IN THE KNOW THE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF APARTMENT ASSOCIATIONS (CFAA) IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT Mr. John Puderak, CPA, CGA, has been elected to the position of Chair of CFAA. Mr. Puderak is owneroperator of QuAppelle Apartments in Saskatoon. Leading up to his current position, he worked for several tier I financial organizations in positions of commercial and corporate lending, mergers and acquisitions and commercial realestate. Mr. Puderak has served on the Board of CGA Alberta, the Board of CGA Saskatchewan (Management Committee) and the Board of the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission (Management Committee.) He currently serves on the Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association (past President) and CFAA. John Puderak says, “Building on the fine work CFAA has been doing since its inception in 1995, I will be working with CFAA President John Dickie and our Board members from various parts of Canada, to leverage and strengthen the voice of the rental housing industry. “In addition to the CFAA goals already laid out, during 2015 we will focus on expanding relationships with regional apartment associations, and with landlords where regional associations do not currently exist. CFAA will also work with the Federal government wherever possible to partner and develop mutually beneficial policies to encourage a strong and healthy rental industry in Canada.
“CFAA welcomes inquiries from residential rental owners and property managers in all areas of Canada. In particular, landlords in areas without a local or provincial apartment association are invited to contact CFAA and discover the benefits of CFAA membership.” The CFAA represents the owners and managers of close to one million residential rental suites in Canada, through 11 associations across Canada and direct memberships. In existence since 1995, CFAA is the sole national organization representing the interests of Canada’s $480 billion private rental housing industry, which provides quality rental homes for more than eight million Canadians. CFAA provides a voice for the residential rental industry, advocating the interests of the industry to the Federal Government of Canada. We believe that a healthy rental market contributes greatly to our national well-being and economic prosperity. We believe that the policies we advocate will benefit landlords, tenants and taxpayers. CFAA also functions as an information exchange among our member associations, providing information about best practices and successful programs across the country. THE QUEBEC RENT CONTROL GUIDELINES Unlike in the other provinces with rent control, in Quebec there is no fixed guideline. The Rental Board encourages landlords and tenants to take into account the increase in municipal and school taxes, the insurance bills and the type of heating. The Rental Board applies a return on major repairs, if any, and says that it seeks to index the net income of the building. Continued on page 26
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However, the Rental Board publishes average increases which can be expected, absent increases in municipal and school taxes, and absent major repairs. For rents to be fixed for the period from April 2, 2015 to April 1, 2016, the basic rental increase can be expected to be :
the risk of tenant applications also means that if a landlord consults the tenants the landlord should pay close attention to what the tenants suggest. Disregarding their suggestions might need to be justified if tenants make applications for abatements.
1.0 % for electricity heated dwellings;
Some legal risks, and rent control opportunities, also exist in other provinces with rent control, including BC, Manitoba and Quebec.
1.8 % for gas heated dwellings; 1.4 % for oil heated dwellings; 0.6 % for non heated dwellings. For the 2015 rent increase guidelines for BC, Manitoba, Ontario and PEI, and for Nova Scotia land lease communities, see the November 2014 issue of RHB Magazine at p. 36. RENT CONTROL ISSUES IN RENOVATIONS In Ontario, tenants can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for rent abatements when their enjoyment of their rental units has been negatively affected by repairs or renovations (usually capital expenditures or “capex work”.) Landlords are able to avoid having to provide rent abatements for necessary work (or energy or water conservation work) if they give tenants at least 60 days written notice of the work and take other prescribed steps to minimize the interference with the tenants’ enjoyment of the rental units. Landlords may also be able to apply to raise the rents of tenants on renewal above the guideline because of capex work. Before performing capex work, landlords are well advised to consult a lawyer or paralegal who is an expert on capex applications and defending tenant applications. That may avoid abatements and improve the revenue lift of the work. The article starting at page 29 describes a tenant engagement process used by a major Ontario landlord for a recent renovation project. Using such a process may assist in minimizing the risks and consequences of any tenant application for an abatement for major renovations. However,
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CMHC’S 2014 CANADIAN HOUSING OBSERVER CMHC’s 2014 Canadian Housing Observer is now available. The Housing Observer covers demographic influences on housing demand, housing finance, housing markets and other topics impacting on landlords’ operations and financing. In the 2014 edition, other chapters address housing affordability, sustainable housing and newcomers’ housing. The whole document, or individual chapters, can be downloaded from https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/about/cahoob/. CMHC RENTAL MARKET REPORTS In mid-December CMHC issued its rental market reports with vacancy and average rent data from October 2014. The reports are available either by census metropolitan area or for Canadian and provincial highlights at https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/catalog/productList. cfm?lang=en&cat=48. In the next issue, RHB Magazine looks forward to publishing a cross-Canada comparison of the rental data, together with asset sales data and economic forecasts for each region. EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION This Spring, CFAA will be conducting its fourth compensation survey of rental housing employees. For more details, see the article at page 6 in National Outlook, following page 24. The CFAA Rental Housing Conference will address various important employment management issues. See the description of the conference in National Outlook, or visit the conference section at www.cfaa-fcapi.org.