Fixed-term lease loophole must close, says legal aid worker

More tenants reporting unfair use of fixed term leases

CITYnews halifax\ Adam Inniss

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A worker at Dalhousie Legal aid, who gives professional advice to renters in Halifax, says more and more people are reporting unfair uses of fixed-term leases.

A fixed-term lease is a lease with a set end date. The end date is decided by the landlord and is a small detail attached to an otherwise standard lease.

“We’re seeing more people signing a new lease and not realizing it’s a fixed-term until it gets close to ending,” says Joanne Hussey, community legal worker with Dalhousie Legal Aid Service

Fixed-term leases are meant to be used when someone will be leaving at a given time. But lately, they’re being abused to avoid Nova Scotia’s 2 per cent rent cap.

The 2 per cent rent cap applies to the same tenant living in the same unit. When a fixed-term lease ends, if a tenant signs a new lease in the unit, the landlord can not raise the rent more than 2 per cent. But the landlord can just not offer a new lease.

“It’s up to your landlord whether or not they want to sign a new lease with you, and they don’t have to provide any reason to not offer a renewal,” said Hussey.

Hussey says tenants are often not offered a new lease for challenging an illegal rent increase, and there is nothing they can do about it.

“Sometimes they’re told they can stay in the building but have to move to a new unit, all to get around the cap.”

Many of the complaints about this loophole come from students, but they’re not the only ones affected.

“Seniors who have been living in the same unit for years are being asked to sign a new lease and don’t realize they’ve agreed to leave, and they have nowhere to go,” said Hussey.

The vacancy rate in Halifax is 1 per cent, for affordable units it’s closer to 0.6 per cent.

Hussey says the province must find a way to close this fixed-term lease loophole. She says in BC fixed-term leases exist, but landlords and tenants both sign the end date portion of the lease. She also says a more consistent rent cap should be applied, with an appeal process built in for landlords.

Nova Scotia’s 2 per cent rent cap is set to end in December of 2023.