CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — With no registry in place keeping track of Island rents, a P.E.I. woman is taking matters into her own hands to start one.
Darcie Lanthier said a searchable database is in the works to help tenants in P.E.I. figure out what they should be paying for rent.
“It shouldn’t be secret,” she said.
In P.E.I., the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) puts a limit on how much landlords are able to increase rent, which they can only do once a year.
Rent is attached to the unit and not the tenant, but landlords can apply to increase it beyond the allowable limit.
Lanthier said the planned rental database, which she hopes will be up and running within the next few weeks, will be based on addresses, which is public information.
People who submit information will be asked if they consent to giving their contact information.
Former tenants can also submit signed leases for rental units.
Once the database is up, Lanthier said she hoped a non-governmental organization will take it over.
Lanthier said housing has been allowed to become a commodity in P.E.I. instead of a basic human right.
“Landlords are just operating with impunity because it’s very difficult to find out what the previous tenant paid,” she said.
More than a year ago, the legislature passed a motion calling for the creation of an online searchable registry, but so far, the government hasn’t created one.
Social Development and Housing Minister Brad Trivers recently said he has been discussing the creation of a registry with IRAC staff.
He also said funds have been committed for a study on the creation of a registry but didn’t provide a timeline for its completion.
Aside from the registry, Lanthier has already been working to help tenants determine if their landlord has been following the allowable rent increases.
In February, she started printing cards people can fill out with the amount they were paying in rent at their former apartment and send to the unit’s current tenants.
The goal is to let tenants know if what they’re paying falls within IRAC’s allowable increase.
Lanthier said when she posted a picture of one of the cards on the My Old Apartment Twitter account, it gained more than 10,000 followers in the first week.
“It’s just mind-blowing,” she said.
Lanthier said the first card that went out showed a tenant they were being charged $300 a month more than the allowable rent and had paid $5,400 more than they should have.
“That’s a life-changing amount for a parent with a young family,” she said.
For more information on the tenant cards and the rental registry Lanthier is starting visit myoldapartment.org.
Ryan Ross is a reporter with The Guardian. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @ryanrross.
