It Pays to Challenge the Rental Board
The value of your PLEX or income property will depend on the quality of your management. One of the most effective tools to increase this value is to systematically raise your rental income.
As reported in La Presse this past January, as well as in Le Droit (Ottawa) and Le Soleil (Quebec City), articles attempted to dispel landlords’ fears and stated:
"Landlords benefit from appearing before the Rental Board. The courts grant increases that average double the standard rent adjustment rate, according to the Board's own data."
81% of landlords resign themselves to raising rents based on the percentage increase published in newspapers by the Rental Board, an increase that conveniently aligns with FRAPRU’s unofficial blessing. However, in 2006, the Rental Board’s tribunals granted an average increase of 1.7% for unheated apartments where no major work had been done, whereas the Board’s published guideline for this type of unit was only 0.9% (see attached table).
"These figures show that we often win our cases," says Hans Brouillette, Director of Communications at CORPIQ.
It pays to challenge the Rental Board, but it’s even more profitable to systematically double the published rent increase rate, because the vast majority of tenants will not contest your notices. They’re simply happy to have a landlord who properly maintains the building they live in. Reasonable people understand that quality comes at a cost.
A small table I’ve put together clearly shows that your PLEX could be worth $21,143.50 more than if the landlord had followed the Rental Board’s published guideline. In fact, on Montreal’s North Shore, triplexes sold for 12.77 times their gross rental income.
Comparison Between the Rent Variation Published by the Board and the Variation Granted After Contestation.
