According to the Corporation of Property Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ), Responsible Owner Certification, which the City of Montreal plans to implement, will cause more problems than it solves.
“You have to look at the sources of a problem before legislating. By providing coercive responses, we are not going in the right direction,” argued Benoit Ste-Marie, CEO of CORPIQ.
He was reacting on the sidelines of the hearing of briefs for Certification, which will take place on Wednesday at the Commission on Economic and Urban Development and Housing of the City of Montreal.
Announced by the Plante administration in February, after it promised it during the election campaign, the measure will force owners of buildings with eight or more units to obtain certification before being able to rent their units.
In particular, the City will require proof of adequate maintenance of the building. The purpose of the Certification is to supervise negligent owners and to promote the preventive maintenance of buildings, in order in particular to reduce the number of unsanitary dwellings.
“To solve his problems there, it takes the collaboration of the tenant. In large part, if we don’t have it, it’s due to mental health problems,” said Mr. Ste-Marie.
According to him, the majority of problems that tenants may face are resolved quickly by landlords.
“The owners make an adequate management of their building. Some cases are brought to the Régie. You can intervene with people who are negligent, but they are already doing it,” said Mr. Ste-Marie.
Most of the health problems are more related to a question of “human behavior”, according to him. He reiterates his observation that a large part is due to cases of mental health. “It requires a human solution, involving more community organizations,” he gave as an example.
On the side of the official opposition at City Hall, it is estimated that the certification “completely misses the mark”.
“We cannot ignore their criticisms which raise important questions about the level of preparation of this administration before tabling its plan. We do not see how the administration will be able to move forward without major changes to their initial plan,” said Sonny Moroz, opposition housing spokesman.
At the time of posting, it had not been possible to have a reaction from the City.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com