The various municipal interventions such as the City of Montreal with its Responsible Owner certification or cities that want to establish a lease register give a negative image of rental housing owners and how they maintain their buildings.
The Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) has been supporting rental owners since 1984 and we can confidently say that rental housing owners care about their buildings and take all necessary measures to provide a safe and pleasant living environment for all their tenants.
We can say that some owners do not follow these efforts, but they are only a minority, as several entities will admit:
In the project submitted for consultation, Mr. Benoit Dorais indicates that: “The vast majority of rental housing owners are responsible people and we thank them for their diligence.”
The owners strive every day to offer quality services, they will get up at night to find a solution for water damage for instance, they will go talk with their tenants who party a little too much or too loud,...
The Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) finds it unfortunate that many institutions or organizations question their dedication.
No professional corporation or new constraints should be considered for these 300,000 owners who are already subject to the regulations of:
• the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ);
• Fire safety rules;
• the Administrative Housing Tribunal;
• Municipal by-laws.
Would tenants’ associations impose mandatory membership on their tenants? The answer is no.
For each issue raised, these associations blame the landlords by telling them that the problem does not come from the tenants.
The last accusation in case a tenant does not pay his rent. Easy, it is either the owner who retains the rent (does not deposit it) or that the rents are too high, and therefore not the fault of the tenants.
The Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ) is also indignant to note that rental housing owners are easy prey to discrimination and prejudice, but what about low-rent buildings, those owned by the Government, municipal offices,...
These buildings that are decried in the media1 as badly maintained, not repaired, Will the Government pay new fines with the money collected from rental housing owners?
The APQ will always contest new accusations or new desires to manage the property of others.
Yes, rental owners already have good practices
