Member Profile: Ron Schuss, Dorset Realty Group

MEMBER PROFILE: RON SCHUSS AND DORSET REALTY GROUP By Monika Sosnowska, Marketing and Communications Specialist, LandlordBC

Ron Schuss, founder and president of Dorset Realty Group, has been a dedicated member of LandlordBC* for more than five decades. Based in Richmond, and operating in all areas of Metro Vancouver, Dorset Realty was established in 1975 and specializes in residential property management. However, Schuss has been a committed advocate of the rental housing industry since the 1950s. Besides being president of Dorset Realty, he is also involved in a number of companies and ventures that own and operate apartment buildings in the Vancouver and Victoria areas, and he is an owner of several apartment buildings that he acquired as far back as 1965.

Schuss’ long-standing career started in 1956 as a young property manager in charge of a portfolio of rental properties. He remembers how different the industry was back then, “At that time there was no government legislation, no need for security deposits, no locked entrances to apartment buildings.” Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the legislation encouraged the development of rental housing, he told us, “There was no rent controls, so we built a lot of new rental buildings. Back then, we could get a new building in South Granville or West End planned, developed and ready for occupancy in under a year. I remember that the monthly rent was between $110 and $115 per month, and I still own that building. We gave the twelfth month free rent as there were lots of vacancies due to lots of supply.”

By 1962, eager to advocate on behalf of the caretakers of smaller rental buildings, he joined the New Westminster Apartment Association. “I became a member to advocate for our industry, to point to the government and the public that we are providing a needed service and that rental housing providers are operating with integrity and fairness… and to fight unfair legislation and taxation, which has been the root cause of a lack of rental housing supply in B.C. in the years to follow,” he said.

Around the same time the Greater Vancouver Apartment Association (GVAOA) was founded to provide a unified voice for rental housing providers in Metro Vancouver. The two associations merged in mid-1970s to become a stronger advocate for the rental housing sector and oppose rent controls and capital gains taxes. In the years to follow, Schuss served 32 years as the director of GVAOA and was the president of the association in the 1980s.

The role of LandlordBC and its predecessor organizations in working with government to ensure legislation does not have an adverse

*Predecessor of LandlordBC in 1970s was the Greater Vancouver Apartment Association (GVAOA) which merged with several local rental housing associations to eventually become The BC Apartment Owners and Managers Association (BCAOMA). In 2013 BCAOMA merged with the Rental Housing Council and Rental Owners and Managers Society of BC. More information about the history of LandlordBC is outlined on page 8

The team at Dorset Realty Group

effect on industry is a topic Schuss is passionate about, “I believe that all this unfavourable legislation has seriously impacted the supply of rental housing and resulted in the negligible vacancy rates in recent years. The industry was much easier to navigate in the 1950s and 1960s, when a single page tenancy agreement was sufficient, compared to today when it is more restrictive, and we have to add many more clauses to our rental agreements. Even so, those entering the industry today, with enough education and information should be able to make informed decisions of where the industry is heading and adapt accordingly.”

Overall, Schuss looks back on his 60-year career in the rental housing industry favourably, “This has been my career — building, buying and managing these attractive looking buildings and giving back to the industry whenever I can.”

Looking to the future, Schuss hopes to see an increase in incentive to develop purpose-built rental housing, especially on land that easily accommodates rental properties across all of B.C.

“Delays in legislation, municipal zoning and slow processing of construction applications can add five or more years for the development to move forward,” he said.

He hopes to see quicker rezoning and approval of construction applications for future rentals and continues to advocate for solutions to have dispute resolutions resolved within 30 days and looks to the government and the industry for solutions, “Can we put money into it and get the cases heard and resolved? Then we can build more rental homes for B.C. families.”