Housing crisis | Crazy rents | The Press

A monthly rent that doubles when a tenant dies. Apartments, on the edge of the slum, rented for $850 a month. Tenants who panic when they receive their eviction notice, others who fear having to go into exile off the island of Montreal. Rents are crazy in Montreal: our journalists take you on a tour of the landlord.

Posted on Apr 24, 2021Texts: Katia Gagnon La PressePhotos: Olivier Jean La Presse

Looking for the four and a half at $900

“If you don't come today, the apartment will be rented tomorrow. »

The four and a half, rue de Rouen, in the east of Montreal, was advertised at $845 per month. The photos, on Kijiji, were more than sketchy. The same day – not the next day – so we went to visit it.

It is clear on entering that we are on the edge of the hovel. Window frames are blackened by mold. The bathroom ceiling is also studded with black spots. The bedroom is separated from the living room by… a patio door, in which a curtain has been hung.

Only a few days later, this dream apartment was indeed…rented.

This is unfortunately what we are faced with when looking for an apartment in Montreal at the average price for a four and a half, at least if we rely on the scales established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). In 2020, the CMHC established the average price of a two-bedroom apartment on the island of Montreal at $907.

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With the surge in rents that the metropolis is currently experiencing, does this four and a half at $900 really exist in the metropolis? Answer: yes. When looking for a four and a half on the island of Montreal – beware, absolutely anywhere on the island – for $900 or less, 250 listings appear on the popular classifieds site Kijiji. By way of comparison, if we raise the bar to $1,500 per month for the same four and a half, the choice explodes: there are then more than 2,000 registrations.

Next question: what does this $900 apartment look like? We visited five of them, including this third floor on rue de Rouen. Answer: in some cases, we are in apartments in very poor condition, mold and cockroaches included. Tiny or windowless rooms, dryer hose dangling from the ceiling, “blocked” door leading to the neighboring apartment: we saw all the colors.

"It's not a place for you, ma'am"

Take this semi-basement, rue Kent, in the Côte-des-Neiges district. On the phone, when I explained to the concierge that I was a single mother with two children, he was formal. "This is no place for you, ma'am." Curious thought for someone looking to rent their apartment on a classifieds site, isn't it? The four and a half was listed at $800 per month.

“You have children. It's too humid. »

With a new identity as a single woman, a few days later, I visited the freshly painted semi-basement. Apparently, he wasn't so bad. Over reports on the slums of Côte-des-Neiges, I have seen much worse. But the concierge who shows us around is formal.

This is not a place for someone with children. The humidity, ma'am. And there is a lot of noise.

The concierge of an apartment building on Kent Street, in the Côte-des-Neiges district

Should we be afraid of mold? we ask him frankly. He avoids the question. “There have been major renovations. »

Now let's go further south, rue de Villiers. A decrepit building, three tiny rooms scattered along a corridor: the back bedroom is so small that it would be difficult to accommodate a double bed. On the ceiling, we note the dryer pipe, housed in the adjoining kitchen, which dangles in the room to the exhaust hole. The living room is only slightly larger than the bedrooms and the bathroom is divided in two, a wardrobe-sized room houses a single toilet, while the shower, bath and sink are housed in a another micropiece.

Price: $850 per month for this hobbit apartment.

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In Saint-Michel, our four and a half is part of a group of 22 accommodations, located above (and below) a huge exchange office. About twenty accommodations arranged in a “creative” way, as evidenced by this exterior door, condemned, located in one of the rooms we are visiting. But where does this door lead? " That no longer works. The other side is the bathroom of the other apartment,” replies the concierge, who shows us around.

A cockroach is active in the kitchen sink of this sinister apartment, located in the semi-basement, whose only window overlooks the asphalt of the neighboring parking lot. Price: $870. Tranquility not included, since the building is located directly on Boulevard Saint-Michel and the walls seem to be made of cardboard.

The only really decent apartment we will visit is located in a peaceful street in Montreal North. The semi-basement is clean, obviously well maintained, spacious, with a window in each room. At $700, it's an incredible bargain, if our tours of the day are to be believed. “We increase our rents by following the law,” replies the landlady when I point out that her rate is very competitive.

