[nagdu] Tenant Rights

Pickrell, Rebecca M (IT) REBECCA.PICKRELL at ngc.com
Mon Mar 9 15:38:09 UTC 2009


Hi there. 
You've mixed up pet friendly v. guide dog. 
Figure out which yours is and act acordingly. 
Also, know that, and I'm thinking of U.S. law because I don't know
Canadian, that depending on the type of unit, the landlord does not have
to accept guide dogs. If the unit is made up of four or less living
spaces, the landlord does not have to rent to you. 
You may have a case though if the other dog you mention belongs to a
tennant. 
What I'd suggest you do is talk to whoever governs landlords in your
neck of the woods, and bring statuteswith you when you do. You should be
able to Google for this info. 
Lastly, thing long and hard if you want to rent from these people. They
have the potential to make your life miserable. 
You may have better luck if you tried apartments, which doesn't sound
like this situation is. 
I'm sorry, it isn't fair for this to be happening   

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Heather Hutchison
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 5:24 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Tenant Rights

Hi all,

My apologies if this isn't allowed because I live in British Columbia,
Canada, but I was wondering if I could get some general input on what to
do about being discriminated against due to the presence of my guide dog
in applying for a rental unit.

An acquaintance of my boyfriend was moving out of her apartment and we
decided it would be a great area and a perfect place for us to live in,
so we contacted the landlords (a husband and wife) to set up a viewing
(we've seen the place before, but to do it officially). She set up a
time the next morning for us to come and view the suite. My boyfriend
mentioned the fact that I have a guide dog (not as a question of if it
would be alright, but simply to state a fact) and everything changed.
She said she would have to check with her husband and quickly hung up.
She called back and left a message specifically stating that because
there was another dog on the premises (these are completely separate
units though) that because of my dog, we would not be considered to rent
the suite. We have kept this message. We called her to try and explain
the law (the guide animal act of British Columbia states that it is
illegal to discriminate against a person with a disability because of
their intent to keep a service animal in the rental unit unless
sleeping, cooking or bathroom facilities are
shared) but she would not listen. She put her husband on the phone and
he proceeded to be incredibly rude, screaming that they did not have to
accept a guide dog, essentially that the law was wrong. He said they
weren't even having viewings (which is incorrect because we had
previously had an appointment for that same day until they found out
about my dog). He then said we could come look at it if we really wanted
but that we wouldn't get it anyways. He said they were being threatened
when we said we would take legal action. One last time we tried to read
him the act, but he hung up in the middle of it.

What should I do? I am having a very difficult time finding a place to
live (I've heard every excuse in the book) and I'm tired of people
blatantly ignoring the law. It is very difficult to find pet friendly
suites in Vancouver and they are almost impossible to get into because
they are in such high demand. I filled out a human rights complaint but
have not sent it yet. Anything else I should do? Should I pursue this?

Thank you very much in advance for any input you might have.

Heather with Bibby

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