Victory for German Tenants: Parliament Passes Law to Cap Exorbitant Rent Rises
The German Lower House of Parliament recently passed a law to limit rent increases to Metropolitan areas to roughly 10% above local averages for incoming tenants, in order to prevent tenants from being priced out of the rental market. Since 2007, rents have shot up by as much as 30-40% in major urban centres. The exorbitant rent increases have a large impact on German households, roughly half of whom rent, and where home-ownership stands at 46% (second lowest in Europe).
“It’s a good day for the German tenant,” said Justice Minister HeikoMass.
Around 5 million properties will be affected by the new rule, though there are exemptions.
For the full article, please visit:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/03/05/germany-realestate-rents-idUKL5N0W72H520150305
Tenants Organize for Reduced Rent: Successful at Landlord and Tenant Board
The tenants at39 Riverwood Parkwayrecently won a significant victory in conjuntion with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO). The Federation, through funding from the Trillium Foundation, was also a part of this success story.
The landlord of a small Etobicoke apartment building decided to remove the balconies from the building rather than make the repairs to them that were ordered by the City. The tenants were only notified of this decision a few days before the demolition began. Once the work was done, the affected tenants got together and asked the landlord to reduce their rent by 10% to compensate for the loss of the balconies.
The landlord did not respond to this request so the tenants retained ACTO to bring a case for the rent reduction to the Landlord and Tenant Board. The landlord managed to delay the case for a few months, but eventually it was heard on January 13. Tenants provided moving evidence, in writing and in person, about what these balconies meant to them and how they contributed to the sense of community in the building.
On February 20, the Board issued its decision. Member Carey decided that a balcony is one of the “services and facilities” that the tenants were paying for and the removal of the balcony is a substantial interference with the tenants’ enjoyment. She agreed with the tenants that the rent should be reduced by 10% on an ongoing basis from the day that the balconies were removed.
The decision is an important reminder to tenants and landlords that tenants have the right to have their rent reduced if things are taken away that the landlord has agreed to provide and the Landlord and Tenant Board will enforce this right. It is also a reminder that these cases are most successful when the affected tenants organize and work together.
For coverage in the Toronto Star, visit:
“Juliet Balconies Wherefore Art Thou”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/09/26/juliet_balcony_where_are_thou_fiorito.html
“Tenants Seek Rent Rebate for Losing Balconies”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/15/tenants-seek-rent-rebate-for-losing-balconies-fiorito.html
AUTOMATIC RENT REDUCTION 2015: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This year, several thousand rent reduction notices are going out to tenants in the City of Toronto.
Go to the City of Toronto's website to learn more and see if you qualify for a rent reduction.
You can also call the Tenant Hotline at 416-921-9494.
The following are the most common tenant questions on automatic rent reductions:
1. Do I need to ask my landlord to take the reduction?
No. The reduction is automatic. You do not need to ask your landlord or obtain their permission. You can simply pay them less when you pay your rent. The reduction applies to all charges for services and facilities, such as parking. .
2. My landlord is not giving me the reduction. How can I get them to do so?
Your landlord does not give you the reduction, the reduction is automatic. You can simply reduce the money off your rent and you do not have to ask their approval.
3. The notice I got says that my rent has been reduced to $800, is this true?
There is an example in the notice which assumes a rent of $800. This is only an example. Your reduction is based off of whatever your rent was last month.
4. How do I calculate what my new rent is?
There are several ways to calculate your new rent.
a) You can call the Tenant Hotline at 416-921-9494 and we can do the calculation for you.
b) Use the hand written formula available on your rent reduction notice.
c) If you have a calculator with a % button, you can simply punch in your current rent, hit the minus button, punch in the reduction percentage and hit the % button.
d) Go to the City's rent reduction website
5. I got notice of a rent increase a few months ago and notice of a rent reduction recently. How can I have a rent increase and rent reduction at the same time?
Provincial law allows landlords in Ontario to increase the rent once every 12 months. In 2015, landlords will be able to increase rent by 1.6%. Provincial law also forces all municipalities to reduce a tenant's rent when a landlord's taxes go down by 2.5% or more. It is quite common for tenants to receive a rent increase and rent reduction in the same year, and sometimes even on the same day. In these cases, a tenant's rent will go down by the rent reduction percentage and then go up by the rental increase percentage.
6. My landlord says that they will be challenging the reduction and I therefore should not take it. Is this true?
All landlord's are able to apply to challenge rent reductions at the Landlord and Tenant Board. They have until March 31, 2015 to apply, though the case may not be heard until much later in the year. Until the Landlord and Tenant Board says otherwise, you can take your reduction immediately if you wish.
You can also choose to pay your old rent and then claim your reduction (and any money owed to you) retroactively at any point in 2015. So you could choose to wait and see if your landlord will challenge the reduction before you take it.
Remember, you must claim the reduction before the end of 2015.
7. The Landlord says I have to give them a copy of the rent reduction notice before I can claim the rent reduction. Is this true?
