Article on lease transfer adopted by committee

Bill 31 (PL31) from the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, continues to dominate the headlines. At the heart of the debate is article 7 of the bill, which authorizes landlords to refuse lease assignments for other than serious reasons, adopted in parliamentary committee.

(Picture by Edouard Plante-Fréchette, La Presse archives. The Quebec Housing minister, France-Élaine Duranceau)

By Corinne Laberge

 

This article from La Presse highlights an angle shared by landlords in the residential rental sector on the issue. Following Québec solidaire deputy Andrés Fontecilla's statement that "abolishing the assignment of lease in its current form will increase rents", France-Élaine Duranceau countered by arguing that "waving this scarecrow is misinformation".

Emphasizing that "lease assignment is not a rent control measure", the Minister reminded us that if a landlord refuses a lease assignment, "the lease will simply be terminated. The tenant will then be free to leave".

As for the point of view defended by certain tenants, it emerges from this article in La Presse canadienne relayed by Radio-Canada Info. "Martin Blanchard, co-coordinator of the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), points out: "We've been showing for a long time that the problem is abusive rent increases between tenant changes. (...) We're taking away from tenants the only tool that worked in the slightest to calm things down."

 

The "correction of a serious legislative error"

Our General Manager clearly set out CORPIQ's point of view regarding Article 7 of PL31 in this article in 24 Heures: "First included in the Civil Code in 1973 with the aim of 'protecting landlords and ensuring the profitability of the building in the medium-to-long term', the assignment of lease no longer fulfills this function."

In a context of high vacancy rates, assignment enabled a tenant to leave his or her unit before the end of the lease, without the landlord being left with a vacant unit. Since then, the use of assignment of lease has evolved in a direction that was not initially intended: "We've gone from an article that was intended to protect the landlord to one that is detrimental to the landlord's activities and to the market as a whole," laments Benoit Ste-Marie. "It's perfectly normal for landlords to be free to choose whether to renovate their units [between two occupants] or to choose their tenants," we quote. It should be remembered that lease transfers will still be possible, but that they will be carried out "under better conditions, involving all stakeholders".

With a notable shortfall of 200,000 housing units across the province, the solution to the housing crisis lies in increasing supply: "And the reason we're short is that it's not profitable. So we mustn't punish landlords, it's just not the time". Welcoming the federal government's planned $15 billion investment to accelerate housing construction in the country, our General Manager also mentions that "legislative relaxations allowing an increase in the supply of accessory dwellings, for example a bungalow owner who would like to convert his basement into a dwelling, would have the effect of increasing supply".