Nenshi stirs up a hornets nest with his landlord gouging comments

[Dion]

“Figure out a way that you can continue to provide housing and get a decent return without gouging your tenants,” he suggested to landlords. “And there’s been way too much of that happening.”

“It tarred an industry,” Gerry Baxter, executive director of the Calgary Residential Rental Association, said Friday. “That’s pretty much what it is. It’s an opportunity to single out landlords and make them the scapegoats.”

Baxter was reacting to comments Nenshi made a day earlier during an interview on CBC Radio, where he and Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson briefly discussed Alberta’s tight rental market, rent control and whether landlords were gouging tenants.

On Friday, Nenshi said his earlier comment on rent gouging was largely based anecdotal evidence and not, in fact, a systemic problem. “What I’m calling for is ethical business more than anything else,” Nenshi told the Herald. “If you’re a landlord and your costs have gone up ... then of course you pass that on to your tenant. That’s part of your business.

“But every day I get calls in my office from people who have been given no notice, a month’s notice, of 30, 40 per cent increases in their rent,” Nenshi added. “And nobody’s costs have gone up that much.”

The mayor tweeted Sunday morning that he's heard from many "responsible landlords" who make money from their rental properties without hiking rent with minimal notice.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...119/story.html

[Resolute 14]

I don't think it "tarred the industry" as Baxter would like to claim. More like it forced him out of his happy little delusion.

Also, obligatory:

[albertGQ]

Maybe he and city council can help out a bit and stop gouging home owners with large property tax increases.

[Daradon]

A stupid thing to say for sure (or rather, stupid way to say it) but I dunno about a hornets nest yet.

[Northendzone]

there are a lot of landlord guoging - my retired parents used to rent a condo, and at one lease renewal the owner increased the rent by about 20% - and the only improvements done to the unit were covered by insurance because thier place received water damage courtesy of the unit above them-

Seemed to me at the time that there should be some type of system whereby increases over a certain magnitude need to be justified.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Maybe he and city council can help out a bit and stop gouging home owners with large property tax increases.

All things being equal, tax increases amount to a few dollars a year. It's the appreciation in value of your house that causes your bill to jump, and that is beyond city council's control.

[Ozy_Flame]

I don't think it's a stupid comment. If he's receiving complaints from tenants about unethical landlords, why can't he say anything? He's not painting all landlords with the same brush. If anything, someone in his position can get the public talking about it.

No harm done, IMO.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Maybe he and city council can help out a bit and stop gouging home owners with large property tax increases.

My property tax hasn't changed by more than a few dollars, and has sometimes even dropped, over the past 5 years.

[CFENT]

Originally Posted by Dion

On Friday, Nenshi said his earlier comment on rent gouging was largely based anecdotal evidence and not, in fact, a systemic problem. “What I’m calling for is ethical business more than anything else,” Nenshi told the Herald. “If you’re a landlord and your costs have gone up ... then of course you pass that on to your tenant. That’s part of your business.

“But every day I get calls in my office from people who have been given no notice, a month’s notice, of 30, 40 per cent increases in their rent,” Nenshi added. “And nobody’s costs have gone up that much.”

Do you not need to give 90 days notice for a rent increase?

[Slava]

At what point is it gouging and at what point is it just business? If I buyback property to rent it out and want a profit, how much is it ethical to make?

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I don't think it's a stupid comment. If he's receiving complaints from tenants about unethical landlords, why can't he say anything? He's not painting all landlords with the same brush. If anything, someone in his position can get the public talking about it.

No harm done, IMO.

I don't think any harm has been done - but I didn't think mayors were supposed to be making off the cuff comments on anecdotal evidence.

“Figure out a way that you can continue to provide housing and get a decent return without gouging your tenants,” he suggested to landlords. “And there’s been way too much of that happening.”

