The Residential Tenancies Act regulates the
annual rent increase you may charge on apartment units that are not
vacant. For 2015, the maximum allowable increase is just 1.6%,
about the rate of inflation. Landlords should
absolutely raise their rents this year by the maximum, as the
government is examining changing the formula again to cap the
maximum that may be taken.
There are
provisions in
the Act
and in the
Regulations, that allow a landlord to apply to the
Board for an increase above the 1.6% provincial guideline, if there has
been an extraordinary increase in utility costs, realty taxes or
security services, or if the landlord has made capital expenditures
during the prescribed period.These
are complicated applications
to bring forward. No landlord should try to do these on his
or
her
own. The consequences of failure are severe, as this will
limit
the amount you may raise your rents, depriving you forever from
recovering the costs you incurred through rent increases.
Specialized
skills and tools are
required by any company acting on your behalf in these
applications. Most agents and law firms are not equipped to
carry
the ball.
There
are also provisions for
increasing rent for increases in services, as well as by an agreement
to increase the rent. The Regulations also allow discounting
of
rents in certain circumstances, and rent reductions can be
automatically imposed by the Act
if municipalities reduce taxes more than a prescribed
percentage.
There are also applications that can be filed to reduce the amount of a
rent decrease based on a reduction in realty taxes and municipal charges if you disagree with
the calculation.
Seeking a Rent Increase Above the
Guideline?