What's Happening In Your Province
Categories |
|
|
2/26/2024 0 Comments Manitoba landlords need better protection, owner says, after estimated $8K in damage to Brandon property Source CBC
When Shirley Harkness walks through her Brandon rental property, she wants to cry. The walls and ceiling are covered in graffiti and pocked with holes. Piles of garbage, including urine-soaked adult diapers, are strewn across the floor, along with countless cigarette butts. There's drug paraphernalia, like small baggies, sharps packages and tourniquets. The doors, lights, fans and appliances have been heavily damaged. "It looks like somebody came in, threw a hand grenade and just ran," Harkness said. "It's totally destroyed." On Feb. 8, her former tenant at the property, who moved in on Nov. 22, was evicted. Harkness had been trying to evict him since mid-December and alleges the tenant caused at least $8,000 in damage. He paid rent for November but was late paying for December and January. Landlords need more protection to protect them from situations like hers, she said, and she wants Manitoba's Residential Tenancy Branch to make major changes. "The tenancy board does nothing for you," Harkness said. "It shouldn't be that ... a tenant has more rights in somebody's house than the owner of the house." Harkness had rented out her sole rental property for 4½ years without incident. She found a new tenant who seemed like a good fit — her only worry was that the property was not fully accessible, since he used a wheelchair at times. The tenant assured her the house worked and some helpers would look after him. The tenant was the only person who signed the lease, she said. But the situation became a nightmare the moment her tenant moved in, Harkness said. His "helpers" stayed with him, she said, but it's not clear how many people were living there, since they were constantly in and out of the house. The property turned into a "party house," she said, with constant damage and police visits. Harkness said there was even a visit from the Brandon Police Service's tactical team in early December. She started the eviction process with the Tenancies Branch in mid-December, based on damage to her property, failure to pay rent on time and alleged criminal activity. An initial hearing was held on Jan. 10, followed by an appeal hearing on Feb. 6. The final verdict was in favour of Harkness because the tenant did not attend, meaning he had to be out by Feb. 8. Harkness said the eviction process was frustrating and slowed by bureaucratic red tape. Her calls to the Brandon office were often rerouted to Winnipeg, and it was hard to talk to someone in person for guidance, she said. She also had trouble getting statements from her neighbours, since they had to include their names, phone numbers and addresses on any evidence she provided to the Tenancies Branch. Many feared retaliation, because the tenant would also get a copy of any evidence submitted, Harkness said. When asked about the eviction process, the province referred CBC to the Manitoba Tenancies Branch website for landlords. The office in Brandon, a city of just over 54,000, has two full-time equivalent positions — a client service officer and a hearing officer, a provincial spokesperson told CBC. The spokesperson did not confirm whether the office is fully staffed. Eviction hearings can be held in person at the Brandon office, virtually or via teleconference. The province says in 2022-23, the Tenancies Branch's Brandon office held 46 such hearings for the city and surrounding area. "I don't even know what that office is there for.… They sure don't do anything for you," Harkness said. "If you have to deal with anything, you have to go through the Winnipeg office." Avrom Charach, a spokesperson for Manitoba's Professional Property Managers Association, says evictions for reasons beyond failure to pay rent are difficult. "The jeopardy is huge for an honest landlord who ends up with a dishonest tenant, because one bad tenant not paying one month's rent could wipe out the profit of the property for years," Charach said. In certain circumstances — for example, the tenant causes "extraordinary damage" to the property — a landlord can give a five-day notice the tenancy is being terminated.But those often become "he said, she said," situations, Charach said. Video evidence can help, as can a sworn affidavit from someone like a neighbour, "because those hold more weight in court than an email," he said.But there may be fears of retribution if a neighbour or other tenant is called in as a third-party witness, said Charach. His advice for landlords is to conduct good tenant screening and make sure they have insurance to help with repairing any damage. Harkness said she did not have insurance on the property because she couldn't afford it. Melissa Wilkinson, an administrator with Vionell Holdings — Brandon's largest property management company, with around 1,500 residential units — said her company has a screening process that includes income verification and checking potential tenants' credit scores and references. Vionell Holdings still sees some evictions due to non-payment, but evictions driven by damage are rare, Wilkinson said. "There are situations where they do happen, but the majority of the time the screening does help," she said. Harkness wants to get her rental property back on the market, because it's a source of income and housing is in high demand in Brandon. Her three-bedroom, two-storey home is listed for $1,250 a month, plus hydro and water. She's fielding numerous calls about the rental, but can't rent it out right now due to the damage. Harkness is trying to figure out if she can get compensation from her former tenant in small claims court. "The laws need to be changed so that they're in favour of the landlords, not in favour of the tenant," she said. "If you get a bad tenant or a drug dealer … you might as well just walk away." Shirley Harkness of Brandon, Man., started the eviction process with the provincial Tenancies Branch in mid-December for damages to her rental property, failure to pay rent and alleged criminal activity. She says the tenant caused $8,000 in damages before finally being evicted in February.
