Housing Minister Selina Robinson Photograph By DARREN STONE, Times Colonist
Landlords should no longer be able to use a legal loophole to get around rental controls and jack up the rent, Housing Minister Selina Robinson says.
Robinson introduced an amendment to the Residential Tenancy Act Thursday that would mean landlords can only increase rent beyond the allowable rate when new tenants moves in.
“It has been an uphill battle for people in this tight rental market to find suitable, secure homes,” Robinson said.
“Taking action on this unfair loophole was one of my first priorities as housing minister. And today I’m very pleased to say that our government has introduced legislative amendments that will fix this problem and give renters in B.C security they need, security they deserve,” Robinson said.
The change would eliminate most “vacate clauses” for fixed-term leases.
Currently, the clause allows a landlord to force a tenant to choose between moving out or signing a new lease. When there’s a new lease — even though it’s the same tenant — the landlord can set the rent at any rate.
In contrast, if a tenant stays on a month-to-month basis, the landlord can raise rent only by the allowable annual rate, which is established each year based on a formula of inflation plus two per cent.
The maximum allowable rent increase is 3.7 per cent in 2017 and 4.0 per cent in 2018.
If passed, the ammendment would only allow vacate clauses in certain circumstances: When a person might need to rent their home during an extended absence for work or travel, but has firm plans to return on a particular date; and when a tenant needs to sublet a rental unit for a set period of time.
The new rules would apply to existing lease agreements, as well as new ones.
However the vacate clause can still be enforced in two cases: Where a landlord, expecting their tenant to move out at the end of the term, has already signed a new lease with a new tenant; and when a landlord was granted an order of possession requiring a tenant to vacate the unit, but the possession order has not yet taken effect.
The vacate-clause change comes as part of a suite of proposed amendments to both the Residential Tenancy Act and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act.
The amendments would also streamline the dispute resolution process for returning security deposits to three weeks from up to six months.
If a landlord doesn’t return a security deposit, a tenant will be able to apply for a monetary order through an expedited process, the ministry said.
It also gives the Residential Tenancy Branch new powers, like compelling the production of documents as part of a penalty investigation and publishing penalty decisions.
asmart@timescolonist.com
