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Granny stunned by $400 rent hike/ n; Y4 H) ~- V1 o, R: _( J
Stelmach's proposal to limit rent increases prompts city landlord to get his all at once
9 T# N( I4 p2 x% z9 N5 L6 Z2 u7 i, _Alexandra Zabjek, The Edmonton Journal* j0 x5 J+ t1 x8 Z1 z: k% }6 i
Published: Friday, April 27, 2007
' ?' p! g0 M% j4 t, W2 w, aEDMONTON - Brianne Hudson wasn't concerned when she received notice of a $20 rent hike last weekend, since she could easily handle the small increase.
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On Tuesday, the day Premier Ed Stelmach proposed new regulations meant to help renters by limiting increases to once a year, Hudson received another notice advising her to "disregard" the first.% c0 }7 F: D5 a/ }' P
) X% B6 P8 V9 hRent for her one-bedroom apartment was now being raised from $675 per month to $1,050 per month, effective Aug. 1, 2007.: f4 }7 ]7 G6 }
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4 s, \/ i ]1 N "I think this shows that the owners of this building are really paying attention to what's happening in this province and are trying to use it to their full advantage," Hudson said. "If they think there will be some legislation that's going to prevent them from making their increases, they're going to try to do it now."9 o- W5 L) K7 d/ x+ u. p
8 ?+ U( u0 V1 u, Z. aHudson, 26, finds it ironic the increase came on the day Stelmach announced a package of plans to ease Alberta's housing crunch. They include such initiatives as $196 million to municipalities for affordable housing and $7 million for a Homeless and Eviction Prevention Fund.
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/ F4 j* u0 J( r: T. h! p0 t$ BIf these plans pass in the legislature, limits on rent increases to once per year would be retroactive to April 24, the day Stelmach made his announcement and Hudson received her second notice of an increase.
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3 f/ s# H4 u$ m2 V: w( QSeveral tenants from the three-storey walk-up building at 106th Street and 107th Avenue gathered in Hudson's apartment on Thursday morning. Some said they might not stay in the building because of the rising rents. Many said the older building simply "isn't worth" the higher rent.% y* M) m/ E! x$ X% r. G
1 C! K. @' V# B7 d"I could understand if this was on the south side of Edmonton where there's lots of activity, but in this building you've got your working-class poor and an older Polish granny who has lived here for 13 years," said Jeannette Gaboury, who has also been notified that rent for her one-bedroom apartment is being hiked to $1,050 per month.- `0 J& w# Q: a2 q4 I* P: \' r
9 M+ V( r: }; aAntonina Bielancska, 86, simply threw up her arms and said, "Too much!"! g) l$ ]0 e ~
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The building's property manager, Paul Jones from Ayre & Oxford Inc., said the second rent increase was a "knee-jerk" reaction to Stelmach's announcement on Tuesday.4 |; g5 u, {+ i' f1 E: Y
. p7 p2 b/ P+ T2 ~6 O0 S"With the new legislation going into effect only allowing one increase per year, certain owners wanted to get it right up to market (value) immediately," Jones said.* C1 @! c; u( h$ ^2 L! B
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"We were initially looking at raising them up on a gradual basis, so it wouldn't be that hard of a hit to bring the rates up to market value."
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5 e( u% X" p8 F0 }9 DJones manages the property on behalf of the owner, who decided on the rent increase. He declined to reveal the owners' identity. However, Jones did not rule out the possibility that the rents could be lowered.4 H5 w3 U- g1 S6 x/ r7 I* B N
7 l4 ~! d6 W1 I; m"We can always change our minds to drop lower, but we can never change our mind to go higher," Jones said.
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Opposition MLAs called the increase and others like it inevitable.. F! `% w" _) u; Q8 s3 C) J
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"It was pretty clear to me that if we didn't put in guidelines or rent stability, that as soon as the announcement came out there was going to be skyrocketing rents," said New Democrat Ray Martin, who sat on the province's affordable housing task force.
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Dave Taylor, the Liberal critic for municipal affairs and housing, said temporary rent controls could have helped prevent drastic increases.* x6 H" O( O- V2 {' c8 V6 L
1 \# Y; ^- `3 G# q! I"That sort of thing should not be allowed to happen," Taylor said. "But the only way that you can stop that sort of thing is by putting some sort of a cap on the amount that landlords can increase rents by."
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* W. h0 R% |. g& H6 XMartin and Taylor said with low vacancy rates and no controls, landlords can charge as much as they want.
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: P k `5 G, z2 v9 `"We never hear about responsible landlords ... but I don't think you can urge restraint on landlords who would willingly double or triple their rents on the basis that the market supports that," Taylor said. "Of course the market supports that when you have a near-zero vacancy rate. What's a tenant to do? Either pay up or move out."$ S& g1 S: l1 ?, l& x
& @, y4 d, X0 U) v1 i9 o Mazabjek@thejournal.canwest.com$ }5 b5 k( P1 z6 G9 n
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© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-4-27 07:42
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