No-pet clause in rental leasing violate Quebec charter: TAL

The Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) has ruled that “no-pet” clause in leasing violate renters’ rights.

The administrative court said, in a judgment issued on March 12, that clauses banning renters from owning pets violated Quebec’s Charter of Human of Rights and Freedoms.

In a decision, the administrative judge Suzzane Guévremont wrote, “[the] general prohibition on keeping an animal in a dwelling […] constitutes an oppressive and unacceptable intrusion into a person’s family life, within the very place that is the centre of their private life: their home.”

Guévremont issued the ruling in a dispute between a landlord and a tenant.

In a statement Monday, the animal rights group Montreal SPCA, which was an intervenor in the case, welcomed TAL’s ruling.

“We are relieved to know that the tenant in this case will not have to face the heartbreaking choice between keeping a member of their family and having a roof over their head,” said Sophie Gaillard, director of animal advocacy and legal and government affairs, Montreal SPCA.

“It’s good news for tenants,” said Steve Baird, community organizer for RCLALQ. Adding: “This really brings it sort of a step further and makes it more clear that a clause that just says no animals whatsoever in any circumstance is often going to be judged not to be reasonable by the tribunal.”

“What the judge determined in this case is she really recognized that today animals are family members and have to be considered as such by the law. And so when a landlord imposes a ‘no-pet’ clause in a lease, it essentially amounts to that landlord being able to determine the composition of the tenant’s family. And this notion of determining the composition of one’s family is really part of the right to privacy and is protected by the Quebec Charter,” added Gaillard.

On average, nearly two animals per day are abandoned for this reason at the Montreal SPCA, according to the group.

Montreal SPCA had argued that the no-pet clauses infringed on a tenant’s right to privacy set out in section 5 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to make fundamentally personal and private decisions without undue external influence.

“It’s now more than one in two households in Quebec that includes a dog or a cat. So we’re talking about a lot of families that are affected by this. And it remains really difficult to find pet friendly housing, animal friendly housing in Quebec. And so this leads to really heart wrenching situations where people are essentially forced to choose between giving up a family member or having a roof over their heads,” added Gaillard.

The Quebec landlords association (APQ) reacted to the decision saying landlords should be allowed to charge a security deposit when a tenant wants to keep a pet in the home.

They said rather than the pets, the issue was with tenants who neglect their pets.

“These situations lead to: repeated neighborhood disturbances, complaints about noise, odours, or the animal’s behavior, and, in many cases, significant damage to the home,” APQ said in a press release, adding that some damages cost landlords thousands of dollars to repair.