Montreal Seeks Input from Public on Rent Registry

The City of Montreal hosted another consultation on the Responsible Landlord registry to seek public input on the new regulations. These regulations aim to hold landlords accountable through having them register rent increases, repairs, possible infestations and more. Montreal has been hosting consultations on this regulation since the spring.

Renovictions, rent hikes and inflation are on the rise – all preventing Montrealers from accessing affordable housing in the city. Some tenants say landlords are taking advantage of the situation by providing tenants with subpar conditions to live in, while charging steep rents. Landlords can only legally raise the rent for a tenant by a 3% increase each year. However, if a tenant leaves, a landlord can raise the rent however much they want. This is contributing to unaffordable rents across the city. 

The City of Montreal put together this rent registry to have landlords document prince increases, renovations completed, renovations needed, possible infestations and more – requiring landlords to implement this information in an online system every 5 years. But some say every 5 years is not enough, as average rent prices are fluctuating month to month.

Recommendations made during this meeting included to proceed with the implementation of the Responsible Landlord registry and to reinforce the actions undertaken to maintain the safety, affordability and quality of the rental stock in Montreal. It was also recommended to intensify representations to the Government of Quebec to demand massive and sustained funding for housing and the maintenance, rehabilitation and development of social, affordable and community rental housing stock.

Other recommendations towards the rent registry specifically included prioritizing buildings to be inspected on the basis of violations for unsanitary conditions, to extend the application of Responsible Landlord certification and the rental register to buildings with 6 or more units, to significantly increase the dedicated resources and the number of inspectors at the Service de l'habitation and in the boroughs in order to reduce response times to complaints filed. It was also recommended to implement an awareness campaign with Montreal tenants – clarifying the objectives of Responsible Landlord certification, their rights, deadlines and remedies, good practices related to insalubrity, and that it includes communications in hard copy and to implement an awareness campaign among Montreal landlords to encourage adherence to the objectives of the Responsible Landlord and Rent Registry certification.