We Invite BC Tenants To Join Us In An Important Conversation On How To Improve the BC Rental Industry

An amazing group known as OK Pets BC has worked hard to get an important message out about tenants and pets.  Thanks to the hard work of OK Pets BC it’s become known that in British Columbia many tenants are having to give up a family member (their pet) just to rent an apartment.

According to OK Pets BC our province of British Columbia has a huge shortage of rental housing that is open to tenants with pets. In BC lease terms such as “no pets” are legal and can discriminate against pet owners.

Dogs and Cats Are Being Abandoned Because of No Pet Lease Terms?

This is a question many small British Columbia landlords asked us when we informed them about what OK Pets BC told us.

The answer is Yes. The British Columbia SPCA says that thousands of animals were turned into shelters because of no pet policies by landlords. That’s an average of about five pets per day! It also doesn’t count all the pets dropped off at non SPCA locations.

Small BC Landlords Were Unaware of This and Many Are Really, Really Angry

In British Columbia landlords can charge a two week damage deposit if tenants have pets. So why do many landlords still refuse applicants who admit they have pets?  We can hear the most radical activists should “Landlords Hate Animals!” and “Landlords Just Want To Abuse The Powerful Position They Have”.

We asked this in our BC Landlord forum and there was a terrific discussion and lots of important information and debate. Do BC landlords hate animals? Nope. Do BC landlords in our community want to abuse some mysterious position they are in (as they pay their mortgages every month).

As part of the discussion a Surrey landlord wrote something was a bit of bombshell of knowledge:

People who are blaming tenants or blaming landlords don’t get it. The reality is most of us small BC landlords don’t have anything against dogs, cats, gerbils, snakes, chipmunks or pet owning tenants. The problem is the two week deposit equivalent of rent is too low and won’t cover our costs if the pets do damages. If the BC residential tenancy act was changed to allow for a larger deposit many of us small BC landlords would be happy to rent to good tenants with pets!! 

A Vancouver landlord replied:

I agree with you! Pet owning renters are a huge market and I could just make sure any potential pee stains or chewed furnitures or whatever would be covered who would ignore his huge demographic?

A Tenant Renting In Vancouver Joined the Discussion

So this is all about damages? Is that the real issue because the way it has portrayed is evil and nasty landlords being nearly satanic in how they screen tenants! I thought some landlords just hated animals!

Issues Can Be Resolved By Mature Discussion and Mediation Not Confrontation

This is just another example of how BC tenants and BC landlords are not communicating with each other. And when they do begin to speak directly to each other good things and bright ideas happen.

We Want BC Tenants To Communicate and Cooperate With Us To Make Fix These “Fixable” Issues

Let’s be realistic. Good landlords are looking to rent to good tenants and good tenants want to rent from good landlords. So let’s work together. We are inviting good Alberta tenants to join us in the following capacities:

1. Share Your Stories and Opinions With Us

By sharing your experiences and ideas you can help other tenants, landlords and educate people and play a role in improving the Alberta rental industry.

2. Become A Tenant Community Leader for the BC Tenant Forum

We are looking for 5-10 experienced BC tenants to help run our Tenant forum and make it as helpful as possible for other BC tenants to learn from.  As Tenant Community Leader who will be able to invite other verified tenants to join our forum to help educate the community.

3. Provide Us With Your Ideas for Policy Changes

Do you think some things need to change? Share your policy ideas with us.

BC Landlords and Tenants in our BC Rental Community

Let’s work together in 2018 for our mutual success. Let’s improve the rental industry and play a role in forming new policies. We invite tenants to join our community. If you are interested please email us at tenantexperiences@groupmail.com by January 15, 2018. Make sure you let us know about you and your renting experience and how you want to help (please note only those accepted with receive a reply).

Update on January 15, 2018

Thank you for the overwhelming response of Tenants across British Columbia! We now have filled the available positions for BC Tenant Community leaders. Keep watching for our next recruitment drive!