In decision-making, the NLP performs complex calculations based on the income and various operating expenses of the building. These calculations can also take into account any increase in costs that homeowners face due to heating, community and school taxes, insurance, or major work. “When the owner arrives with all his bills,” we can see an increase that is much higher than the basic estimate, confirms Marjolaine Deneault. In the event that a tenant refuses the increase, the landlord must apply to the Administrative Housing Tribunal for approval of the amendment to his lease. Your landlord can ask the Landlords and Tenants Commission (LTB) for permission to charge a rent increase above the reference rate. If you haven`t received notice from the landlord about a rent increase or rent change, you can choose to keep your unit on the same terms or inform your landlord that you will be leaving the unit. The average estimate of the base increase is calculated from the proportions observed in 2,200 court calculations in 2020 and 2021. Table 3: Average Court Rent Increases from 2013 to 2021 The NLP website provides a calculation form that allows you to assess the acceptable increase for each rent by entering the required data. Although it is not mandatory, by illustrating the calculations and relevant data, this form can facilitate negotiations between the landlord and the tenant. The form lists the different expenses that the NLP would take into account. For the NLP to have a say, a tenant must refuse an increase and the landlord must ask the court to have the eligible increase determined. In the end, less than 1% of rents are valued and set by the TAL each year, recalls Marjolaine Deneault. “It`s a drop in the ocean.” Contrary to popular belief, there is no fixed rate for rent increases.
Several factors can cause your rent increase to vary. For example: New monthly rent after calculation of the basic increase These applicable percentages are not estimates of average increase. * This increase can exceed 2.8% if we take into account the increase in municipal taxes and major works. Average estimate of a basic increase with the addition of a municipal tax increase Example: a 5% increase in municipal taxes The notice of amendment, which aims to increase the rent, must state: “For all this, the rcLALQ requires that this burden be reversed,” she continues. As an example, she cites the case of Ontario, where there is a legal rate of increase. Landlords who want to enforce a rent increase beyond this limit must first justify it to the Landlords and Tenants Committee and obtain a special permit. “It`s a mechanism that works a little better” to limit abusive increases, explains Marjolaine Deneault. The Minister and the Prime Minister referred to an index published annually by the Administrative Housing Tribunal (NLP) that indicates what an average base rent increase should look like for the coming year. For 2022, this index is actually 1.28%. This is far from the first time the Legault government has claimed that there is a legal cap on rent increases in the province. “In Quebec, we are one of the few places in the world where there is a limit to the increase in rents,” assured the Prime Minister on February 3, also in the National Assembly.
In Quebec, lease extensions and rent increases are regulated by law. This means that a landlord cannot increase rent or change the terms of a lease at any time and in any way. The Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL; formerly known as the Régie du logement) has developed a model that allows landlords to inform landlords of a notice of rent increase and change of a different term of lease. Here are the average estimates of a fundamental increase discovered by the TAL: “You can check© with you if the rent increase is a bit like what might be necessary© in your situation, for example,” suggests Mr. Boutin. Even if many do not know it, tenants have the right to refuse a raise deemed abusive while keeping their apartments, recalls the spokesperson of rcLALQ. And even, contrary to what the Prime Minister proposes, a tenant does not have to go to court to challenge a rent increase: it is enough to report its rejection to the landlord within 30 days of a notice of increase. It is then up to the owner to appear before the TAL if he still wants to impose his increase. In most cases, the landlord cannot exceed the indicative values when increasing the rent. The Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) announced Wednesday the percentages that will calculate the rent increase on leases from April 2.
Here`s what you need to know. “We have a law in Quebec that prevents landlords from increasing their rents by more than 1.28% for 2022. Is that clear. This is what François Legault said in the National Assembly on February 22. “A tenant who has an increase of more than 1.28 percent can go to court, and there is a law that is very clear,” he said. And once submitted to the NLP, the eligible increases are not limited to the estimate of 1.28%, which François Legault and Andrée Laforest give as the upper limit. This estimate simply indicates the permissible increase to be expected for an unheated apartment that has not changed. “But don`t take that for granted,” says Marjolaine Deneault. From 2013 to 2021, the court granted an average rent increase of 3.1% in the cases heard at the hearings, taking into account the capital expenditure submitted to it. There have been times when TAL has stated that such a termination is void and that the landlord was therefore not entitled to the rent increase requested. However, it also happened that he declared the termination valid because the tenant had not suffered any damage due to his non-compliance. “It`s up to him to justify the increase.
If the landlord©has a record©to justify that he has done an extraordinary job in your home [or] that there are changes in taxes, the court could lean in his favor,” says Grã©gory Lancop, Ãducaloi`s lawyer. The statements of Mr. Legault and Ms. Laforest are therefore misleading, she points out. “In Quebec, there is no real automatic rent control mechanism. “If there were a legal limit to increases, we would not end up with the increases we see on the ground,” notes Marjolaine Deneault. In case you refuse the rent increase or changes proposed by the landlord, the landlord has 3 options: First, NLP`s standards for rent increases are not mandatory. A landlord can therefore legally enforce any rent increase as long as he manages to get it accepted by his tenants. “In Quebec, landlords and tenants are free to agree on a rent increase that everyone deems satisfactory,” the TAL said in publishing its annual figures.