No. The landlord received notification of the rent reductions in September. You are not required to give them a notice even if they demand it. You can simply reduce your rent by the amount on the notice.
8. The Landlord says the notice doesn't apply to me. Is this true?
No. The notice does apply to you. If you are a tenant in a long term care home, if you receive a rent subsidy, or if you live in a non-profit building, the rent reduction may affect you differently then other tenants. For more information please call the Tenant Hotline at 416-921-9494.
9. How do I check to see if I got the rent reduction myself?
All tenants can call the FMTA tenant hotline at 416-921-9494 to calculate their rent reductions. In addition, tenants can find out more information about rent reductions and search for their rent reduction on the City rent reduction website.
10. I have lost my notice of automatic rent reduction. Where can I get a copy?
You can phone Revenue Services at the City of Toronto and they can send you a copy. You can ask to be referred to the Revenue Services Customer Services line by calling 3-1-1.
For more information, visit the City of Toronto website.
NEW FUNDING ANNOUNCED FOR LEGAL AID ONTARIO
Recently, the Attorney-General, Madeleine Meilleur announced the infusion of significant new resources to the financial eligibility guideline for Legal Aid Ontario. By doing this, the government is moving forward on the commitment it made in the June 2014 Provincial budget.
The additional funding means that eventually over a million people will be eligible for legal aid, almost doubling the number eligible today.
The Attorney-General stated that the increased funding to the FEG will come in for November 1, 2014 with additional funding slated to come in April 2015 and April 2016. The funding increases will continue for between 8-10 years and will be applied to all LAO services including the certificate program, duty council programs and community legal aid clinics.
In light of our work with low income tenants, it is clear that this additional funding will improve access to justice and help us better serve tenants.
Thank You for Attending the 2014 Mayoral Forum on Housing and Homelessness
Thank you to the candidates, volunteers and most of all the attendees for making the 2014 Mayoral Forum on Housing and Homelessness such a great success!
The candidates responded to questions about the repair backlog at TCHC, greater enforcement of Toronto’s Municipal Code, the need for safe shelter space and community support for vulnerable tenants. The forum provided an opportunity to raise concerns around housing and homelessness while highlighting different perspectives to address Toronto’s housing crisis.
Although the elections are now over, we hope the forum which brought hundreds of people together, will serve as a starting point for an ongoing dialogue on expanding tenant rights and homelessness prevention.
Together We Are Strong!
HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT: UPCOMING 2014 NATIONAL HOUSING DAY RALLY AND FORUM
Communities across Canada will be marking National Housing Day with events to promote and raise awareness on the right to housing. Join the Right to Housing Coalition and the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario on November 21, 2014 in Toronto for a National Housing Day Rally and Right to Housing Forum!
This event is FREE!
To register:
https://acto-right2housing-forum2014.eventbrite.ca
Rally and Forum Schedule:
12:00pm-1:00pm:
National Housing Day Rally at Yonge-Dundas Square: Housing is a human right!
2:00pm-5:00pm:
Right to Housing Forum at Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square behind the Eaton Centre (wheelchair accessible) – moderated by: Angela Robertson, Executive Director, Central Toronto Community Health Centres
Panel 1 (2:00-3:00): Is Housing First the solution to homelessness in Canada?
Some say yes. Some say maybe. And some say we must analyze Housing First through a gendered, racialized, rights based lens.
Professor Stephen Gaetz, York University/Canadian Homelessness Research Network, and Professor Janet Mosher, Osgoode Hall Law School, will discuss and
debate the Housing First approach.
Panel 2 (3:15-5:00): The Right to Housing in Canada
There are many ways to build the right to housing in Canada. The panelists will discuss their advocacy work in the courts and in their communities.
• DJ Larkin,
Pivot Legal Society
(Vancouver), is counsel on a case concerning access to safe shelter as a basic human right.
• Phillip Dufresne, member of the
Dream Team
(Toronto), will discuss how they filed a human rights complaint against five municipalities in Ontario for their discriminatory by-laws… and won.
• Émilie Joly, Community Organizer at
FRAPRU
(Quebec-wide tenant organization), will talk about FRAPRU’s successes in organizing tenants and how to build this nationwide.
• Tracy Heffernan,
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
and co-counsel on the
Right to Housing Charter challenge
will discuss next steps in the R2H litigation and campaign.
Join us on Facebook and help spread the word by inviting your FB friends:
https://www.facebook.com/events/340129336160461
BALKISSOON: WHEN THE LANDLORD WANTS THE APARTMENT BACK
If you have questions about eviction for the landlord’s personal use or any other right you may have as a tenant under the law, please call the Tenant Hotline at 416-921-9494!
Opening with the case of a couple asked to leave their apartment so a family member of the landlord could move in, the article goes on to discuss the option available to many small landlords in Ontario to evict tenants for the Landlord’s personal use. The Landlord and Tenant Board ruled on over 1500 such cases last year.
