimination, in effect, if not in law, against tenants whose behaviour is a result of their disability.
- Where a tenant has since rectified arrears in full, a Warrant of Possession issued for rent arrears should be withdrawn.
- Remove provisions for immediate eviction and self-eviction in rooming house premises.
- A disputed rooming house eviction must be settled by the Tribunal.
- Extend the grounds for a tenant to end a tenancy agreement early.
- Tenants should be able to end a fixed term agreement with the prescribed notice of two weeks’ if the premises are put on the market or entry is made to show prospective purchasers during a fixed term agreement.
- Tenancy agreements should not be able to unreasonably limit the number of people who can occupy premises.
- The assumption in tenancy agreements should be that renters are able to keep pets as long as they are not in breach of any law or by-law.