The Association of Quebec Landlords (APQ) has, for many years, requested a reform of the rental field and the deposit is among the controversial issues.
It is certain that Quebec is the only Province in Canada not allowing the owners to demand a deposit, a deposit which the owner would keep all throughout the lease. Currently it is only possible to ask the 1st month of rent during the signing of the lease.
This absence of safety can have disastrous consequences as much for the owner as for the tenant:
“Imagine that you visit a housing on the 1st of March : all is well, exactly what you seek. The owner checks your solvency, your behaviour, and it is all positive, you sign the lease for the 1st of July. Then you start looking for a moving service, make your changes of address, get your boxes, fill the truck,… But when you step over the threshold of your new abode you notice that the walls are filled with holes, that the toilet runs, that it misses the seat, and that there is waste everywhere. How do you want this new tenant to move in? The owner must then find solutions to compensate his tenant, to allow him to move in, to live there,“ says the APQ.
“It is certain that there are good tenants but others take advantage of the loopholes in the laws. The APQ believes that the deposit would allow to make the tenants aware of the impact of their negative behaviour. The absence of the deposit also shows a lack of coherence between the obligations stipulated by the Civil code and the measures which are at the disposal of the owner,“ adds the APQ.
The owner can obviously submit a request at the Régie du logement. Unfortunately, the incurred costs and delays as well as the solvency of the tenant make this procedure ineffective in many cases.