Of the four and a half that are actually… three and a half

Our research on Kijiji also shows that these four and a half displayed at the average price are actually… three and a half. This apartment on rue Fleury, located above a shop, has only one bedroom, which is tiny by the way. “The living room is large. Part of it can be converted into a bedroom”, replies the owner when we point out that his apartment is not really a four-room apartment. Price: $750. This other apartment in Rosemont looks good, but it has only one closed bedroom. Price: $900.

In Montreal-North, an apartment located in the heart of the neighborhood's hot sector rents for $860 per month. “I already have two candidates in credit investigation. Anyway, the second bedroom is a crib bedroom for a baby. It will be too small for you. »

Despite their poor quality, these apartments sell out at lightning speed, sometimes in… surprising conditions. In LaSalle, a four and a half located rue Jean-Milot is even blindly rented.

The tenant is afraid of COVID. It is not possible to visit. I took pictures for the ad. It's like on Airbnb. You rent with images!

Gisèle, owner of an apartment building on rue Jean-Milot, in LaSalle

Price: $895 per month. “And it's not renovated. The house was built in the 1960s,” she says.

In this context of rental madness, some landlords allow themselves to be very demanding with future tenants. For this apartment in Anjou, rue des Ormeaux, the owner has a very long list of requirements. Aspiring tenants must also formally present their person and their candidacy in a letter sent to their email address. These potential tenants must, in particular, commit to staying on rue des Ormeaux for the long term, have a stable source of income… and a university degree.

Last requirement: Speak English has more.

The real cost: an average of $1,300 per month

A study by the Regroupement des Comités Logement et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ) in 2020 showed the gulf that already separated the average prices displayed by CMHC and the reality of apartments for rent on classified ad sites. By analyzing 61,000 ads published on the Kijiji site, the RCLALQ showed that the average price was $1,264 on the island of Montreal for a four and a half, or 30% more than the average price displayed by the CMHC. For several years, the federal body has published the average price of unoccupied housing, therefore offered on the market. On the island of Montreal, the average cost of a four and a half was $1,322 per month in 2020.

Average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment, according to CMHC

Montreal: $907

Calgary: $1305

Toronto: $1562

Vancouver: $1748

Source: CMHC, January 2021

A symbol of soaring

Five years ago, the elderly tenant who lived in this five and a half in Anjou was paying $675 a month. She had lived in the apartment on rue Saint-Donat since the house was built in the mid-1960s. The lady died in January. His place was put up for rent on Kijiji. How much is the owner asking? Double: $1,400 per month.

The five-room apartment is beautiful, large, clean. Renovations have been made to the kitchen and the bathroom. But we are not in the luxury and, in Anjou, we are very far from the central districts of Montreal.

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The owner of the triplex bought the building in 2016. He then contacted his elderly tenant to ask him for a rent increase: he was asking him for $900 per month, a hefty increase of 33%. Well aware of her rights, the tenant refused. A negotiation was held, which was concluded for an amount oscillating between 700 and 800 $ per month. But then, in January, the tenant died. This information was first transmitted to us by the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU) and was confirmed in every way by people involved in the file. On Kijiji, the apartment is then displayed for rent for $1,400 per month.

Confronted with this information by La Presse, the owner, whose name we are concealing because technically he has not committed anything illegal, has indeed confirmed the date of purchase of the building and the death of the tenant. However, he stubbornly refused to tell us the monthly rent paid by the former tenant. "It's none of your business," he said before showing us the door.

A few days after La Presse's surprise visit, the owner lowered its price slightly, to $1,300.

In recent months, comparable-sized units on the same street have rented for around $1,000, our research shows. According to the CMHC, the average price of a five and a half room apartment in Anjou is $997.

For Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for FRAPRU, housing in Anjou is “the blatant illustration” of what led to soaring rents in Montreal. If the landlord does not complete or enters false data in section G of the lease, where he is required to indicate the price paid by the former tenant, the new tenant will have "no way" of knowing the amount of the old rent, denounces ^Ms. Laflamme.

