Campus presentation teaches students about tenant rights

On Jan. 21, St. Thomas University brought in two representatives from the province’s Tenancy and Landlord Relations Department to present facts, guides and definitions that every tenant should know before signing a lease. 

The Tenancy and Landlord Relations Department educates both landlords and tenants about their rights. They are also a mediator between them when conflicts cannot be solved between both parties.  

Melody Scott and Melissa Watson were the residential tenancies officers who gave the “Let’s Talk Renting” presentation. 

“Education is power, right?” said Watson. “So the more information that you have, the more knowledge that you have, the better you are, even to maybe resolve the issue yourself outside of our office.”

They mentioned the recent 3 per cent cap on rent increases, which will come into effect on Feb. 1, aims to make housing more affordable and give stability to renters in New Brunswick. 

When the rent cap goes into effect, landlords can only request one rent increase per year on top of a six-month notice before the rent increase takes effect.

Ana Laura Román is an international student from Cuba who has experienced what it is like to rent an apartment in Fredericton. 

She said that it is important for students to know the laws and regulations around renting to protect themselves.

 “They end up being deceived by landlords, or scammed, or getting their money taken away, their deposits not returned and so on,” said Román. 

She shared how she went into a lease contract without knowing anything about it. Román said that the uncertainty about not having all the information she needed caused her a lot of stress in a desperate situation.

“I couldn’t afford to live on campus, so I basically decided to rent in this place without even going to see the house because, if I stayed on campus one more day, they would have charged me like $5,000 so I needed a place to stay.”

Román said that, although talks like these are useful to students, “renting should be one of those very publicized resources” because it’s a “very big deal.”

“I learned more through other people’s experiences,” she said. “So I would just recommend that they branch out and ask other people that have experience with renting alongside talking to Service New Brunswick because they have people specifically who have jobs to answer these kinds of questions.”