Tenants In Montreal Are Sharing Information To Stop Ridiculous Rent Increase

Tenants are revealing to general populace how much they pay for their apartments, this has infuriated landlords in Montreal. A new site, known as MyRent.quebec, has been launched by a non-profit organization with the specific objective of providing a platform where users can discuss and compare rentals.

The website has an interactive map that pops up and shows a significant number of blue dots, which upon clicking, will reveal all the information a renter provided about his house. The main objective is to make this information readily and easily available, says MyRent.quebec’s founders. With information like this, tenants will be kept abreast with regards to any changes effected by landlords. This also reveals when a landlord’s prices are fair or too ridiculous for the neighborhood, one of the site’s founders, Luis Nobre, told CBC Montreal.

“Anyone like me would endeavor to know what the price is, like when they travel around Montreal and would like to know what the average here is, for 41/2 or a 51/2.”

Apartments in Quebec are listed as 11/2 21/2 31/2. The denominator represents a bathroom.

MyRent.quebec is illegal, says Landlord association

Speaking to CTV Montreal, Denis Miron of Quebec’s rental board said that a renter can still apply to change the rent, on any occasion where they found out that the rent was too high after signing the lease agreement.

“Even though he already signed his lease, he has 10 days to apply to the Regie (du logement) to fix maybe a new rent,” said Miron.

Although apartments’ rental rates are available to the entire public, Hans Brouillette of the landlords’ association CORPIQ said amassing and sharing that information is illegal. Brouillette told CTV that, “The site provides personal and confidential information about our leases, our rents, our incomes.”

However, MyRent.quebec co-founders have admitted that the site has one major problem.

Currently, users are not being asked for evidence of address for verification. They are only obligated to enter a valid email address before they can supplement information on the site. Nobre and Fortier are however confident that this verification feature will be added in the near future. Nobre told CBC News, “That’s for sure that anybody can write anything on the website, but you have to give people faith and hope that most people are honest and do it for the right reasons.”

J C Loum