Reminder: APPEAL HEARING July 28 10:00 AM

For those of you interested, the Rental Increase Appeal hearing will be this Tuesday at the Residential Tenancies Commission

July 28, 2009
10:00am
Residential Tenancies Commission
1650-155 Carlton Street, Winnipeg, MB.

This is downtown on Carlton St next to the Convention Centre.

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During this hearing, the opportunity to present on why the above-the-guideline increase ordered by the RTC should be reversed.

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

CONFIRMATION of MEETING

The meeting with Jennifer Howard is all set up for 7pm at the Legislature on April 20 (Monday). The meeting will take place in room 234 on the 2^nd floor. All meeting attendees need to use the Broadway entrance and check in with Security. From there we can either go up the large staircase or take the elevators to the right to the 2^nd floor and proceed down the hallway to the South side of the building. If we have questions, we can ask Security to explain it for us.

NOTE: We'll need to give all meeting attendees' names to security in advance. If interested, please email 43roslyn@gmail.com by NOON Monday, 20 April.

RENT INCREASE information

Attention BLAIR HOUSE TENANTS:

Main Issue:

Shindico and landlords: Dr. H Fleishman, Dr. S Berger, Dr. H. Gelfant, B. Mickelson, and Soaring Eagle Inc. have applied for an “ABOVE THE GUIDELINE RENT INCREASE”.

They are asking for 8.8 % increase, which is above the government set rate of increase for this year.

What we are trying to do:

We are trying to gather evidence and show proof that this increase is unwarranted and that the guideline increase over 3 years will be equal if not more than enough for the landlords to recoup expenditure costs and maintain the building.

Explanation:

A landlord can apply to The Residential Tenancies Branch for an above the guideline increase if they can show that the guideline won’t cover their cost increases. A landlord must give the Branch information to support or justify a larger rent increase.

Step 1: A Residential Tenancies officer checks the information the landlord gives to the Branch to make sure they have everything needed.

Sometimes the officer may ask the landlord for more information. In the case for Blair House, this did happen and the Landlord/Shindico responded on Dec 22, 2008.

Tenants of Blair House were sent letters stating that the Landlord had applied for this above the guideline increase on January 15, 2009 along with a summary outlining their costs and why they were applying.

This letter also invited you to go to the Residential Tenancies Branch to review the application.

Step 2: As a tenant you had the opportunity to send an objection to the Branch when you received your rent increase notice. There was also a chance to see and make comments on the landlord’s application before the Branch sets your rent.

Some of the tenants did view the supporting documents, and some sent in letters of objection. (before Feb 2, 2009)

After the tenants look at the file and make comments, the landlord will have a chance to see and respond to those comments. The officer then reviews all the information from the tenants and landlord and issues an order setting the rents.

Step 3: What does the Branch consider before it issues an order setting rent?

When setting rent, the Branch considers:

• increases or decreases in operating expenses;

• capital expenditures;

• any changes in the services the landlord provides;

• the landlord’s deficit, if any; and

• any written comments or objections from tenants.

The order setting the rent includes reasons so both the landlord and tenants will know how the officer arrived at the decision.

Step 4: We are now waiting to hear from the RTB regarding their decision.

This means the RTB:

will simply issue an order for increase.

This means, the next letter from the RTB will state that our rent goes up by a certain amount. It may say 8.8 % or it may say something else based on our objections.

Step 5: We can APPEAL this decision. But we need to offer proof and testimony.

So several tenants met, and discussed what we could possibly bring to light in the appeal process.

The meeting minutes are available here.