Summary conviction is included in section 23 of the Act and applies to any landlord or tenant who “violates or fails to comply with any order, direction or other requirement of the director or small claims court or contravenes any provision of this act.” It also applies to any landlord who fights back against a tenant who is trying to assert their rights under the deed. It says any person who does so is guilty of an offense punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of up to $1,000. The next section says that no proceedings shall be instituted under section 23 without the consent of the attorney general. The language is clear, but what is not clear in practice is how a landlord or tenant can seek this summary judgment and fine. Celan says the apartment she rents on Jamieson Street in Dartmouth has suffered about thousands of dollars worth of damage from her tenants. (David Laughlin/CBC) Patricia Celan stumbled upon Sections 23 and 24 of the Act while trying to evict tenants who had never paid rent and had given her fraudulent cheques. “I wanted to make sure I was following the act accordingly and I came across it by accident,” he said. “I think most people don’t know that.” Celan and her tenants had a hearing with a housing rental official in July and received an order from the manager that her tenants must pay her the missing rent and vacate the unit. But the tenants didn’t comply, so she tried to go to the Halifax Regional Police for help. “When I called the police they said they don’t do anything related to residential rentals,” he said. “And so I called the Housing Tenancy Board and asked them how to enforce that. And they said they don’t enforce that, that would be something that would be dealt with either through the police or the courts. So I called the courts and they asked how do you enforce that and they did not know”.
The Department says the police could impose the fine
The Department of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services is responsible for the Rental Housing Program and is responsible for its legislation. The department declined CBC’s request for an interview about the summary conviction and fine, but said that because there is no enforcement arm under the program, police could enforce it. “In order for someone to be liable to a fine under section 23 of the Residential Tenancies Act, they must first be charged with an offense under the Act and then found guilty by the courts,” said Blaise Theriault, a spokesman for the department. “Currently, the Rental Housing Program does not have enforcement officers to investigate and lay charges, however, the police could investigate and lay charges.” Services Nova Scotia and Internal Affairs Minister Colton LeBlanc said in late August that his department is still considering a compliance and enforcement division, but the process is taking time.
No convictions
The Department of Justice told CBC News that summary convictions would come from a judicial process and the court would determine the fine. When asked how many times this fine has been used, a representative checked as far back as he could. “We were able to review files dating back to 1990. The Judiciary has not recorded any convictions under section 23 or section 24 of the Act,” department spokesman Peter McLaughlin said.
No investigations were opened
CBC asked the Nova Scotia RCMP how many requests it has had from the public over the past five years to seek this type of summary conviction, and how many times the RCMP has launched an investigation under sections 23 and 24 of the Residential Tenancies Act. Spokesperson Chris Marshall said the RCMP has the power to lay charges under the Residential Tenancies Act if two conditions are met. “A complaint from the director of residential rentals, or from a person named in a small claims court order, must be received by the RCMP, alleging a violation or non-compliance with a small claims court order, and the attorney general must approve the arraignment,” Marshall said. However, he said no investigations have been launched in the past five years. “The RCMP regularly responds to complaints related to landlord/tenant disputes each year in Nova Scotia, however we are not aware of any RCMP investigations related to violations of sections 23 or 24 of the Residential Tenancies Act,” he said. When the CBC asked the same questions to the Halifax Regional Police, a spokesperson would not release any information. Wendy Mansfield asked the CBC to file a freedom of information request. All Mansfield would say is: “We know these issues are generally dealt with through the Residential Tenancies Act process, however, if we received a call of this nature we would look at it on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action.”
“A loophole in the system”
In the end, Celan didn’t have to use the summary offense option. Her tenants failed to appear in a small claims court appeal they had started and the appeal was dismissed. This confirmed the manager’s order she had received earlier, and she said the tenants moved out of her apartment in the first week of September. But she believes her experience shows there is “a loophole in the system” that allows some tenants or landlords to continue to flout the rules. “If you go to the police and ask for enforcement, they point you to the Residential Tenancies Board,” he said. “And if you show the housing rent board and ask them to enforce it, they don’t know how to enforce it and suggest going to the police or going to court and nobody knows. “And that’s exactly the loophole that lets people get away with it time and time again.”
