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'This is egregious': Sisters shocked when Toronto landlord raises rent to $9,500 a month (toronto.ctvnews.ca)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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The landlord had told them he wanted to raise the rent to $3,500 and when they complained he decided to raise it to $9,500.

“We know that our building is not rent controlled and this was something we were always worried about happening and there is no way we can afford $9,500 per month," Yumna Farooq said.

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[–] 114 points 3 years ago (6 children)

Here in Norway ut is illegal to raise rent more than once a year and maximum by the current consumer price index. If the rent isn't raised a year you don't get to raise for that years CPI.

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  • [–] 57 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    There is a similar rule in Ontario, but it doesn’t apply to buildings built after 2018.

    This exemption was put in place as an incentive for more rental units to be put on the market (or to enrich developers and landholders, depending on your political stance).

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  • [+] 29 points 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago*

    I'm not sure that works. The idea was that if rent control was lifted, there would be incentive to build new units. Trouble is, the building didn't happen as expected. New housing starts even declined after the change came into effect. Balance is not going to give more incentive to build.

    Since it didn't work, we may as well go back to a proper rent control system. A proper one, not the completely ridiculous one that sees young, struggling families subsidizing rich retires that we currently have on those <2018 properties.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    There is no limit to yearly increases in the real world. You get a phone call from your landlord telling you that they want to sell/renovate the unit, you get the hint and tell them that you will accept a rent increase, then magically they no longer want to sell/renovate. Happened to me with an otherwise "good" landlord.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (3 children)

    In the Netherlands they can sell, but the renting agreement stays in place, so you can just stay there. If they want renovate they can offer to buy of your contract or they have to find you another apartment with equal facilities and for the same price range. A lot of these excesses can be covered by good legislation.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    Renter protection is very strong in the Netherlands, probably one of the strongest in the world.

    Used to be that squatter rights were also very strong but I believe that has reduced now.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    It always feels like the countries in that region go out of their way to put every roadblock they can in front of pathetic little schemer pricks who only want to rob everyone of every penny. Here in the US, the politicians go out of their way to make sure there's every possible loophole for corruption and morally bankrupt pieces of shit to abuse.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    It's similar in Quebec. Unfortunately this is only enforced by informed renters, so landlords often raise it much more than the allowed amount when someone moves out.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    There is no limit on what you can change the rent by between renters. Only what you can increase while the same person lives in the unit. The moment they move out its perfectly fine to increase the rent for the next renter.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago

    The landlord has to let the renter know what the lowest rent was in the 12 months before they sign the lease. If there is an excessive raise, you can ask the TAL to calculate a new amount. https://educaloi.qc.ca/actualites-juridiques/section-g-chien-garde-hausses-excessives/

    In reality, landlords usually leave that blank, and renters are wary of starting on the wrong foot with their new landlord. There is a custom of leaving a copy of your lease in the kitchen drawer for the next person to find.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    I would say it's legal but not perfectly fine.

    There is a vast difference between the two, esp when it come out of #DrugFraud 's office.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    These laws exist to protect existing renters against exploitation of the cost of moving as a negotiation tactic (since the consumer cannot easily shop between renegotiations, it is not a free market).

    These laws do not exist to implement fixed housing price policy. What you may be looking for is public housing.

    In my experience, a lot of existing rental law tends to be a pretty fair balance between rights of renters and very small property owners, which we should totally encourage. The problems arise with medium and large (institutional) property owners, that don't need the same degree of protection as small renters, and who leverage their size to bully. The laws should be updated to be stricter for large blocks of ownership. But defining that can be a challenge.

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