By paNOW

Regina landlords urge use of internal tentant "blacklist"

Dec 11, 2012 | 11:54 PM

Causing a problem for landlords in one city in Saskatchewan could mean you’ll have trouble finding a place in another.

During a Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association (SRHIA) luncheon in Regina Tuesday the landlord lobby group’s executive director encouraged local members to take advantage of a tenant registry featured on its web site.

It’s an effort some landlords in Regina have been seeking for some time; some property owners have suggested tenants should be registered instead of landlords since tenants are the ones who cause damage. They argue a registry would ensure tenants are more accountable for the damage they cause while living in a home. Several landlords at the meeting stressed to Justice Minister Gord Wyant (who is also responsible for the Office of Residential Tenancies) and ORT director Dale Beck that the damage deposits they collect, equivalent to one month’s rent, are often insufficient to repair the damage some tenants inflict on their property.

During a question and answer segment Wyant insisted the province doesn’t plan to look at such a policy. But SRHIA executive director Paula Simon says the association’s version already exists.

“If they’re on that list they usually know why,” she explained to News Talk Radio after the session had ended. The idea is that a landlord that has had problems with a tenant can access a members-only section of the SRHIA web site and post their name as a warning to others that they could be a risk. Simon feels it’s a valuable resource, especially when it comes to damaged units.

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“They think that they leave and they’re anonymous, the just go on to the next one. But when they knock on the next landlord’s door for a place to stay and they see their name, what a shock.”

Simon feels it’s an additional kind of background check that landlords can make before entrusting their property to a person. She’s adamant that anyone who has trouble finding a place to rent or feels their name shouldn’t be on the list can make an effort to have it removed.

“I simply ask them to contact the landlord that put their name there and find out why from them and make restitution and then ask to have their names removed.”

But she points out that it isn’t an explicit blacklist either; landlords can use the registry to recommend good tenants as well.

Simon sees no issue with practice, insisting that a good tenant has nothing to worry about.
The director of the office of residential tenancies says he was caught off-guard when Simon revealed the registry’s existence at the luncheon. Dale Beck confirms he didn’t even know it existed before Tuesday. He says he hasn’t heard any complaints about the registry and isn’t sure what action his office might undertake if they received any. He does note that the registry doesn’t violate the Freedom Of Information and Protection Of Privacy Act that would likely prevent the government from keeping such a list.

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