[nagdu] Tenant Rights

Fri Mar 13 16:06:38 UTC 2009

Tami,

Thanks for pointing that out. That's what I noticed as well, that or  
the places are really unsafe. Also in Vancouver, due to the lack of  
space a lot of houses are converted into apartments with from anywhere  
from two to six suites. These are usually much cheaper and easier to  
find than apartments here. Again that makes it difficult if the law  
about a landlord not having to rent if there are four or less suites  
in the building tricky as well. I don't want to have to pay more to  
live in an apartment and wait much longer for one to become available  
just because I have a dog. Fortunately I don't think that law applies  
here. *sigh* It's all frustrating.

Heather
On 11-Mar-09, at 3:50 PM, Tamara Smith-Kinney wrote:

> 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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