Karen Andrews, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, says that the provision wasn’t used very much in the past, but that a growing number of long-term tenants have recently been told that their landlord plans to move in a spouse, child or caregiver. “Certain neighbourhoods are plagued with this ‚Äì Little Italy, the Beach, Trinity Bellwoods,” she says.
In many cases the requests are legitimate, and are a trickle-down effect of the runaway housing market. Many homeowners are choosing to maximize the space they already have rather than face bidding wars and the cost of moving. This can mean putting an office or playroom in a former basement apartment.
In other cases, landlords may use this manoeuvre to make false claims and induce tenants to leave. One contributing factor is that the vast majority of new rental units built in the city over the past two decades are in condominiums. In 1998, the then-Progressive Conservative provincial government decided that new rental units would not be subject to the same rent controls as older buildings. This creates a disparity when new condos and investors show up in previously unappealing neighbourhoods.
For many landlords a convenient work-around is to issue longterm tenants with eviction notices (claiming the landlord wishes to move in), only to subsequently re-rent the apartment to a new tenant at a significantly higher rent.
Andrews says that standardizing rent control rules across the province is the first step toward eliminating false eviction claims. Until that happens, “anyone who is paying below what the market will bear is vulnerable.”
To read the full article, visit:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/how-the-hot-housing-market-is-leaving-renters-in-the-cold/article21059114/
REPORT: THE STATE OF HOMELESSNESS IN CANADA 2014
** Stephen Gaetz, Tanya Gulliver & Tim Richter
------------------------------------------------------------
Over the past 10 years we have learned much about what to do to end homelessness –
the need to shift from a focus on managing the problem (through an over-reliance on
emergency services and supports) to a strategy that emphasizes prevention and, for
those who do become homeless, to move them quickly into housing with necessary
supports. The success of the At Home/Chez Soi project demonstrates that with housing
and the right supports, chronically homeless people can become and remain housed.
While there are still areas that need work – we need more robust solutions for youth
homelessness, women fleeing violence and Aboriginal homelessness – we are figuring
out solutions on the intervention side.
The one missing piece of the puzzle, however, is affordable housing. The decline in
availability of low cost housing (and in particular, rental housing) affects many
Canadians – young people setting out on their own, single parents, people working
for low wages and the elderly. It also contributes to the homelessness problem in a
significant way.
The State of Homelessness in Canada 2014 sets the course for ending homelessness in
Canada. We know quite well what factors have contributed to the dramatic increase in
homelessness over the past 25 years. Since we know what the problem is, we can
propose the solution.
View the full report:
http://www.homelesshub.ca/SOHC2014
2014 MAYORAL FORUM ON HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS!
Find out how Toronto’s leading Mayoral Candidates will tackle housing and homeless issues and make affordable, accessible and safe housing and homelessness supports a reality in Toronto.
Fixing Toronto's Housing Crisis:
The 2014 Mayoral Forum on Housing and Homelessness.
Friday October 17th, 2014
7:00pm - 9:00pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Christ Church Deer Park
1570 Yonge St. (2 blocks North of St. Clair Av at Heath)
Wheelchair accessible (at the Heath St. Entrance)
For more information, please contact: [email protected] - 416-646-1772
Forum sponsored by: Federation of Metro Tenants Associations, 1501 Woodbine Tenants Association, ACORN Canada, Brentwood Towers Tenants Association, Centre for Research on Inner City Health, Toronto Drop in Network, Wellesley Institute, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto Women's City Alliance and Tenants for Social Housing.
This event is part of the FMTA's 4th annual International Tenants Day activities.
What is International Tenants Day?
International Tenants Day is an annual event coordinated by the Swedish-based International Union of Tenants. It aims to promote tenant rights around the world while creating awareness of tenant issues.
International Tenants Day takes place on October 6th this year.
Next city council should address differences in rooming house rules across Toronto: committee
Councillors on Toronto’s executive committee have agreed to handle an explosive issue next year ‚Äì the possible legalizing of illegal rooming houses in their wards.
The committee on Wednesday, Aug. 20, approved a plan promising extensive consultation, including “tailored and localized” meetings, “in areas identified by local councillors and city staff as having rooming house-related complaints, such as neighbourhoods near post-secondary institutions.
Geordie Dent, executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, said illegal rooming houses are one of the few affordable options for many in the city, though tenants often live in “very, very poor conditions,” and cannot report violations to the city. “In cases such as Kensington Market, people can end up dead,” said Dent, referring to a fire which killed two men in St. Andrew Street rooming house in March.
But illegal rooming houses aren’t going to disappear, he argued, and a crackdown will only add to the “housing nightmare” lower-income tenants face.
There should be a general amnesty for existing rooming houses, legal or otherwise, and a moratorium on kicking tenants out during the consultation, said Dent.
For the full article, visit:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/4772271-next-city-council-should-address-differences-in-rooming-house-rules-across-toronto-committee/