Tenants withholding rent to fight new increases

It’s been a heated dispute that will soon be decided. A group of tenants at Stoney Creek Towers Apartment Buildings have been withholding their rent for months to fight a new rent increase that they say is unethical.

Today was their last meeting with the landlord tenant board before a final decision is made after five and a half months of protesting.

The Provincial government has allowed landlords to increase rent by 1.8% , anything more must be approved by the landlord tenant board.

The landlords at Stoney Creek Towers, a group called the CLV, want the tenants to pay an additional 3%, bringing the increase to 4.8%.

That 3% above the government guideline increase is legal and can be applied when the landlords make improvements to the buildings.

But the tenants say its unethical, because no major improvements have been made.

The Landlord Tenant Board says the renovations or repairs to the building must be significant or extraordinary, regular maintenance or cosmetic work does not apply for the increase.

A statement from the Federation of Rental Housing Providers representing landlords reads “those who make the decision to withhold rent are risking their tenancy” it goes on to say that “the choice to withhold rent as a form of protest will not contribute to creating a better rental environment in Hamilton”

The Landlord Tenant Board will hold meetings on November 1st and 2nd and will then decide whether the 3% rent increase is justified, only then will it be approved or denied. The tenants are hopeful they will win their case but either way they will have to pay back the rent they have been withholding.