A petition decrying B.C.'s tenancy laws as unfair to landlords is "absurd," according to an advocate for renters.
Since it was posted online six days ago, the petition has gathered nearly 3,000 signatures. But Mariah Javadi with the Vancouver Tenants Union says the demands in it are the exact opposite of what is needed as the province continues to grapple with the crises of housing affordability and homelessness.
"I think it's pretty absurd to see landlords framing themselves as victims and the landlord-tenant relationship – because they're the ones with the power and they need the choice to enter it," she says.
"Tenants who can't afford to buy their own property don't choose to be tenants. We have no choice but to enter into these relationships with someone who has control over a very intimate part of our lives."
Several of the demands target controls in place to guard against rent increases, including hiking the maximum allowed each year, bringing back fixed-term leases and raising the rates for long-term tenants paying below current market prices.
Javadi says what's needed is more rent control, not less. One of the reforms her organization has been advocating for since its inception is vacancy control -- which limits the amount rent can be raised when a unit changes hands.
The ability for landlords to "jack up the rent to the highest number they can think of between tenancies" not only drives up the cost of housing but incentivizes unscrupulous landlords to evict tenants in order to capitalize on the current market conditions, Javadi says.
On average, long-term tenants pay lower rates than new ones. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in its annual report for 2022, noted that a unit that turned over to new tenants in Vancouver saw a rent increase of 23.9 per cent – far, far higher than the allowable increase for tenants who stay put.
"Theoretically, if you are a landlord that is acting in good faith and wants a good relationship with your tenants, you would want long-term tenants that you can build a good relationship with. But if you really just see yourself as an investor trying to make the highest buck, then, of course, long-term tenants are not ideal," Javadi says.
The petition also makes a number of claims about how difficult, time-consuming, and costly it is to evict "problematic tenants." This is despite the fact that B.C. has the highest eviction rate in Canada and that the majority of those evictions – 85 per cent over a five-year period – were no-fault, meaning the renters did not lose their housing because they failed to pay rent or otherwise broke the rules.
Javadi says there is no reliable data showing the true number of evictions in the province. They are not tracked by the province and only become a matter of public record if or when they are challenged by tenants.
"People get evicted every day in this province," she says, adding that the decision to fight an eviction depends on a renter knowing their rights and having the time and resources to challenge it.
"Enforcement of our rights is entirely reliant on us. So landlords can easily bully tenants into leaving so they can jack up the rent … I think if a landlord is complaining that it's too difficult to evict someone, either they're not doing it in good faith or they are just too incompetent to do it in the ways that all the other sketchy unscrupulous landlords do it all the time."
LANDLORD BC RESPONDS
The online petition demanding change to tenancy laws is attributed to the Landlord Rights Association of B.C. – an organization that does not seem to actually exist and for which there is no contact information.
The demands are not endorsed by Landlord BC, a long-established organization supporting small and large landlords.
CEO David Hutniak says that he is not familiar with the group that started the petition and only became aware of it days after it went live.
"We’ve always held the view that the vast majority of renters are respectful and responsible, as are the vast majority of landlords," he said in an email, adding that the organization believes the Residential Tenancy Act is "largely balanced" when it comes to the rights of landlords and tenants.
Hutniak did say his organization shares in the apparent frustration with the province placing limits on rent increases.
"Our sector is not immune to the impacts of inflation and high interest rates, both of which have significantly increased our costs to operate and maintain rental housing," he wrote.
He also said expanding rent control any further would be "devastating" to landlords.
"We view rent controls as a blunt and ineffective tool that ultimately drives rent prices higher because they discourage continued investment in existing rental and suppress the creation of new supply," the emailed statement said.
Landlord BC, according to Hutniak, opposes the petition's demand for a return of fixed-term leases, the proposal to make tenants' names public in Residential Tenancy Branch disputes and the use of social media or text message to serve eviction notices.
Hutniak says what is needed is not reforms to tenancy laws but rather a dramatic increase in supply that can only be achieved if an "abundance" of rental housing is built.
"We need all levels of government totally engaged on that front through funding for both landlords and tenants, and the elimination of barriers like permitting, zoning, and NIMBY-ism," his email concluded.
