Published On Sun Jan 29 2012
Iranian immigrant Shahrzad Zofan in her old neighbourhood, where she was asked by landlords to pay six months of rent upfront to secure an apartment.
Nicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter
Rafiqul Islam paid his landlord $8,600 of rent upfront for a bachelor apartment in Mississauga.
Unaware of tenants’ rights under Ontario law, new immigrants like Islam are being asked by landlords to pay as much as a full year of rent upfront to secure their first home because they have no Canadian employment or credit history.
Housing advocates say such demands are illegal and the exploitation of immigrants has become all too common, due to loopholes in the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act, as well as weak provincial enforcement.
“Sad to say, there is a subset of landlords who prey on newcomers’ lack of education of the law and lack of understanding of the rental situation,” said Geordie Dent, of the Federation of Metro Tenants Association.
“The biggest problem is, by the time we hear about it, the tenant has already paid and moved in. They don’t want to make waves and risk losing their apartment.”
There are one million renters in the city, of which about half are immigrants.
The federation often gets calls from immigrants about the so-called “rent deposits” requested by landlords, demanding a payment of six to 12 months’ rent.
In one case, Dent said, an immigrant family paid three years of rent, amounting to $36,000 upfront, simply to secure an apartment.
Islam, a financial manager from Bangladesh, and wife Nucun, a teacher, spent six months bunking at his brother and sister’s cramped apartments after arriving in Canada in 2010.
They had been turned down by four landlords after they refused to pay a full year of rent. In the end, they succumbed.
“The landlords said we had no jobs and no credit, and we must pay up. It is just unfair, but what can we do?” said Islam, 41, whose landlord recently renewed a one-year lease and finally agreed to have his rent paid monthly.
Iranian immigrant Shahrzad Zofan paid a $6,000 deposit to secure her first apartment near Yonge St. and Steeles Ave. after being turned down by a dozen landlords, who also refused the offer of a co-signer on the lease.
“We were tired and desperate. We just wanted to settle down and move out of our friend’s home as soon as possible,” said Zofan, an English teacher who came here in June 2010.
“I understood it was not fair for us to pay in advance. But we had no other option. We needed a place to live.”
The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation holds clinics at immigrant service agencies to help newcomers understand their rights. It also trains settlement workers on housing issues and rental laws.
“Immigrants being asked to pay a substantial rent deposit is the norm,” said the centre’s program director John Fraser. “We’ve done sessions in English classes, and often a substantial portion of the room has done that.”
Jennifer Ramsay, of the Ontario Human Rights Support Centre, said being asked for extra deposits or additional fees, and being told children are not allowed and they wouldn’t “fit in,” are among the most common complaints by immigrants.
“We are not talking about mom-and-pop operations. There are large corporate landlords engaging in this practice of illegal deposits,” she said. “Making additional requirements of newcomers is discriminatory and exclusionary.”
However, Mike Chopowick, policy manager of the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario, said he has not seen any evidence that indicates such rent deposit requests are a widespread practice.
“Tenants in Ontario receive far more protection under the law than anywhere else in North America,” said Chopowick, whose 800 members operate 300,000 rental units across the province.
“Both landlords and tenants have the obligation to educate themselves on their rights.”
Georgina landlord Stephen Peacock said non-paying tenants are a real concern for landlords, regardless of whether the renter is an immigrant or not.
“I have bad Canadian tenants and good immigrant tenants,” said Peacock, who has had his share of bad renters, with one Canadian father and son owing him $7,000 in rent and $3,000 on unpaid hydro bills.
“A landlord can have a tighter screening process, but you can’t ask for anything over and above the law.”
If landlords could easily evict non-paying “hell” tenants and ask for a damage deposit as a safeguard, he said, they would be more willing to take a chance on those with no credit history and employment references.
Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act allows landlords to ask for first- and last-month rent deposits and requires them to make tenants aware of their rights by providing a government information sheet.
Chopowick, of the landlord group, said currently it takes 90 days to resolve a rent dispute in Ontario, three times longer than in other provinces — the result of statutory delays and backlogs at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
However, it is difficult for tenants to go after bad landlords, said the Metro Tenants Association’s Dent.
“Even for established tenants, these (complaint) forms are not easy to fill and the process is very time-consuming,” he said. “We need stronger proactive enforcement (such as spot checks on landlords) and heavier punishment against those who engage in this kind of practice.”
Immigrant tenants pressured to pay up hefty rent deposits may have better success by filing a human rights complaint.
Fraser, of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, said asking for huge rent deposits is an outright violation of the law, and his centre has helped tenants recoup damages ranging from $2,000 to $12,000 from unscrupulous landlords.
“If landlords are caught, they know they can’t win and will settle,” Fraser said.
Ramsay urged immigrant tenants to take someone along when looking for an apartment and take notes of dates, times and names. “The more specific you are,” she said, “the easier it is to follow the trail.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/112 ... omers?bn=1
