Reminder: APPEAL BEFORE MONDAY

IF you haven't already, it is important that you APPEAL before the deadline on Monday, April 27, 2009. (That's NEXT monday.)

You will have received a letter in the mail with the ORDER from the Residential Tenancies Branch that they have approved the increase. That letter would start out with this information:

All you have to do is:

1. Bring the ORDER you have been sent with you. You don't have to have a letter or any list of reasons just the Order so they can take a copy.


2. Go to 155 Carlton St. - it's at the corner of York and Carlton... If you know where Shannon's Pub is it's on the same block, just closer to us.
3. Go to suite 1650 - it's on the 16th floor.


4. There, let the front desk know you wish to file an appeal. They will give you a form to fill out at the desk, which involves putting down Shindico's address and details, and your address and details. It takes 5 MINUTES.
   
   
   

IF you cannot make it in person, the other option is to MAIL IT IN before Monday (if it's postmarked April 27th or before, it should still be accepted.)

• your name & address
• the RTB order #
• and a photocopy of the RTB order

Send it in to:

Residential Tenancies Commission
1650 - 155 Carlton St.
Winnipeg, MB
R3C 3H8)

Again, it's not necessary to write a letter with any particular details at this point.
The only thing you need to do is send in or fill out the form at the Residential Tenancies Commission. Again, for not very much of your time, you could be saving yourself a very significant amount of money paid in rent.

If you have questions, please email 43roslyn (at) gmail.com.


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Follow up email from Jennifer Howard

An email from Jennifer Howard addressing the issues raised on Monday's meeting:

Hi all -

It was a pleasure meeting with all of you on Monday. I wanted to provide you with the information that you had requested. Here are the questions you had asked me and the responses that I have been able to find:

1) What is the regulation with regards to applying for a rent increase to cover the costs of repairs made necessary by past neglect of general maintenance? Is there any definition of "regular maintenance"?

There isn't an actual definition of "regular maintenance" in either the Act or the regulations. The regulation states that a landlord's operating expenses can include the cost of renting, maintaining and repairing, facilities, equipment, furnishings and furniture to the extent that the costs have not been recovered from a tenant's security deposit or form another source. All of these expenses must be related to the normal or usual operation of the residential complex and must not be non-recurring or extraordinary expenses.

The Act provides that the director must consider whether and to what extent any increases in costs with respect to repairs and maintenance result from inadequate maintenance in previous years if the residential complex was sold in the last three years.

2) What is the rule about landlords applying the rent increase before it is approved? Can a landlord apply the increase before it is approved? At what point can the increase be applied?

Landlords who give the required three months written notice of a rent increase can begin collecting the proposed rent increase on the effective date of the rent increase even if the rent increase approval process is not completed by either the Residential Tenancies Branch or Commission on appeal. If the requested rent increase is not approved and the landlord has already collected it, the landlord is required to refund the tenants for any overpayments.

3) Is there a tenant officer that has this file with whom the tenants may speak and get more technical information?

The name of the officer who issued the Order is on the Order. If tenants require information that is not included in the Reasons for Decision they may contact this officer directly. His name is Rosaire Lemoine and he can be reached at 945-5722.

4) Is there a public document that lists the types of repairs that are eligible for an above guideline increase and the amortization period for each?

The entire rent regulation is at this web address http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/regs/pdf/r119-156.92.pdf

The specific regulations that deal with expenses are Regulation 8 (operating) and regulation 9 (capital).

I recognize that several of the concerns raised are more of a policy nature. Please be assured that I will be raising these issues with my colleagues, including the Minister.

Thanks for sharing your concerns with me. Please don't hesitate to contact me or my office if you require anything else. And please keep me informed on the status of your appeal.

Take care,


Jennifer


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Jennifer Howard
MLA for Fort Rouge
Constituency Office: 946-0272
Legislature Office: 945-3981
jennifer.howard (at) leg.gov.mb.ca

Recap: Meeting with Jennifer Howard

Several tenants were able to attend a meeting wit our MLA, Jennifer Howard, this past Monday evening.

The meeting was more in regards to policies and legislation and examining the process of appeal for tenants in general.

Ms. Howard was gracious with her time, and listened to each of us in attendance, but was clear that she was not really able to provide the resources and information for our immediate situation - the appeal process.

Still, some very important information was shared between tenants in attendance and also with our MLA.

On the topic of tenants’ rights and the appeal process:

• We discussed the difficulties and how little influence a tenant has during the appeal process.
  
  
• the issue of how tenants are allowed to access information – timelines for accessing documents being short and difficult, the inability to copy the documents to bring to outside assistance (lawyers, forensic accountants), and the timeline to appeal.
  
  
• the lack of access to resources and advocacy support that would allow tenants to approach the parties at a hearing with a solid case and appropriate arguments.
  
  
• we needed to understand what constituted “regular maintenance” and what could be claimed as “major repairs” to identify what exactly the landlord was attempt to recover costs for.
  

On the topic of policy and regulation:

• Ms. Howard spoke about the history behind the Residential Tenancies act, rent regulation and how they came about in response to inflation.
  
  
• These regulations were put in place to discourage landlords from dropping buildings and property that they felt were too expensive to maintain or keep. By allowing the application for increase above a guideline, they could find a way to recover costs in fixing up & keeping building in decent repair. This is meant to balance landlords costs to keep their buildings in good repair and reasonable rents for tenants.
  
  
• A residential advisory board made up of appointed representatives (landlords & tenants) is set to oversee and approve changes to these regulations...
  
  
• A regular avg increase in rent (below the guideline) usually does not cover larger repairs. 65% of tenants pay the avg guideline, 35% pay the increase.
  
  
• Affordability is another issue altogether from this.
  

Addressing these issues, investigating the “Advisory Board” and writing our thoughts and experiences with the process and sending them to Ms. Howard is something that several of the tenants are interested in pursuing in the long term.

In regards to our appeal, this is still something we are looking for help in building a united “case” for the hearing.
This is something most of us wish to address as it’s pending and time is of the essence.

The key thing is to appeal first.

Reminder: tonight's meeting with Jennifer Howard

1. Use the BROADWAY entrance of the Legislature (that is the *front*, so to speak). All other entries will be locked.

2. Check in with Security inside the front entrance, who may ask us to sign in & if anyone drove/parked in visitor's parking -- Security will ask for your license plate number.

3. Go upstairs to room 234 on the 2nd floor (using either the staircase or elevator)

If you're looking to walk over with someone, a small group will leave @ approx. 6:40 pm -- meetup in front of our building at that time.

Considering we'll have only about an hour with our MLA, perhaps we can ponder some of the questions we have for Jennifer Howard -- as well as any key points we'd like to make.

A few points to address?
- Given the fact she and other MLA's are very much *aware* of this situation as it currently stands (i.e. v. low vacancy rates, unwarranted rent hikes in massive quantities, and that current regulation/policies actually CONTRIBUTE to these problems) -- given these givens -- Just what is/will be DONE about it?

- What are the challenges/obstacles to effecting this change?

- What can we do to help our current situation?

Please keep in mind the point of the meeting is to gather more info on how to approach this appeal and what resources we may have access to.