0 Comments
2/26/2024 0 Comments Manitoba landlords need better protection, owner says, after estimated $8K in damage to Brandon propertySource: CBC News Shirley Harkness says red tape and delays gave tenant time to cause thousands of dollars in damage Shirley Harkness says a tenant caused around $8,000 in damage at her Brandon rental home before he was evicted. This image has been digitally altered to obscure a profanity scrawled on the fridge behind her. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC) When Shirley Harkness walks through her Brandon rental property, she wants to cry. The walls and ceiling are covered in graffiti and pocked with holes. Piles of garbage, including urine-soaked adult diapers, are strewn across the floor, along with countless cigarette butts. There's drug paraphernalia, like small baggies, sharps packages and tourniquets. The doors, lights, fans and appliances have been heavily damaged. "It looks like somebody came in, threw a hand grenade and just ran," Harkness said. "It's totally destroyed." On Feb. 8, her former tenant at the property, who moved in on Nov. 22, was evicted. Harkness had been trying to evict him since mid-December and alleges the tenant caused at least $8,000 in damage. He paid rent for November but was late paying for December and January. Landlords need more protection to protect them from situations like hers, she said, and she wants Manitoba's Residential Tenancy Branch to make major changes. "The tenancy board does nothing for you," Harkness said. "It shouldn't be that ... a tenant has more rights in somebody's house than the owner of the house." Harkness had rented out her sole rental property for 4½ years without incident. She found a new tenant who seemed like a good fit — her only worry was that the property was not fully accessible, since he used a wheelchair at times. The tenant assured her the house worked and some helpers would look after him. The tenant was the only person who signed the lease, she said. But the situation became a nightmare the moment her tenant moved in, Harkness said. His "helpers" stayed with him, she said, but it's not clear how many people were living there, since they were constantly in and out of the house. The property turned into a "party house," she said, with constant damage and police visits. Harkness said there was even a visit from the Brandon Police Service's tactical team in early December. She started the eviction process with the Tenancies Branch in mid-December, based on damage to her property, failure to pay rent on time and alleged criminal activity. An initial hearing was held on Jan. 10, followed by an appeal hearing on Feb. 6. The final verdict was in favour of Harkness because the tenant did not attend, meaning he had to be out by Feb. 8. Harkness said the eviction process was frustrating and slowed by bureaucratic red tape. Her calls to the Brandon office were often rerouted to Winnipeg, and it was hard to talk to someone in person for guidance, she said. She also had trouble getting statements from her neighbours, since they had to include their names, phone numbers and addresses on any evidence she provided to the Tenancies Branch. Many feared retaliation, because the tenant would also get a copy of any evidence submitted, Harkness said. Evictions challenging When asked about the eviction process, the province referred CBC to the Manitoba Tenancies Branch website for landlords. The office in Brandon, a city of just over 54,000, has two full-time equivalent positions — a client service officer and a hearing officer, a provincial spokesperson told CBC. The spokesperson did not confirm whether the office is fully staffed. Eviction hearings can be held in person at the Brandon office, virtually or via teleconference. The province says in 2022-23, the Tenancies Branch's Brandon office held 46 such hearings for the city and surrounding area. "I don't even know what that office is there for.… They sure don't do anything for you," Harkness said. "If you have to deal with anything, you have to go through the Winnipeg office." Avrom Charach, a spokesperson for Manitoba's Professional Property Managers Association, says evictions for reasons beyond failure to pay rent are difficult. "The jeopardy is huge for an honest landlord who ends up with a dishonest tenant, because one bad tenant not paying one month's rent could wipe out the profit of the property for years," Charach said. In certain circumstances — for example, the tenant causes "extraordinary damage" to the property — a landlord can give a five-day notice the tenancy is being terminated. But those often become "he said, she said," situations, Charach said. Video evidence can help, as can a sworn affidavit from someone like a neighbour, "because those hold more weight in court than an email," he said. But there may be fears of retribution if a neighbour or other tenant is called in as a third-party witness, said Charach. Avrom Charach says unless a tenant has failed to pay rent, it can be challenging to evict them. (Trevor Brine/CBC) His advice for landlords is to conduct good tenant screening and make sure they have insurance to help with repairing any damage. Harkness said she did not have insurance on the property because she couldn't afford it. Melissa Wilkinson, an administrator with Vionell Holdings — Brandon's largest property management company, with around 1,500 residential units — said her company has a screening process that includes income verification and checking potential tenants' credit scores and references. Vionell Holdings still sees some evictions due to non-payment, but evictions driven by damage are rare, Wilkinson said. "There are situations where they do happen, but the majority of the time the screening does help," she said. 'The laws need to be changed' Harkness wants to get her rental property back on the market, because it's a source of income and housing is in high demand in Brandon. Her three-bedroom, two-storey home is listed for $1,250 a month, plus hydro and water. She's fielding numerous calls about the rental, but can't rent it out right now due to the damage.  2/10/2024 0 Comments Notice to Move Sometimes, a landlord needs to ask a tenant to move because the landlord is going to:
