N.L. planning to hire staffer so landlord and tenant violations can go to court
Minister says department will ‘take more of a leadership role’ in ensuring compliance
The Newfoundland and Labrador government plans to hire someone who will be responsible for getting cases to court, so that potential fines can be imposed against rule-breaking landlords or tenants.
That move could help close a loophole that has resulted in zero known penalties being imposed since legislation was changed six years ago, to bolster provisions aimed at deterring bad behaviour.
“We are going to take more of a leadership role in making sure that the act is followed by landlords and tenants,” Digital Government and Service N.L. Minister Sarah Stoodley told a legislative committee on Friday.
Stoodley indicated that officials “are going to start seeking legal action against landlords and tenants, potentially, who meet potential criteria.”
Under Section 51 of the Residential Tenancies Act, fines can be imposed for contraventions of the law. Those amounts were increased in 2018.
But a CBC Investigates story in November found there is no evidence anyone has been fined, because no one in the department is in charge of pushing cases through the court process. …[Read More]