Renter Riley Sikora sifts through papers on the front porch of his Hazeldean townhouse trying to find his latest rent hike notice from the new owners of Southwoods Village Townhomes. He first learned rent was going up Feb. 28 when he received notice that, in order to continue his month-to-month tenancy, he’d have to pay $100 more in rent and a $50-per-month pet fee. Sikora said he moved into the complex in the south-central neighbourhood with his three cats about three years ago and paid a flat deposit for his pets. “Four hundred bucks. And I asked them, ‘What happened with that?’ They told me that I had to take that up with the company that used to own this place,” he told CTV News Edmonton. A few days later, LiveTreo – the new group that owns Southwoods Village – informed him the February notice had a clerical error and he was sent a different one mid-March. That notice did not include a pet fee but did have a new $350 utility fee. Sikora said he is currently responsible for paying for waste and water but it’s nowhere near the amount being asked. “It sucks because a lot of the people in here can barely afford where we’re at now,” he said. “I am getting a $400 increase. Some of my neighbours are getting $500 or more increases.” CTV News Edmonton obtained several rent increase notices from LiveTreo given to different tenants. The month-to-month renters face varying increases and fees, with pet fees ranging from $25 to $100 a month. Some residents with pets aren’t being asked to pay extra for them. The notices state the rent hikes are to compensate for “time-to-time normal increases in operating expenses.” Mould was recently discovered behind the walls of Shauna Ashton’s basement, in an area prone to flooding. She said it aggravates her five-year-old daughter’s asthma and doesn’t feel it’s fair to raise rent when major maintenance issues – like water leaks – have yet to be addressed. “It doesn’t make sense to me that you would front load these costs on the current residents as opposed to amortizing it over the next few years,” Ashton told CTV News Edmonton. “They didn’t do the proper research into what they are getting into, are surprised by what the costs are, and are now punishing tenants.” Fees ‘tricky’ because they aren’t included in legislation While rent rules are provincial, the City of Edmonton offers support to tenants including one-on-one advice over the phone. Homelessness Prevention program manager Caitlin Beaton called fees imposed on tenants “tricky” since there isn’t a section on fees in the legislation. Because of that, she said something known as common law applies, which is the precedent set from past court cases. “Fees need to be considered reasonable and reflect the actual cost,” Beaton said. The absence of fees in the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is just one of many gaps in the legislation, said Laura Buckingham with the Alberta Law Reform Institute. The group investigates Alberta laws and recommends changes, if needed. It is currently reviewing the RTA. “It’s been about 20 years since the legislation was last reviewed. There’s been a few minor changes since then, but that was the last sort of top-to-bottom review of the act,” she told CTV News Edmonton. “There’s parts of that legislation that go back 60 years and don’t really match what’s happening today.” Buckingham pointed to the absence of rules around short-term rentals such as Airbnbs and electronic payments. She said while common law can help fill in gaps in the legislation, people deserve clear rules. “That’s not obvious to people who aren’t lawyers so it’s really difficult for people to find out what they can expect.” Legislation is routinely monitored and updated: minister The provincial minister responsible for the act said it’s routinely monitored and updated. “In fact you probably noticed that we just amended it last week,” Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally told CTV News Edmonton ahead of a legislative session in mid-May. Nally was referring to Bill 38, which allows tenants and landlords to deliver a “notice to vacate” through electronic communication if they are unable to do so in person or by registered mail. “If anyone has an issue with a landlord, I would encourage them to go through the RTDRS because that is the avenue if they’re being treated unfairly,” added Nally. Alberta’s Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) offers a low-cost way for tenants and landlords to settle disputes. It has found, in past cases, that a landlord targeting a tenant with a rent increase was essentially an economic eviction – something prohibited by common law. But fighting a rent increase or fee isn’t listed as an option a tenant can bring before the RTDRS. “Because there’s nothing in the legislation that says a tenant can apply to have their rent reviewed, they would have to have some other reason that they were going to the dispute resolution service,” said Cunningham. “So it would really help to have some clear guidance in the legislation about how people can raise these kinds of issues.” In response, the minister’s press secretary said in a statement “tenants always have the option to take a dispute over rent (including fees that may be considered part of rent) to the RTDRS.” Buckingham said the Alberta Law Reform Institute’s review of the RTA will likely take another couple years to complete. The impact of unclear rules At Southwoods Townhomes, Ashton said several renters moved shortly after receiving their rent hike notices “because they didn’t know what to do.” “Including some of my daughter’s friends, who she has grown up with her entire life, essentially,” she said. When LiveTreo first took over ownership, she said tenants received a letter stating it wanted to build a “strong community” with “unwavering strength like a tree.” But Ashton said the ownership group is doing just the opposite, imposing unjustified rent hikes. “We have roots that go back 50 years and if you continue to trim the branches too much, the tree is going to die.” LiveTreo did not respond to CTV News Edmonton’s requests for comment.
