The Québec Landlords Association (APQ) has studied the draft provisions of
Bill 131 and encourages the Québec Legislature to adopt them without delay

MONTREAL, Nov. 12 /CNW Telbec/ - The Québec Landlords Association (APQ) welcomes the proposed modifications to the Act respecting the Québec Rental Board contained in the draft of Bill 131 filed at the Québec National Assembly by Minister Laurent Lessard.

These new provisions are aimed at among other things, abuse of procedure and declaring a party foreclosed from filing further actions, which is one of the many problems currently facing the Québec Rental Board.

The modifications to the law, if adopted as drafted, deal with the following subjects :

• The administrative judge will have the power to issue interim orders: for example, this may be used to order a tenant to pay his or her rent pending judgement.
• Application of the rule of proportionality of recourses: the judge will have the power to refuse to allow a party to continue to file proceedings which constitute an abuse of procedure.
• Retraction: the Rental Board's administrative judges will at last be empowered to declare a party foreclosed from filing further proceedings in the event that they abusively and repeatedly file requests for retraction of judgement with the sole intention of staying the execution of a judgement in their disfavor.

The APQ is especially pleased to see that the widespread problem of repeated requests for retraction has attracted the Québec government's attention to the point of addressing the issue in this draft bill. Additionally, it is important to emphasize that the Québec Rental Board may, even in absence of a request by one of the parties, declare  a party foreclosed from filing further actions if the Board views that they are filing proceedings abusively.

« The Rental Board is an administrative tribunal where the vast majority of parties are small-scale landlords. These landlords are not always well versed in court procedure and may fall victim  to procedural abuses, such as repeated requests by a tenant for retraction of judgement » according to APQ President, Martin Messier.

The draft bill also raises the issue of retroactivity of the law. Until the law is adopted, hopefully without delay, it will be up to each administrative judge to decide in each case before them whether to declare a party foreclosed before the bill is adopted, or to let the abusive circumstances to continue.

« Many landlords are at odds with abusive tenants. We hope that the administrative judges will begin to render judgements extending to foreclosure beginning immediately. Thanks to the retroactivity provisions included in the draft bill, no Rental Board judgements declaring a party foreclosed cannot be invalidated» adds Martin Messier.

« We encourage the government to vote this bill into law as quickly as possible so as to limit the harm to landlords. Of course, the APQ is also asking the government to review numerous aspects of the Rental Board in a wider reform due to a need for major changes, not least of all to the rules governing how rents are determined, but in so far as dealing with the most pressing issues, we believe that this draft bill is the best course of action to settle the issue quickly » states the APQ.

Founded in 1984, the Québec Landlords Association (APQ) is the most important association of its kind in Québec serving residential landlords in all regions of the province.

For further information:

Source: Estelle Fabre, Communications co-ordinator (514-436-7640) [email protected]
For information: Martin Messier (514-382-9670, ext. 201) www.apq.org