From a release
HALIFAX: NDP Leader Claudia Chender announced her party’s commitment to create a compliance and enforcement unit for resolving tenant-landlord disputes.
“Right now, the vacancy rate in Nova Scotia is at one per cent. If a landlord isn’t maintaining their property, renters don’t feel like they have any options,” said Chender. “The vacuum in leadership from the provincial government is fueling a system that hurts Nova Scotians.
“Far too often, renters are having to fight large landlords who have a team of lawyers at their disposal. The disparity in power is often huge; the current system isn’t balanced or fair.”
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For years, both landlord associations and tenants’ rights groups have been calling for an enforcement system, claiming that the province doesn’t have the necessary resources to manage disputes.
Chender said Tim Houston’s government commissioned a $300,000 report to recommend how to create an enforcement unit responsible for resolving landlord-tenant issues across the province similar to the systems currently in place in B.C. and Ontario.
However, the Conservative government chose to ignore those recommendations.
“An NDP government will make sure that renters are empowered and protected. And that small landlords have the support they need,” said Chender.
“We’re going to put in place a compliance and enforcement unit so that both renters and landlords have somewhere to turn when there are differences that need to be resolved urgently.
“This program would be available across the province so, no matter where you live, renters and small landlords can expect fairness and support.”
