Suspend eviction hearings, says housing group
Homelessness cited as a concern amid pandemic worries
The Régie du logement du Québec is “irresponsible” to keep eviction hearings going during the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a renter’s group
The Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) denounced the rental board’s decision to proceed with hearings as “nonsense” that is at odds with governmental messaging.
The organization wants to know what will happen if renters who have to remain in quarantine find themselves without lodgings.
RCLALQ is calling on Andrée Laforest, the minister responsible for housing, to “take urgent measures” to suspend eviction hearings. It also says recently rendered judgments shouldn’t be carried out.
Spokesperson Marjolaine Deneault said the minister must “send a clear message that people don’t have to worry about paying rent and they can respect the quarantine measures.”
She noted that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his Friday press conference that “nobody should have to worry about paying rent” because of COVID-19.
In an interview with Presse Canadienne, Deneault acknowledged that the rental board is an independent body, but she said this “exceptional situation” requires the minister to reign in the rental board.
According to Deneault, the board’s decision to continue with hearings shows it is biased in favour of owners: “It considers owners’ bottom lines more important than the safety and security of tenants.”
Landlords oppose a moratorium on eviction hearings, but voiced their support for the government implementing a temporary compensation system.
It would make no sense for tenants to be evicted for a failure to pay rent following the loss of a job or revenue related to the pandemic, said Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec (CORPIQ) spokesperson Hans Brouillette.
There must be aid, he said, and it should be governmental aid because “there’s no reason why property owners should fund it.”
The Régie du logement had yet to respond to Presse Canadienne’s request for comment at the time of publication. Laforest’s office told Presse Canadienne it could raise the issue at Premier François Legault’s daily press conference.