A family that has lived for eight years in a duplex in the Parc-Extension district in Montreal risks being put on the streets for a bureaucratic “silliness” of the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL).
“I just forgot to upload proof that I had in my hands! It’s really complicated with NLP. If we forget a little something, we are in the street, ”says Mr. Boudjemaa, the tenant of a 5 and a half on avenue Beaumont where he lives with his wife and their three children aged 14, 12 and 5. .
In December, he received an eviction notice: the new owner of the duplex wanted to expand the accommodation that he and his family have occupied since 2013.
“I pay $ 510 per month. I was offered $ 20,000 provided I leave on the 1is April, ”continues the man who does not want to leave his apartment he loves.
The family thus decided to oppose the eviction. The father sent a refusal document by email to TAL, which he then forwarded to his owner by registered mail. “I saw on the Canada Post site that he had recovered it on January 7,” said Boudjemaa, who printed the notification.
Since 1is September, the TAL, which replaced the Régie du logement after its reform, requires that the tenant file on its website the notification from Canada Post proving that the owner has received the eviction refusal document. He has 45 days to do so.
” The folder [de la famille] was therefore closed on February 12 because of administrative silliness, denounces the head of the Housing Committee of La Petite-Patrie, Martin Blanchard. Before, we could file this evidence directly in court. “
And according to him, this case would be “absolutely not” isolated. “At the end of January, I already had another tenant in the same situation. It took away all motivation. He abandoned the process, continues Mr. Blanchard.
TAL spokesperson Denis Miron confirmed to the Journal that “the Tribunal ensure to inform […] new rules including those governing the notification of requests ”.
But Mr. Boudjemaa “was never informed that his file was going to be closed without having the right to a hearing”, nuance Mr. Blanchard.
Andrés Fontecilla, solidarity deputy for the Laurier-Dorion constituency where the family lives, also believes that this procedure is “contrary to the support mandate of the TAL”.
“Why not send a little warning to tenants to let them know when the 45-day period is over?” Parc-Extension is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Canada. This family will have to go into exile elsewhere and pay a much higher rent, ”he pleads.
The TAL makes no secret of it, it “must ensure accountability for established targets”, under the Public Administration Act (LAP).
“The avowed objective of the last reform [du TAL] was to speed up procedures and settle the greatest number of disputes, notes Mr. Fontecilla. That induces the imperative to close files. “
Mr. Boudjemaa has opened a new request to the TAL to “lift the expiration” of his old file. “I had to pay $ 80, but at least we have a chance to go to court,” he says.
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