Montreal announces measures to increase landlord accountability amid housing crisis

The city of Montreal says it wants to crack down on the housing crisis with measures intended to slow rent increases and hold landlords accountable for lack of maintenance.

The measures include an inspection blitzof 10,000 housing unitsin buildings with six or more units this year. The city is also investing $30,000 in an organization that created an online rent registry.

Montreal also wants to increase pressure on landlords to conduct repairs by alerting mortgage creditors when a building has lost value because it is not up to code.

"We want to go further than fines. We want to accelerate buildings being brought up to code because the fines are not high enough for us and we're in talks with the provincial government about that," said Mayor Valrie Plante.

The mayor explained that fines for building deterioration in Quebec are determined by the provincial housing ministry, but that the city wants more control over those fines.

Last month, a controversial new housing law submitted by provincial Housing Minister France-laineDuranceau was passed at the National Assembly.

The law removes a tenant's right to transfer their lease to another tenant, but increases compensation for evictions and gives cities more power to build housing. The law does not address fines for buildings falling below provincial and municipal standards, though.

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Benoit Dorais,the vice-president of Montreal's executive committee in charge of the housing file, said a pilot project to inspect buildings of 100 units or more is approaching completion. Since January, the city's inspection team has visited 45 such buildings out of the 90 it plans to see and has targeted 930 units in seven buildings that need attention.

"There's a lack of housing, which already makes things difficult," said Dorais. He said the city is aware of a growing number of unsafe and unsanitary housing.

"Tenants may find that their rent is affordablebut be dealing with unsanitary housing and feel stuck due to the scarcity of affordable housing," he said.

The city's inspections plan aims to take the responsibility of identifying problems away from tenants, who often do not know their rights or how to report issues. The project targets buildings through a mix of factors, including building size and previous complaints. It prioritizes neighbourhoods that are more socio-economically vulnerable, Dorais said.

The city has also appointed liaison agents to inspection teams to help provide information to tenants and landlords.

"We want to make landlords even more accountable," Plante said. "Most are doing good work, but we have to admit that there are some who do not take it to heart to provide housing that is safe and sanitary and tenants have a right to that."