Advocate says N.S. enforcement team for rental problems would help landlords, tenants

A provincial enforcement team for rental problems would benefit both landlords and tenants, says a tenant rights educator with the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

Lesley Dunn thinks Nova Scotia should consider the example of British Columbia and the success of its new residential tenancies enforcement unit.

She says the unit "takes a strong, deep dive ... where there's been chronic infractions."

"It puts an enforcement piece in their hands where currently in Nova Scotia we don't have that enforcement piece with our residential tenancies branch."

Dunn said there needs to be a mechanism to deal with repeat offenders. "Otherwise the system that we have in place does work, and it does work well," she said. 

Even-Har case points to loopholes

A recent tenancy fraud in Nova Scotia highlighted how a motivated tenant can live rent free by dragging out the eviction appeals process and then moving on to a new landlord when the eviction finally comes. 

Nadav Joseph Even-Har was sentenced to two years in prison, in part for two rental frauds which cost landlords a total of $15,300. 

A CBC News investigation found multiple cases in Halifax and Antigonish where Even-Har paid landlords with cheques on closed bank accounts and fought each eviction for months. 

Dunn said those types of circumstances can erode public trust. 

"We don't want that ... to take place. We want people to have faith in the legislation," she said. 

B.C. closes systemic gaps

Scott McGregor founded B.C.'s new residential tenancies enforcement unit 10 months ago. The former police officer and his four-person team step in when either a landlord or tenant is accused of repeatedly flouting the system. 

The unit tackled 106 complaints during the last eight months of 2019.

"We've been able to do some really good things," McGregor said. 

"We've been able to bring a couple of large property management companies into line just by conducting investigations and issuing formal warnings to them. They didn't want to take on the provincial government."

McGregor said Even-Har's case follows a familiar pattern. 

"We have similar circumstances here in B.C ...  where there are people that are super motivated for whatever reason to avoid having to pay rent.  And the system was not really set up to prevent people from doing this."

He said his unit can fine delinquent tenants for failure to pay rent. 

As long as those fines remain unpaid, the tenants are unable to appeal subsequent eviction notices, breaking the cycle of repeated fraudulent tenancies. 

He said the unit is also developing a website that will publish the names of everybody who was subject to an enforcement action. 

"Landlords can go there and use that as a resource when they're determining whether or not they want to rent to somebody," he said. 

He said delinquent tenants could apply to have their names removed from the website if they turn their lives around. 

However, "if we have information that they're continuing to contravene then their name would stay on the site indefinitely," he said. 

Landlords feel the heat

McGregor said the ability to fine non-compliant landlords leads to faster resolutions for tenants. 

He cites an example of a landlord who repeatedly defied orders to fix leaks and electrical problems in his building. 

"In numerous hearings there were orders in place for the landlord to affect these repairs, and the landlord was just refusing to do it," he said. 

"Instead of doing the repairs, the landlord started trying to serve notices ... to evict the renter from the house."

After the unit levied a $5,000 fine against the landlord, he's finally starting to fix the issues, McGregor said.

McGregor's unit can fine landlords up to $5,000 a day until they comply with residential tenancy orders.

If the fines go unpaid, the debts are sent to provincial government collectors, who can garnishee wages and place liens on properties.

But McGregor said landlords often mend their ways after a single phone call from the compliance unit. 

Benefits for Nova Scotia

Dunn said having a similar enforcement unit in Nova Scotia could have helped with a problem renter like Even-Har. 

"I think in that kind of situation it had value, because you had somebody who was a chronic offender," Dunn said. 

"But it works both ways," she said. "It's not just the tenant. It can also be the landlord. And I think it's really important to remember that there's two sides to this relationship." 

N.S. watching B.C.

A spokesperson for Service Nova Scotia said the province is aware of B.C.'s enforcement experiment. 

"We are in regular contact with our provincial counterparts and will be monitoring the results of the new program," Krista Higdon said. 

Higdon says it's critical for both landlords and tenants to know their rights and responsibilities under provincial law. 

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