How one woman challenged her rent increase and won

Judy Duffy didn't know what to do when she got hit with a big rent increase.

She had rented an apartment in the Cornwall area of P.E.I. for about eight years with no problems. But shortly after the property was sold, she was hit with added expenses that used to be included in the rent including internetaccess, grass cutting, and snow clearing.

Then in December, her new landlord notified her that the rent would be going upfrom $565 to $700 a month, effectiveFeb. 1, 2018.

I was a bull in the china shop and I wasn't letting go.Judy Duffy

That's an increase about24 per cent the allowable increase for her apartment set by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) was between 1.5and 1.75 per cent for 2018.

"It wasn't nice, it leaves you very unsure the unknown feeling," said Duffy.

"Whathappened to me is wrong," Duffy said.

Challenging the increase

Duffy, 63, paid the higher rent for a few months, then decided to challenge theincrease withthe residential rental propertydivision ofIRACin May 2018.

"I was a bull in the china shop and I wasn't letting go," said Duffy.

She won herchallenge and the landlord, Kayla Pitre, was ordered to pay Duffy $800 to cover the unauthorized rent increase and the costs she incurred paying forinternet.

Pitreappealed, but in Octoberthe commission again ruled in Duffy's favour.

According tothe appeal decisionposted on IRAC'swebsite,her former landlord alteredthe standard rental increase form to removethesection that outlined what increases are allowed under P.E.I. rent controls.

'Rather intimidating'

In its decision, IRACincluded the landlord's evidence that she "was not educated about the rules," that she was a first-time homeowner and renting out a property for the first timeas well.

Sometimes tenants don't know their rights and sometimes landlords don't know the law. Jennifer Perry, IRAC

"I did win, and the decision was upheld with IRAC that they indeed had to pay me back my money," said Duffy.

"It's wrongto give someone a written notice, deface the form, take out the portion that says what the allowable rent increase is, and say if you don't pay this somebody else will. That's rather intimidating," she said.

Duffy said the court-like hearing wasan intimidating process, as was the language used in the decisions.

"Try to decipher the lingo in their orders, you would have to be a lawyer," she said.

Growing number of complaints

Jennifer Perry, the acting director of residential rental property with IRAC, said rental appeal hearings are similar to small claims court.

"We'd like to think that we're very user friendly," Perry said, adding that her office gets about 600 requests each year from landlords and tenants.

"Sometimes tenants don't know their rights and sometimes landlords don't know the law," she said.

Her office is seeing more appeals, she said, likelydue to the shortage of rentals availableand because people are looking for more time to deal with evictions.

Number of appeals has doubled

In the past couple of years, she estimates the number of appeals has doubled fromsix to 12 per cent of the orders issued by her office.

Perry saidher office doesn't police or investigate properties to make sure landlords and tenants are following the rules.Instead, it holds hearings tosettle disputes between landlords and tenants.

"We're a complaint-driven system," Perry said, adding theoffice tries to negotiate, mediate and settle matters when possible.

"I always throwout to the parties, 'Is there any way to settle this matter?'" Perry said.

"You just don't want to see people evicted. It's very difficult," she said.

The P.E.I. government has recently requested a review ofIRACto see if legislative changes are needed to provide better protections for tenants and landlords.

Won challenge, lost apartment

Duffy saidshe believes tenants need better protections.

"If it's happening to me, it's definitely happening to other people as well," shesaid."There has to be tougher regulations."

Although she won her rent increase challenge, Duffy lost her apartment.

Her landlord handed her an eviction notice in May 2018, saying she needed the apartment for a relative one of the reasonsIRACallows for evictions.

Duffy missed the deadline of filing her challenge of that eviction within 10 days, so she started searching for a new place to live.

She said as a senior on a limitedincomewith a small dog, therewere very few affordable options.

Most apartments that were available ranged from $1,200 to $1,500 a month far more than she can afford.

She's staying in a friend's basement for now.

CBCNews contacted Duffy's former landlord but Pitre said she's no longer a landlord and had no further comment.

She has givenDuffy the $800 IRAC ordered her to pay.

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