These days, given the current real estate crisis, any issue related to your dwelling takes on particular importance.

 

As tenants, you have many rights under the law.

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Please do not hesitate to contact us to protect your rights as a tenant.

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This is especially true if you have received, or know someone who has :

• Has received a notice of repossession of his/her dwelling for an authorization hearing to be held by the Tribunal administratif du logement.

 

• If, after leaving your dwelling following a repossession, you find that your landlord has not done what was mentioned in the notice for which you left your dwelling.

 

A repossession carried out in bad faith by a landlord—i.e. without doing what was mentioned in the repossession notice—is very severely punished. Unfortunately, this happens far too often.

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To help you in such a situation, we offer this type of case on a percentage basis of the outcome (negotiated settlement or judgment obtained). Please contact us if you think this applies to you.

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For information purposes, and without giving legal advice on a given situation, did you know that...

• Rent:  when entering into a lease, the landlord must give the new tenant a notice indicating the lowest rent paid during the 12 months preceding the start of the lease. If the notice contains a false statement, or if the landlord knowingly fails to provide the notice, the tenant may request that the landlord be ordered to pay punitive damages. This is known as clause “G” of the lease: 

  • To exercise your right to have the rent fixed in this way, you must file your application with the Tribunal administratif du logement within two months of entering into the lease.

 

• Language of the lease:  the lease and the by-laws of the immovable shall be drawn up in French. They may, however, be drawn up in another language at the express wish of the parties.

 

• Specific clauses:  if you have such clauses in your lease, please do not hesitate to contact us:

  • Clauses limiting/exonerating the landlord's liability and those assigning liability to a tenant for damage caused through no fault of his or her own are illegal.
     

  • Clauses stipulating a penalty that exceeds the value of the loss actually suffered by the lessor may be reduced.
     

  • The landlord may not refuse to enter into a lease with a person or to maintain the person in his or her rights, or impose more onerous conditions on the person for the sole reason that the person is pregnant or has one or several children, unless the refusal is warranted by the size of the dwelling.
     

• Inviolability of one’s home:  the landlord cannot enter your home without your consent. Unless there is an emergency, he must give the tenant 24 hours' notice of his intention to check the condition of the dwelling, carry out work on it or show it to a potential buyer.

  • The right to privacy and protection of the home is severely sanctioned when a landlord enters your home without your consent or knowledge.