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July 25,2007 Tri City News

By Sarah Payne The Tri-City News

Woodland Park residents are continuing to pressure the property management company they say is planning to unfairly charge them for water.

And B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch is being asked to weigh in on whether Midwest Property Management’s plan to install water meters on each of the 200 townhouse units is legal.

“What the issue really boils down to is rent increases, not whether a landlord can actually install a meter,” said a spokesperson for the Office of Housing and Construction Standards, which administers the Residential Tenancy Branch.

Midwest informed residents July 13 that individual water meters would be installed by the end of the month and they could expect to pay an average of $60 each month for their water, of which $18 would be for administrative fees. In two noisy meetings last week, dozens of furious residents accused Midwest and Stratacon, the Ontario company contracted to install and administer the meters and billing, of trying to gouge the renters.

Midwest currently pays Port Moody about $265 annually for each unit’s water, or about $20 per month.

The water meters are intended to educate residents about their water usage and encourage them to conserve, Allan Carr, Midwest’s senior vice-president, said at the meetings.

But while each unit would have its own meter, the bills wouldn’t be tied to actual usage; rather, the water bill would be capped at the annual rental increases (this year, 4%) dictated by the provincial government.

Carr said this week that Midwest is waiting for clarification from the Residential Tenancy Branch before it pursues the issue further.

Under the Residential Tenancy Act, a landlord can’t unilaterally impose changes to an existing tenancy agreement without the tenant’s written consent. If a tenancy agreement states utilities are part of the rent, which water is at Woodland Park, the landlord can’t introduce additional charges until the lease or tenancy agreement expires.

When the agreements expire for existing Woodland Park residents next year, Midwest can draft new contracts that include charges for water, at which time the tenants can accept the terms or vacate the units, said the Office of Housing spokesperson.

Tenants can also dispute the planned fees to the Residential Tenancy Branch.

Woodland Park resident Lea Harth, who was planning to bring her concerns to a Port Moody council meeting last night, said it’s unfair to put the burden of conservation on tenants when the property owners aren’t doing their part. A new furnace installed in her unit last November has the second-lowest energy efficiency rating possible, she said, and no other appliance in her unit contains any energy efficiency rating at all.

Carr said that Midwest is “always upgrading appliances” and that some units — he couldn’t say how many — do have energy efficient appliances.

spayne@tricitynews.com

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