This landlord, he's completely bypassing the spirit of the law!

Véronique Laflamme, FRAPRU spokesperson

“And the landlords know that they will end up renting them, their homes, because people are desperate,” adds Maxime Roy-Allard, from the Regroupement des Comités Logement et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ). This is precisely why tenant advocacy groups are calling for a rent registry, which would require the landlord to reveal the rent paid by the previous tenant.

“There is no scandal in that,” retorts Hans Brouillette, spokesperson for the Corporation of Property Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ).

Rental is a market. Although the term bothers housing committees, that's what we're talking about. For years, that $675 rent has benefited a tenant. She was kind of subsidized all this time. Is this increase excessive? If someone is ready to pay, of course not!

Hans Brouillette, spokesperson for the Corporation of Quebec Property Owners (CORPIQ)

Montreal is still very far from the situation of Toronto or Vancouver. "But we cannot have, in Montreal, rents that are half of what we find in other big cities, while the costs of construction, renovation... all that is not half of what we find in other big cities. that we pay elsewhere! Over a long period, the increase in the average salary exceeds the average increase in rents in Montreal, he estimates.

For years, low rent prices in Montreal have also pushed many small landlords to withdraw from the rental market, says Mr. Brouillette. “They no longer had any interest in renting, because if they do work, they rent at a loss. And, in addition, they have to manage behavior, noise… People thought it was no longer worth the trouble. “And when a dwelling has remained vacant for 12 months, its owner is no longer required to set the price in relation to the old rent, he recalls.

One thing is certain, tenants who are forced to leave their apartments find themselves in a state that borders on panic, underlines Amy Darwish, of the Parc-Extension Action Committee.

Take the case of Jamila, a single mother of Bengali origin. A recent immigrant, Jamila refused to have her real name published. The single mother was evicted by her landlord. She's been looking for weeks in Parc-Extension. “I search, I search, I search… and I find nothing! Because of the price of rent, Jamila fears having to go into exile off the island of Montreal.

Marie-Josée Hudon is in the same situation. She, who had lived in a four and a half rue Querbes in Montreal for eight years, has just been told by the new owner that she must leave… or evacuate for six months with all of her possessions. She says she is unable to find an apartment in the neighborhood where she works at a comparable price. She pays $700 a month.

I visited apartments at 1400, 1500 $ per month. For six months, I'm ready to go to a three and a half, I visited semi-basements, not heated, at $1200. Another at $1300. But what am I going to do, if my rent doubles?

Marie-Josée Hudon, Parc-Extension tenant forced to vacate her apartment for six months

On the other hand, moving for six months means two moves, reconnection costs, maybe the rental of a storage unit… “It's a lot of money that I don't have. Its landlord is offering $1,000 compensation to tenants who choose to return to the building… but makes it clear that he will increase the rent by $300 per month upon their return.

"It is certain that there will be a substantial increase following major work that will cost thousands of dollars," says lawyer Mélanie Chaperon, who represents the company MS Estate, owner of the building. The case will go before the Administrative Housing Tribunal, indicates M ^e Chaperon, who will have to determine if the compensation of $ 1,000 is sufficient.

Marie-Josée Hudon has no idea where she will stay for the next six months. She has come to seek refuge for six months… on Airbnb.

What the law says ?

The Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) provides landlords with a calculation tool for annual rent increases. The tenant is free to accept or not the increase submitted to him by his landlord. Ultimately, if the two do not agree, the TAL will set the amount of the increase. When there is a change of tenant, the landlord is obliged to complete section G of the lease, which informs the new tenant of the price paid by the previous one. Once the lease has been signed, if he finds that his rent is too high compared to the previous one, the tenant can contest the new amount of the rent before the TAL, which will then set the new rent. If he discovers that the information given by the landlord in section G is inaccurate, the new tenant has two months to appeal to the TAL to have a new rent fixed. Buildings less than five years old are excluded from these provisions.