Rent cap rollout not 'wonderful' for all tenants
CBC
The New Brunswick government may be relying on the goodwill of landlords to implement their rent cap before it's even made law, but early indications are that it may not unfold smoothly.
Gail MacDonald of Miramichi says in the wake of this week's announcement, she was told that her 43 per cent rate hike on March 1 was not covered by the cap, because her landlord notified her of the hike last year.
"He thinks that submitting that paperwork in December '21 somehow relieves him of abiding the 2022 rules," MacDonald said Friday morning.
That's why she says she nearly lost it when she read comments by Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson that "most landlords in the province are wonderful."
"I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw that," MacDonald said.
The 3.8 per cent cap announced in Tuesday's budget is retroactive to Jan. 1, even if tenants were told of increases before the new year.
"For me, that would be an increase in the time period when we said there would be a 3.8 per cent cap," Premier Blaine Higgs said of MacDonald's case.
MacDonald had been paying $450 for her apartment, one of seven units in a building in Miramichi.
But after new owners took over the property last fall, she was given notice Dec. 31 of a $200 increase taking effect March 1. That's 43 per cent, well above the cap.
Contacted by CBC News midday on Friday, the building's manager, John Terry, said he had spoken to the province's Residential Tenancies Tribunal and now understood the increase was indeed subject to the cap.
"Hallelujah," MacDonald said when informed of his comments. "This is a relief for so many."
Terry blamed his misunderstanding on the suddenness of the province's announcement in Tuesday's budget and the lack of a single online source of information on the change.
"Nobody knew this was coming. There was no specific information or pamphlet or website," he said.
Terry said he found "bits of information" on different government web pages and in news reports, but didn't get things sorted out until he spoke to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal Friday morning.
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