The past year has been a mess for both tenants and landlords due to COVID-19.
B.C. enacted a freeze on rent hikes and evictions that have hurt landlords, although I believe it was totally warranted as tens of thousands of people were thrown out of work and needed protection from eviction as government programs were added to help people survive.
Things, however, are stabilizing as vaccinations ramp up and more businesses hire back staff, but many tenants feel they are still being victimized.
I’ve been contacted by a few people in Burnaby and one in New Westminster who say they have been unfairly evicted under the guise of the landlord moving someone else in like a relative or a caretaker only to find out that this never actually ends up happening.
I had this happen to me about 10 years ago when the landlord said they were moving in their “elderly father” but I learned later that they had found someone willing to pay a lot more in rent. Luckily, I found a better place to live.
Others aren’t so lucky.
“I was evicted last July/20 in order that the owner (new since 2017) could install a live-in caretaker,” one tenant wrote to me. “This is legally allowed by the RTB (residential tenancy branch). I had lived there for over 30 years. The onus is on the owner to actually follow thru. It's called ‘good faith’. Well, low and behold, after I moved there was no caretaker installed. In fact, another tenant received the same type of notice 6 months after my initial notice. He has decided to take the landlord to arbitration to prove ‘bad faith’ - which is difficult to do. We as tenants need to educate ourselves concerning our rights as tenants. There are some landlords out there that will try and deceive tenants into believing that the landlord is justified in evicting us. Sometimes there are valid reasons, but for the most part the landlord wants us out in order to almost double the rent without serious renovations being done. (New Westminster) City Hall protects us now from renovictions (thank heavens) but some landlords are finding loopholes like the one I received. So be aware, share information, do not be intimidated, reach out to City Hall for advice and help when needed to address your situation. They are on our side. We need as many allies as we can muster to stand up to some of these landlords. Knowledge is power and then what you can do with it.”
That is a powerful message.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
