Some Montreal landlords are upset about the latest rent estimates released Thursday by the rental board. The cost of heating oil has dropped and landlords are worried that tenants will apply for rent decreases.
Units heated by oil should have a 7.9 per cent rent decrease while rents for gas-heated units should drop by 0.5 per cent per month if landlords are paying the bill, says the board.
Housing advocate Ted Wright of the Westmount Legal Clinic tells CTV News that he met with landlords, some of whom are very worried about the latest estimates.
They say the board's suggestions don't take into account major renovations or municipal tax increases announced in the recent budget.
Wright says some landlords might have to take a hit as early as April, but he stresses that the estimates are not etched in stone.
"The rent increases are suggestions," he told CTV News at Noon.
"You always have the right to negotiate with your landlord, but if you want to do it according to the law, you use the calculation formula."
The calculation formula is updated every year.
