Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. to ban some 'personal use' evictions, stop rent increases over new children

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Apr, 2024 05:28 PM
  • B.C. to ban some 'personal use' evictions, stop rent increases over new children

The British Columbia government is changing rental laws to stop bad-faith evictions, protect families who have had a child and help landlords with problematic tenants. 

Premier David Eby said the government is seeing more landlords invoke the "personal use" rule, which allows them or their family to move into a unit, as an excuse to evict long-term tenants paying lower rents.

"We also know that there's a significant number of people in the province that are paying below market rents, they're protected by our limits on rent increases," Eby said.

"There is a huge temptation on the part of some landlords to evict those tenants and replace them with another tenant who would be paying a much higher market rate."

Legislation introduced Tuesday would force landlords who use the rule to live in the unit for a year before listing it for rent again, and require owners to use a new web portal to generate eviction notices for personal use cases, so the government can collect data on how often these evictions happen.

The new legislation would ban evictions for personal use in purpose-built rental buildings that have five or more units.

The legislation will also increase the amount of time a tenant has to dispute a personal-use eviction to 30 days

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said people on fixed incomes, like seniors, can be at risk of homelessness if they are forced out of their low-rent units and have to search for a new place.

"It's a real concern that we're seeing more seniors being evicted from long term tenancies who are finding themselves trying to get in the market and finding only very expensive affordable units available for them," he said.

"And many of them finding themselves in very precarious housing situations because of it."

If passed, the laws will also prohibit landlords from increasing rent just because a child has been added to a household, even if the tenancy agreement says rent will increase when there's a new occupant. 

The government is also promising to clarify the criteria for evicting problematic tenants and "flexibility" in addressing those cases.

In addition, the province is resolving rental disputes faster, with wait times at the Residential Tenancy Branch reduced from 10.5 weeks in February 2023 to five weeks this February. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

$115 M funding deal could help build 40,000 homes in Vancouver over decade: Trudeau

$115 M funding deal could help build 40,000 homes in Vancouver over decade: Trudeau
The announcement came on Friday after the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said housing starts in Canada fell 22 per cent in November, with starts down 39 per cent in Vancouver. Fraser said of the Vancouver deal that the cash from the government's Housing Accelerator Fund would cut barriers to building homes and "incentivize changes" at the municipal level

$115 M funding deal could help build 40,000 homes in Vancouver over decade: Trudeau

Assault charge for RCMP sergeant over alleged incident at Coquitlam detachment

Assault charge for RCMP sergeant over alleged incident at Coquitlam detachment
An RCMP officer has been charged with assault stemming from an incident in the Coquitlam, British Columbia, detachment a year ago. The BC Prosecution Service says in a release that Sgt. Antonio Guerrero Jr. is facing one count of assault after the charge was approved on Thursday.

Assault charge for RCMP sergeant over alleged incident at Coquitlam detachment

Online News Act funding capped for private broadcasters, CBC: regulations

Online News Act funding capped for private broadcasters, CBC: regulations
Final regulations for the Online News Act show the amount of funding private broadcasters will get through the government's $100-million deal with Google will be limited, with an even lower cap for the CBC. The regulations released on Friday say CBC/Radio-Canada will get no more than a $7-million share of the annual fund, while another $30 million at most will be reserved for other broadcasters.

Online News Act funding capped for private broadcasters, CBC: regulations

Finance ministers to talk housing, pensions and economy at annual meeting

Finance ministers to talk housing, pensions and economy at annual meeting
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland started off her meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts by saying housing is the central priority for many Canadians today. She says today's discussions in Toronto will include looking how to work together to build more homes faster, and crack down on short term rentals.

Finance ministers to talk housing, pensions and economy at annual meeting

Road closed in Surrey after passenger dies

Road closed in Surrey after passenger dies
RCMP in Surrey say their investigation into a deadly overnight crash has found the victim was not a pedestrian. The Mounties say one person was killed and another taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash, which led to ongoing road closures in the area.    

Road closed in Surrey after passenger dies

1 in hospital in Delta shooting

1 in hospital in Delta shooting
Delta police are investigating after a targeted shooting sent one person to hospital. Police say the shooting happened at around 5:45 p-m yesterday at 82nd Avenue between 110th and 112th streets.

1 in hospital in Delta shooting