When a landlord wants to end a tenancy this way, the landlord must give the tenant a written notice to move. The Residential Tenancies Regulation says that the length of notice the landlord must give depends on the vacancy rate (the amount of rental units available for rent) for the area where the rental unit is located. The branch uses the most current fall issue of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Rental Market Report to find the vacancy rates. Based on the current vacancy rates, the notice periods are as follows:
The branch uses the most current fall issue of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Rental Market Report to find the vacancy rates. Based on the current vacancy rates, the notice periods are as follows:
The 2023 report is available on CMHC’s website. Once you are on the webpage, please use Table 3.1.1 for Manitoba:
English: Rental Market Survey Data Tables | CMHC (cmhc-schl.gc.ca) French: Tableaux de données tirés de l’Enquête sur logements locatif | SCHL (cmhc-schl.gc.ca) Important Information – Sale of Rental Unit: If a landlord sells a rental unit and the purchaser of the unit wants to move into it, the landlord can give the tenant a notice to move. If the tenant is on a month-to-month tenancy and the vacancy rate where the unit is located is below three per cent, the landlord must give the tenant three months’ notice. If the rate is three per cent or higher, then only one month’s notice is necessary. Tenants in a fixed-term tenancy agreement must get three months’ notice that coincides with the end of their tenancy agreement. When tenants have children going to a school that is reasonably close to the rental unit, there are special notice requirements. To find out more about these rules, contact your nearest branch office or go to our website under Resource List and see Notice to Move – Information for Tenants. For more information on giving tenants notice to move, please contact the branch office nearest you. Source - RTB Manitoba 2/2/2024 0 Comments Short-term rental license applications open in Winnipeg, what it means for operatorsSource: Global News Applications for short-term rental accommodation (STRA) licenses in Winnipeg are now open, and may change the way some operators rent their properties. Starting April 1, the City of Winnipeg said STRA owners will need a license, for a yearly fee, to rent out their homes. The annual licensing cost for a primary residence is $260. Licensing is also available for up to three additional properties if they were purchased on–or before–February 23rd last year. Licensing prices for these work a little differently though, said Terry Cormier, licensing coordinator for the City of Winnipeg’s Licensing and Bylaw Enforcement Division. “Basically, what we did was we took the primary residence fee, and (multiplied) it by the number of rooms that you’re operating within your short-term rental,” he said.  Annual STRA licensing fees for primary and non-primary residences. Screen Capture from winnipeg.ca There will also be a difference in how long these properties can be rented out for. “Primary you can still rent out 365 days a year, providing that you’re there and on-site, but we’re only allowing 150 nights if you’re off-site,” Cormier said, adding non-primary residences max out at 29 nights per booking. In October, there were some mixed feelings about STRA licensing caps, after the city released a report with recommendations in February 2022. Cormier said since then, the number of licenses an individual can have increased from a total of two to four. “We are still open to having discussions with operators and our platforms. There will be some future opportunity for us to report back, and to potentially look at making any changes. But what it is now, is what the bylaw states, and what we’re moving forward with,” he said. Operators will also need to pay a five per cent accommodation tax to the city based on each booking. “We’re still working on the fine details of exactly how that money will be remitted, but, that will be coming very shortly,” Cormier said. “I think the first quarter accommodation tax payments would be due roughly around the July 1st date.” Cormier said there are several other rules folded into the STRA bylaw. “There’s some measures we put in place for installing and maintaining safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, and smoke alarms,” he said. In addition to these are neighbourhood livability and zoning bylaw — both outside and inside of downtown — requirements, and regulations around information that needs to be posted in various areas. For example, 24/7 emergency contacts, a general number to contact with issues, and STRA license numbers must be present in advertisements. Zero Tolerance for Human Trafficking signage, also has to be visible, Cormier said. “It was identified to us, really early, that potentially short-term rentals could be the avenue for (human trafficking),” he said. Cormier added it’s important that operators are provided with information that this does happen, “and we want them to be aware of it and to provide them with some resources to be able to deal with it if it should be happening within their short-term rental accommodation.” Operators must also keep records to provide the city in the event of an investigation, and adhere to rules about capacity, he said, mentioning there is “a maximum number of two adults for bedrooms.” He said a full list of requirements is available at winnipeg.ca. |
AuthorSite Admin Archives
September 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed