Halifax’s Landlord Registry gets more Council Support
HALIFAX – Halifax’s controversial rental property registry has once again secured overwhelming support from regional council.
On April 4, Regional Council approved second reading of a set of new rules that update the city’s residential property standards and force rental property owners to register with the city.
The rules create new fines for bad landlords ranging from $150 to $10,000, change how inspections are done, and force rental property owners to have maintenance plans.
The city plans to hire four new employees to administer the new registry, which staff estimates will cost $340,000 a year.
Council was, for the most part, enthusiastic about the new rules and everyone but Coun. Paul Russell voted to pass them.
Living in ‘deplorable’ conditions
For the past several years, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been the loudest voice advocating for tenants’ rights in Halifax.
Hannah Wood is the president of ACORN’s Halifax Peninsula chapter. At a demonstration outside city hall April 4, she said the proposed changes have been a long time coming.
“We’re excited to see this finally coming to pass after years of fighting for this,” Wood said. “We’re happy to have had councillors be responsive to this, listen to the concerns of tenants, and listen to the overwhelming concerns they’ve gotten… from the wider population about the deplorable conditions that are in some units [in Halifax].”
Wood argued one of the most important outcomes of the new rules will be tenants’ ability to anonymously report unsafe conditions in their buildings.
“It’s going to allow people to complain about the standards in their units without fear of retaliation. And that’s a big one because, as bad as the issues seem, we’re actually only seeing a small representation of it, because so many people are afraid to speak out,” she said.
Right now, inspections in Halifax are complaint-based; if an inspector shows up, landlords know it’s because a tenant complained. That makes it easy for bad landlords to target tenants who bring issues to the city’s attention.
The new rules will change how building inspections are done, adding in routine inspections that aren’t triggered by complaints, making retribution to tenants much harder.
Lisa Hayhurst is the chair of ACORN’s Dartmouth chapter. She says retribution from landlords happens more than many realize, and that it routinely happens in her building.
She says her north-end Dartmouth apartment has persistent problems with mold, bugs, faulty pipes leading to roof leaks, dangerous outdoor stairs, and more.
“The building is just falling apart and any time you go forward trying to get something done it’s just pushed aside and nothing gets done,” she says.
She says property managers are disrespectful or unresponsive when tenants do bring up issues, and that many don’t say anything for fear of retribution.
“A lot of us fear retaliation and the company does tend to retaliate against anyone who complains,” she says. “If you try to complain confidentially, it comes back at you.”
Widespread support from council
Inside city hall, most councillors were enthusiastic about the changes.
“This is a good day,” declared Coun. Waye Mason.
Mason acknowledged the feedback council has received from landlords who have a lot of issues with the proposed rules, but argued most landlords won’t be affected.
“This will not impact 99.9 per cent of landlords and property owners; it won’t. It’s going to provide us the tools to go after the ones we know of, in every district all throughout HRM, that are pushing the boundaries and not keeping people safe,” he said.
He said registration will let the city “identify patterns and target certain types of landlords and certain property owners who are repeatedly violating the rules.”
Mason argued many landlord complaints, about things like the rent cap and the residential tenancy system, stem from provincial rules targeting landlords that the municipality can’t control.
Coun. Pam Lovelace put the new rules in the context of food inspection rules governing restaurants in Nova Scotia.
She said restaurants must deal with “a whole lot of government regulations, training, and work” to operate in the province. She pointed out that restaurant inspection results are also published online so people know who has broken the rules.
“I don’t see this as being any different,” she said. “This is about safety and security for people and the right to have a place to live that keeps them safe and keeps them healthy.”
‘A great lack of trust’ from Landlords
Coun. Trish Purdy agreed the city needs to crack down on problem landlords but was hesitant about this specific solution.
“This sounds like a good idea when I hear my colleagues talk but with the onslaught of correspondence I just had so many questions,” she said.
Purdy questioned whether the rules as written would create a “two-tiered system” because provincial buildings aren’t subject to the rules.
She also pointed out that many landlords don’t trust the municipality to fairly enforce the rules. They also don’t belive more changes (and expenses) won’t come at a later date.
“There is a great lack of trust in our municipal government,” Purdy said. “There’s a real feeling that this policy is really punitive.”
Coun. Paul Russell also said he didn’t like that, in some circumstances, rules could apply to some landlords and not others. He also was uncomfortable with the wide range of fines, and the seeming lack of clarity about how fines would be levied.
Landlords leaving the market
The biggest opposition to the new rules has come from landlords themselves. The Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) has been a vocal critic of the proposed new rules.
After council first debated the rules earlier this year, IPOANS’ Kevin Russell told Huddle they would make an already difficult market for landlords even harder.
“The fact is, our industry is governed strictly by the provincial government, and then, from an HRM perspective, we have bylaws that are in place now that deal with these issues,” said Russell.
“You have building code bylaws, you have fire code bylaws, they’re all on the books. And other than the fire law.”
He argued the current bylaws aren’t being properly enforced and said many landlords don’t have faith the new ones will be either.
Russell also warned that adding more “red tape” to renting out properties will only discourage landlords. IPOANS has warned the province before that issues like the two percent rent cap is already causing landlords to sell.
“The outcome of this of this legislation will mean a reduction in rental units because, quite frankly, rental housing providers are tired of being slammed with new government regulations that are hindering their ability to make a living,” he said.
Trevor Nichols is Huddle’s editor, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].