He does realize these people (landlords) are in it for profit? And where opportunity exists they'll capitalize. It's also a reflection of housing prices (whether too high or not). If I'm spending $350-$500k on a condo unit to SFH I'm going to rent it out for as high as I can.

If buddy down the street bought his comparable property for half 10 years ago should buddy rent it out for half? Or any less than the other person?

Facilitate the building of more condos, allow secondary suites (if that's your idea of a solution), etc.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by CFENT

Do you not need to give 90 days notice for a rent increase?

Yes you do. And only one rent increase can be done per year.

Ultimately the rules in place provide reasonable certainty for people that
1) If they are actually getting gouged they have some time to look for something better before the increase kicks in
2) They aren't getting increases every month, so there's some stability.

Allowing the market to set the price of rental properties is the only thing that's keeping rentals in the market, which increases supply and keeps price low. If you put rent control in AB, there won't be any new rental supply.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Maybe he and city council can help out a bit and stop gouging home owners with large property tax increases.

I am barely surviving with these $5-10 dollar increases EVERY YEAR!

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

My property tax hasn't changed by more than a few dollars, and has sometimes even dropped, over the past 5 years.

Heh, yeah. People go buck-wild over property tax increases, but I haven't seen a marked difference in mine to be concerned about.

Then again, I am a simple condo-owner and I'm sure other people have different situations.

[photon]

“But every day I get calls in my office from people who have been given no notice, a month’s notice, of 30, 40 per cent increases in their rent,” Nenshi added. “And nobody’s costs have gone up that much.”

He should be telling those people to call Service Alberta about their landlords breaking the law without correct amount of notice.

And there's reasonable reasons for a large increase, if a place hasn't had a rent increase for a decade, someone buys it, and has to increase rent by 30-40% just to bring it up to cover the mortgage. Or the owner was okay with low rents because they bought it 20 years ago but brings it up to market value because they pulled some money out.

But like Slava said, how much profit is ethical to make? I don't think having the government decide how much rent is reasonable would go over very well here.

[V]

Originally Posted by Nenshi

“But every day I get calls in my office from people who have been given no notice, a month’s notice, of 30, 40 per cent increases in their rent,” Nenshi added. “And nobody’s costs have gone up that much.”

I really don't understand this quote. Why would rental prices be a reflection of the cost of the property? Am I not allowed to price my rental at the price that the market will bear? What do costs have to do with that?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Maybe he and city council can help out a bit and stop gouging home owners with large property tax increases.

#spendshi

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by V

I really don't understand this quote. Why would rental prices be a reflection of the cost of the property? Am I not allowed to price my rental at the price that the market will bear? What do costs have to do with that?

The problem is that when rent is priced at the maximum that the market can bear, it means that most people can't afford adequate housing. I understand the desire to make the most profit possible and I would probably be doing the same thing if I was a landlord. But as someone who rented most of my life, it was pretty frustrating to be paying almost what a mortgage would be in rent, but not being able to ever save up a down payment because I was at the that "what the market can bear" threshold. Lucky for me, my fortunes changed, but I still feel for people in that situation.

Affordable housing is probably one of, if not the biggest factor in the social health of a city. It affect the health of the population, crime, development... pretty much everything. I think Nenshi is right to be concerned about gouging.

[terminator]

I understand where Nenshi's coming from, but as a landlord if I can rent one of my propertys for $10/month or $20/month ten times out of ten I choose $20/month.

How do you change that?

[Huntingwhale]

I don't see anything wrong with what Nenshi said. He's just saying what thousands of renters in this city feel. The fact is, vacancy rates are low and prices will go up. Landlords want to turn a profit like everyone else and rates will go up accordingly. My rent goes up every single year on Jan 1st. My landlord give his 90 days notice and plays it by the rules. It sucks balls, but not much I can do when there's no regulation to control it.

As someone who still rents, I'd personally like to see someone step in and control things better. But money makes the world go round and owners are always going to do what they think is best to maximize profits.