Higher rent increases and faster evictions key asks in BC landlords' petition

More than 1,000 landlords in BC have signed a petition calling for changes to tenancy rules to make laws even more favourable for them.

The petition, organized by BC Landlord Rights, calls for higher allowable rent increases, quicker Residential Tenancy Branch decisions, a return of fixed-term leases, and the ability to increase unit prices to market rent even if they’re occupied by long-term tenants.

The landlords also want the provincial government to create a pool of money so landlords can recover unpaid rent from tenants.

“We strongly believe… that current tenancy laws are being abused by far too many problematic tenants for their own advantage,” the group says in the petition.

It argues that landlords are being discouraged from renting out viable spaces, which reduces the number of potential rental opportunities in the province. It wants landlords to be able to achieve a “sense of security when it comes to renting and investing in their properties.”

BC Landlord Rights/change.org

But Robert Patterson, lawyer and tenant advocate with BC’s Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, says protecting affordable housing is more important than ensuring the security of a landlord’s investment.

“Housing seems to be the only class of investment where people who invest in it have this assumption that they should never face a loss,” Patterson said. “If a bunch of shareholders were to go to the government and say, ‘well, the value of our shares have gone down and we’d like public funding to make up for it’, I think they’d get laughed out of town.”

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Patterson thinks some of the landlords’ requests were reasonable, such as speeding up the RTB decision process. He acknowledges some landlords may be frustrated with delays trying to evict tenants, but notes tenants were also waiting weeks or months for clarity on grave issues with their suites. Patterson notes delays ballooned after the COVID-19 moratorium on evictions expired, and wait times are now coming down.

But some of the petition’s other asks were more egregious, with a slim chance the government would consider them, according to Patterson.

The BC government did away with fixed-term leases in 2017. Those leases mandated the tenant leave when they expired, and landlords would often offer a current tenant a chance to stay but with rent increased far above allowable rates for continuing tenancies. Now, leases automatically roll over to month-to-month, and landlords must serve an eviction notice to clear the unit.

Bringing back fixed-term leases would be a “recipe for mass eviction and homelessness,” Patterson said.

“It changes the power dynamic so much. Suddenly somebody has complete veto over whether you can stay in your home.”

This also isn’t the first time landlords have requested to loosen allowable rent increases in BC. Right now, landlords are only allowed to raise rent once per year for a continuing tenant, and that amount is set by the province — this year it was a maximum of 3.5%.

The landlords’ petition says this isn’t fair because it’s less than inflation, but Patterson said increases need to be balanced with renters’ ability to afford housing. And doing away with rent control completely, as landlords sometimes advocate for, would destroy housing affordability, Patterson said.

The petition also requested to make RTB decisions public. But Patterson thinks that’s a bad idea because it could lead to landlords potentially blacklisting tenants who complain, and would dissuade tenants from launching disputes with the RTB for fear of finding future housing.

“People’s right to live in their community and have safe, secure, and affordable housing has to trump the ability to make money on an investment,” Patterson said. “Because it’s ultimately transferring more money from those who have less to those who have more.”

Daily Hive has reached out to BC’s Ministry of Housing for comment and will update this story when we hear back. An interview request has also been sent to BC Landlord Rights, the organizer of the petition.

What do you think of the landlords’ asks in this petition? Let us know in the comments.