Montreal, February 15, 2022 --- The Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) can only be opposed to the announcement by the City of Montreal of its project to certify and establish a lease register.
For the Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ), a lease register is simply useless. Tenants are already protected more than anywhere else in the world. Moreover, the provision that aims to maintain the same price of the housing following the departure of the tenant must be abolished, quite simply. Protection is granted to the tenant in the premises, but in addition to this the tenant can ask that the rent be reduced to a lower price while he has freely negotiated and signed a contract, i.e., the lease! It is simply outrageous to trample on people’s freedom to contract, in this way. Only supply and demand should govern this type of situation.
If a dwelling is too expensive, it will not find a buyer and the price will be adjusted accordingly.
“We believe that the imposition of new obligations would only increase the financial and operational burden on Montreal rental housing owners. Owners will have to have their buildings appraised at their own expense!” says Martin Messier, President of the APQ.
“The rental housing owners would rather want the municipal apparatus to work with rental housing owners and not against them,” concluded the APQ.
The Plante Administration has held the Montreal rental housing market as a target since its first election in 2017.
“The role of an administration is to consult and adapt to the reality of its mandated city. An administration must be fair to all its taxpayers. The City has a responsibility to its taxpayers to ensure the accuracy of an expenditure, while here we are doubling the measures taken, since rental housing owners are already subject to obligations at the provincial level,” added Martin Messier.
There are already plenty of regulations and laws in force without having to add new ones by the City of Montreal, adding inadequate obligations.
The Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) and the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) already have the mandate to supervise buildings.
The Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) is seeking collaboration with the City of Montreal to find real and win-win solutions for all, contrary to what the Plante Administration is doing with the certification project.
It is necessary to stimulate the rental offer and it is certainly not by subjecting rental housing owners to additional constraints that we can achieve the desired goal.
Remember that with the rent-setting method dating from 1981 and rates of increase that give returns on investments of 50 years, a landlord will be entitled to an increase of $1.67 for every $1000.00 spent on major work in 2022!
Finally, the Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) stresses that it will participate in the upcoming consultations and defend its opposition to these two inappropriate initiatives. It is more than urgent that this administration also proposes solutions that also satisfy the owners of rental housing.