Claude Chamberland, lawyer
Q: Hello Master Chamberland. I own a small apartment building and sometimes I have problems with tenants leaving me with months of rent. Friends suggested that I hire a company that investigates tenant backgrounds but I read that may not be legal. Can you tell me what information can I get from my future tenants? -A.R.
A: Hello Madam AR, as usual in the practice of law, the courts must draw the line between two very legitimate positions, which in this case is the right of the owner of a home to obtain data. relevant and necessary to assess the candidacy of a potential tenant, versus the right of the prospective tenant to the protection of his privacy. Traditionally, since a decision of the Commission d’Accès à l’Information (CAI) rendered in 2003, it was not allowed for a landlord to require from the candidate tenant information such as the social insurance number, the occu -pation, the employer, his contact details and the number of years in his employment, the annual salary, the name and contact details of the bank branch, the specimen check, the driver’s license number, the brand, the color and the license plate number of his car. It was then judged that at the initial contact with a candidate tenant, only his last name, first name and telephone number, as well as the names and contact details of the lessor of the dwellings occupied by this candidate were necessary to establish his payment habits and his past behavior.
However, more recently, the Court of Quebec welcomed an appeal to stop a rental housing company from collecting unnecessary information from the applicant / tenant, including their social insurance number, the name of their employer, their salary and contact details of his financial institution. According to the Court of Quebec, the order of the CAI is unreasonable in relation to its conclusion which has the effect of hindering the pursuit of the legitimate purposes of establishing a file on a tenant occupying a dwelling, with relevant data necessary to assess his candidacy, while protecting the privacy of that person.
How then do we navigate all of this? It is obvious that in the current context of housing shortage, in particular in the metropolitan area, owners may be tempted to take advantage of the situation and have questionnaires prepared in which a host of non-essential information is drawn up. -sement of a viable contractual relationship are requested from their potential tenants. It’s not a good idea. Even if the courts did not allow the CAI to proceed with the specific prohibitions it wanted to formulate, I urge the owners to exercise caution since in the last resort it will be up to the Administrative Court of Housing to assess on a case-by-case basis, the legality of the information requested and to sanction non-compliance accordingly. What can we ask for in this case? In my opinion, only information directly linked to the payment habits and previous behavior of a candidate tenant can be required, unless this person himself presents elements to this effect to « promote his application » which does not it is not forbidden …