[nagdu] Tenant Rights
Tamara Smith-Kinney
tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Wed Mar 11 22:50:31 UTC 2009
Heather,
Just wanted to mention that I looked into things from that perspective, too,
only to find pet-friendly apartments were way more expensive -- in addition
to the official pet deposit I would officially not have to pay for my guide
dog.
A sucky housing market where landlords and management company are allowed to
flaunt the law and do because they know they can get away with makes for
tough decision making when all you want is a place to live like everybody
else.
Hang in there!
Tami Smith-Kinney
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Heather Hutchison
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 8:02 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Tenant Rights
Hi all,
Thanks to everyone for your advice and words of encouragement.
My comment about pet friendly rental units was to mean that it would
be easier to apply to rent there without getting into a fight, not
that I was viewing my guide dog as a pet.
Section 4 of the BC Guide Animal act says:
(2) A person must not
(a) deny to a person with a disability a rental unit or manufactured
home site advertised or otherwise represented as available for
occupancy by a tenant, or
(b) impose a term or condition on a person with a disability for the
tenancy of a rental unit or manufactured home site if that term or
condition discriminates
because of the disability or because the person with the disability
intends to keep a guide animal in the rental unit or manufactured home
site.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the advertisement or
representation specifies occupancy of the rental unit may entail
sharing sleeping, bathroom or cooking facilities in the space with a
person from another family.
The BC Residential Tenancy Act states a similar thing and says that if
discrimination of this type does occur to contact the BC Human Rights
Tribunal for a hearing, which I have now done.
I can't find any mention of the property having to be a certain number
of suites in the applicable laws of BC, so I'm not sure that it
applies here. I guess their concern was with my dog interacting with
the other dog on the property, though this would not happen as it is a
completely separate suite from where the other dog lives, and we
assured them multiple times that she would not be running free in the
common areas harassing the other dog and relieving wherever she wanted
to. So that leaves me to wonder if there was a different concern
entirely about the presence of my dog (perhaps even myself... people
are still so misinformed).
Does this seem to be a valid case?
I am also thinking of contacting media outlets. Of course I no
longer wish to live in this place, but I'd like to try and use these
people and this situation as an example to educate landlords that this
isn't acceptable. It is all too common here.
I did really weigh the option of not telling them about my guide dog,
but I felt that if there was going to be an issue it would probably
happen either way. I think I will try not informing the landlord about
my dog when I go look at the next apartment (though I'm none too eager
to repeat an incident like this).
Again thanks for all of your support.
Heather with Bibby
On 9-Mar-09, at 9:50 AM, Nicole B. Torcolini wrote:
> JMO, I would rather tell the person up front and deal with any
> problems
> before getting there rather than showing up with my guide dog and
> being
> turned away. Definitely don't let this one go, though. They need to
> know
> that this is not acceptable. Your guide dog is not just some pet;
> it's a
> mobility aide.
> Interesting how sometimes guide dogs attract people while at other
> times
> they cause people to turn away. I wonder how the apartment owners
> would have
> responded if you had told them that you were blind, but not
> mentioned the
> dog.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julie J." <jlcrane at alltel.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 5:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Tenant Rights
>
>
> Heather,
>
> This is most definitely allowed on this list! I'm glad you asked
> for help
> with this. I hope Marion will be able to assist you in getting it
> straightened out.
>
> Have you thought about not mentioning that you have a guide dog in
> advance?
> Here, in the U.S., we are not required to notify a business in
> advance of
> our disability or guide dog. It doesn't eliminate problems, but at
> least I
> can deal with them in person. *smile*
>
> I hope you find the perfect apartment very soon, best of luck!
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Heather Hutchison" <heather at heather-hutchison.com>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 5:24 PM
> 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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>
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