Montreal tenant wins battle against excessive rent increases

A Montreal tenant is celebrating a victory over her landlord over excessive rent increases, but is still waiting for retroactive payment.

Laurie Sévigny-Couture has been fighting a reduction in her rent for three years after discovering her landlord had lied about the lowest rent paid last year.

“When we first visited the place, we talked to the last tenants and they told us, ‘Yes, we paid about $700 less than what he was asking,’” said Sevigny-Couture, a multidisciplinary artist.

That was the beginning of a long battle to get her money back.

“I thought this process would be very simple and similar to one process,” Sevigny-Couture said. “But because there was the pandemic and everything, and because he didn’t help by not showing up or showing up but with the wrong documents, the process took four years.”

Sevigny-Couture won her case and it is retroactive to the day she moved in. She says she owes an estimated $25,000. “And we still haven’t seen the money,” she said.

Quebec housing advocacy group RCLALQ (Regroupement des commissies logement et associations de locataires du Québec) says individuals generally don’t fight “because it’s difficult for many reasons.”

“It’s just hard to go through the whole process of getting the evidence at the Tribunal Administratif du Logement (TAL),” says RCLALQ spokesman Cedric Dussault. “If you win, it’s sometimes hard to get paid.”

The TAL, Quebec’s housing court, has recommended to landlords to increase rents for unheated homes by an estimated four per cent – ​​the highest annual increase the council has predicted in more than a decade.

However, figures show that rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Montreal has increased by almost eight percent in the past year, making it increasingly difficult for many people to find affordable housing.

“If you are unsure whether you are receiving a rent increase and are not sure whether it is unlawful or not, you can consult your housing committee and they will then help you see whether it is legitimate or not,” says Catherine Lussier, the coordinator from Le Front d’actionpopular en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).

“And then you can also keep your rent lower by refusing an unlawful rent increase.”

After the Quebec government acknowledged the housing crisis, advocacy groups FRAPRU and RCLALQ expected action to prevent excessive rent increases, but they feel the urgency of the situation is being ignored.

“Again, the solution in this case is quite simple,” Dussault said. “A form of rent control, I mean, this is a form of limiting an annual rent increase. It would therefore be impossible for a landlord to charge more than what is legally prescribed. And secondly, a form of rental registration.”