For Andrew Sakamoto, housing is the nucleus of everything, and in his role as executive director of the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, it’s something he deals with on a daily basis. The non-profit organization offers people free legal information on tenants’ rights and landlords’ responsibilities.
The centre hosts hundreds of workshops, educating tenants and housing advocates on evictions, repairs, rental increases and the dispute resolution service provided by the Residential Tenancy Branch. TRAC will be at the Bob Prittie Metrotown library branch on Monday, July 25, for a tenancy law workshop, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (It’s free, but register by calling 604-436-5400.) We chatted with Sakamoto for a sneak-peek on some of the most pressing issues facing tenants today.
Q&A:
What are the most common complaints you hear from tenants?
The two most common would be evictions and repairs. In B.C. a lot of the purpose built rental housing was built back in the ‘70s, so a lot of it is breaking down and in need of ongoing maintenance and repairs.
What are people complaining about? That they need repairs and the landlords aren’t doing them?
Exactly, that repairs aren’t being made. Part of the problem is the low vacancy rate and just how desperate tenants are. It sort of gives landlords a lot of power.
What’s going on with evictions?
There are a number of different eviction notices you can receive as a tenant. There’s a notice you can get for not paying your rent. There’s a notice you can get, it’s called cause, so anything to do with being too noisy, engaging in illegal activity, damaging the property putting people or property in danger. The other eviction notice is for landlord use of property, that’s one where the landlord or their family want to move in, or they want to do extensive renovations that require the tenant to move out.
What about renovictions, what kind of protection do tenants have against renovictions?
That would fall under the third type of eviction notice, it’s called a two-month notice for landlord use of property. What we’ve seen landlords try to do is evict tenants by saying they are going to do minor renovations or cosmetic renovations, throw on a coat of paint, to try to get them out of there just to bring in new tenants and raise the rent, which is illegal. Under the Residential Tenancy Act, the renovations have to be extensive, and they have to require vacant possession.
How do you prove that?
What we would tell tenants is to dispute a notice if they are suspicious of a landlord’s intentions here. With all types of eviction notices, a tenant has the right to challenge or dispute it with the Residential Tenanacy Branch. … The landlord is going to have to show that they have acquired all the approvals, all the permits to make those renovations. Understanding that you are allowed to dispute notices, and knowing the deadlines for disputing notices, is one of the most important things we try to communicate to tenants.
How much is a landlord allowed to raise the rent every year?
It varies every year, it’s based on a formula of two per cent plus inflation.
We have a lot of people being forced out of their low-cost rentals in Burnaby’s Metrotown area because the building has been bought by a developer that plans to tear it down to build new condos. What advice do you have for these people? What can they do?
If that’s happening, they are going to be receive a two-month notice for landlord use of property, so with that notice they are entitled, in addition to that two-months’ notice, you are entitled to one month’s compensation. So there is a little bit of protection there.
So one month of rent they will pay you?
Most tenants end up staying for the remainder of those two months, and they get the second month free. Say you find a new place right away, you can give your landlord 10-days’ notice in writing and move out early, and then you’re still entitled to be paid one month’s rent.
The entire region is facing an affordable housing crisis. How do you see the Lower Mainland’s affordable housing crisis impacting tenants you are helping?
Certainly we’ve seen an uptick in complaints about finding affordable rental housing. For years, TRAC provided mostly information on the actual law, … as an organization we made a decision to expand our services. So recently we developed an online course that teaches tenants, particularly first time renters how to find rental housing and to enter into a tenancy.
But if there’s no housing to go to and vacancy rates are so low…
I guess it’s a piece of the overall puzzle.
We exist more to provide education on law, not to build affordable housing.
What are you passionate about when it comes to housing?
Housing is the nucleus of everything. It’s so vital for one’s life; everything starts with your housing.
For more information on TRAC, go to tenants.bc.ca.
