Improving Landlord Procedures During Capital Work in Order To Avoid Rent Abatements
When landlords undertake capital work, the procedures for informing tenants are improved. Landlords must provide 60 days notice to tenants in advance of the capital work. The notice must describe the nature, impact, and expected duration of the work. Landlords must provide updates to tenants when circumstances change, and inform prospective tenants of the proposed work before they move in.
The level of rent abatement permitted where the landlord does not follow proper procedures and the disturbance to the tenant is not excessive, is raised to 25%. Larger rent abatements can still be ordered for improper work procedures, where the disturbance to the tenant is excessive.
Rent Discounts – Conditions for Taking Discounts and Additional Discounts
The legislation states that a landlord may offer a tenant a rent discount of up to 3 months rent, taken as rent-free periods. (It also allows a discount of up to 2% for prompt payment.)
As an alternative to the 3 months discount, a landlord has the option to offer one of the two following discounts: one month’s rent spread over up to 8 months; or one month’s rent spread over up to 7 months plus 1 additional month to be taken as a rent-free month.
Rules Relating to Reduction in Services
If a service or facility is discontinued under reasonable circumstances, the rent reduction continues to be based on the actual cost to the landlord of the service or facility, in most circumstances.
If a service or facility is discontinued in an unreasonable manner, the Landlord and Tenant Board is required to consider the value of the services when determining the amount of the reduction. This consideration includes the tenant’s cost to replace the services, as well as the effect of the change on the tenant.
Automatic Rent Reductions when Municipal Taxes Decrease
In cases where municipal taxes decrease, there are percentage ratios of property taxes to rent revenues. These are used to determine the amount of automatic rent reductions in notices sent out by municipalities.
The percentage used for large buildings (seven or more units) is 20% and the percentage for small buildings (six or fewer units) is 15%. This reflects the different assessment values and property tax rates for large and small buildings on a province-wide basis.