Information for tenants in Nova Scotia

 

Tenants' Rights Guide

Community Clinics

One on one legal information for tenants

Forms

Who we are and how to contact us

 

RENT:

THE LAW

Ÿ         You must pay your rent on time

o     A late charge for late rent can be no more than 1% of your rent per month. (Example: if your rent is $500, a late fee can be no more than $5 a month).

Rental Increases:

 Ÿ         Your landlord CANNOT raise your rent for 12 months after you enter a rental agreement. A landlord can only raise the rent once every 12 months. This applies to all types of leases.

Ÿ         Your landlord MUST give you proper notice.

Notice for Rental Increase:

Lease

Notice

Yearly

4 months

Monthly

4 months

Weekly

8 weeks

   

How much can the rent be raised??

As much as the landlord wants!! There are no restrictions on how much a landlord can raise the rent.

NOTE: These rules about rental increases DO NOT apply to public housing (see Public Housing).

 

Services:

If your landlord stops giving you a service (like heat, garbage removal, electricity) it is considered a rental increase. To stop any of these services your landlord must follow the same rules as rental increases.

If your landlord stops any service illegally see Maintenance, Services & Repairs)

 

REALITY

Landlords want to make money. Some landlords will try raising your rent whenever possible to make more money. A large rental increase will often cause a tenant to move out.

 

THINGS TO TRY

*             If the landlord raises the rent more than once a year or doesn’t give you proper notice, refuse to pay the extra rent. You can make a complaint to Residential Tenancies about this.

*             For all other rental increases- ORGANIZE!!!

*             It is not right that the landlord can raise the rent once a year with no limit.

*             If your landlord is raising your rent beyond what you can pay you should fight back and organize with other tenants.  

*             Let your landlord know that raising the rent more than people can afford is unacceptable. No one should put people out of their homes (or out of enough money to buy food or other things) in order to make a bigger profit.

*             Pressure the Ministry of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations to change the Act and re-institute the Rent Review Act which put a limit on how much rent could be raised. See Tenant Organizing section for more ideas.

 

The information on this site contains general legal information only and is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional or other legal advice.  Further, this guide only applies to Residential Tenancies in Nova Scotia. 
Last updated: November 19, 2006.