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For Immediate Release
March 28, 2024

Prime Minister’s renter rights announcement another attack on rental housing providers

Yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on renter rights is a one-sided attack on law-abiding, private sector rental housing providers.

The Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) noted that the province’s housing crisis has become worse thanks to bad government policy decisions like rent control, taxes and lack of enforcement for residential tenancies.

“Small rental housing providers in Nova Scotia are being forced out of the marketplace because they are losing money due to bad policy at the provincial level and lack of help from any level of government. This reality is creating more homelessness,” said Kevin Russell, Executive Director of IPOANS.  “The last thing we need to solve the housing crisis is more government policies that solely target rental housing providers.  If the federal government is going to stick its nose into provincial jurisdiction, they need to provide the same kind of support for rental housing providers.”

Russell said the Trudeau government’s proposed Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights should be extended to become a Canadian Renters’ and Rental Housing Providers’ Bill of Rights.  Individuals, organizations and businesses who are rental housing providers and their tenants need protection from tenants that engage in criminal behaviour, including non-payment of rent, illegal drug use and sales, sex trafficking; threatening staff and other tenants; and damaging and/or destroying property.

“Bad tenants can do whatever they want with few if any consequences.  Any Bill of Rights needs to give rental housing providers and other tenants the same rights and protections from bad tenants as would be provided to good tenants,” added Russell.  “Rental housing providers must be included in any discussions on a new Bill of Rights to ensure the real-world experiences of those who provide housing are taken into account of any new federal-provincial-territorial measures.”

The Trudeau government’s proposed $15 million Tenant Protection Fund should be also renamed the Tenant and Rental Housing Provider Protection Fund, with the same levels of funding support for both tenants and rental housing providers.

“Many small rental housing providers are intimidated when legal aid lawyers contact them on behalf of tenants, many of whom are breaking the law, or tenant activist groups that organize protests and/or pickets.  If the federal government is going to provide tax dollars to one side, they need to balance that spending with the same level of support to those who end up being targeted by legal aid and activist groups,” said Russell.

IPOANS welcomed renters being rewarded in their credit score for on-time rental payments, so long as lack of rental payment or slow payment is also reflected in the credit scores.

“Fair is fair.  Good tenants deserve a hand up.  Bad tenants deserve to be held accountable.  The reality is there are bad tenants who repeatedly abuse the system and don’t pay their rent, causing financial distress to rental housing providers,” added Russell.  “Any changes to accounting for tenant rental history must reflect the good and the bad.”

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Questions:
c: Kevin Russell
t: 902.789.0946
e: kevin@ipoans.ca