What are Additional Rent Increases for Capital Expenditures (ARI-C)?
An ARI-C is a process that allows a landlord to increase the rent of their existing tenants to cover the costs of maintaining and renovating the property. The rent increases never go away, they compound year after year, and there is often no way to appeal the decision. The housing affordability crisis persists in British Columbia, with many renters spending a large portion of their income on rent. These rent increases pose yet another threat to affordable rental housing, most strongly impacting long-term tenants, families, immigrants, and seniors.
Are you going through an ARI-C and looking for how to fight it? Click here.
What People Say
Tenants
Rather grotesquely the ARI-C allows a landlord to keep profiting indefinitely after the expense has been fully recovered. More dishearteningly, the only avenue of appeal is an RTB hearing where the burden of defence is on the renter, which is untenable without lawyers or any power to get documentation from the landlord. We went through the dispute resolution process recently, and even with the help of a legal advocate from TRAC who made a cogent case in our defence (and weak testimony from the landlord), we lost. Assuming current rent-increase limits hold, tenants facing the full burden of ARI-C would be looking at a nearly 21% net increase in rent after 3 years.
Your landlord could be using bad-faith accounting or other tricks to throw in expenses that are from before the deadline, combining expenses that qualify with expenses that don't, or obfuscating things under technical legal terms. These could get thrown out by the Residential Tenancy Branch, but landlords often get away with it when tenants miss their hearings or don't provide evidence, and get ruled against by default.
When we first got the notices, we were confused as to how this was even legal. Isn't this what we pay rent for already? As we went through the process and received the rest of the landlord's evidence, we discovered they were trying to charge us for items such as art for the lobby and their own office furniture! Despite three days of hearings and almost 1000 pages of evidence, these items and many others were approved by the arbitrator, and there is no way to challenge that decision.
The Press
Where to Sign the Petition
The requirements set by the BC Legislature for accepting petitions include, among other things, that the petition be delivered in handwritten paper documents. In late April and early May we collected signatures in Vancouver's West End, and submitted our petition on May 7, 2024 with more than 750 signatures. You can watch MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert present it in the Legislature on May 15, 2024, and read the petition here.
To maintain pressure on policymakers, we're urging concerned citizens to contact their elected representatives. By sending letters highlighting the flaws in the current regulation and emphasizing the need for immediate action, you can ensure this critical issue remains at the forefront of political discourse. Remember, our officials have the power to implement solutions at any time - your voice can be the catalyst for change.