Philip Davies 6/12/26 Philip Davies 6/12/26

Do rent controls limit development?

The other day I was listening to a podcast, the wealthy Barber in fact speaking to an economist about the economy. A narrative that was brought up was that rent controls reduce and restrict development.

We hear this all the time from developers and landlords when they are restricted in their ability to increase the rents to current market rates. It is always reported as studies show that rent controls restrict development of property which in turn reduces the supply of the product. It was stated during the podcast that there are very few housing starts in Vancouver due to many factors including these rent controls. It is hard to compare two very different cities and regions when they build differently. Vancouver and the lower mainland build up, out of need which increases costs and time to build. I hear a comparison that Alberta doesn’t have restrictions so they build more. They also build less towers and more single family homes as does Ontario. Those properties are easier to start and take less time to build.

A quick google search shows that currently Calgary has fewer housing starts planned for 2026 than they did for 2025. Wait what, why is that? Based on the rent control issues they should be building all the time should they not? Why are they building less? The reality is there is only one factor that creates more development, how the economy is performing.

The current Liberal government wants to build more housing to make it more affordable, yet the developers are telling them sorry, right now we are not able to make it work and across the country are slowing down development. This is why there is great pressure on the development charges to be reduced to help developers build more product.

When the economy is going well developers will build and when it slows down developers stop building. We could remove all the tenancy laws allowing landlords to do anything they want with their properties, if there is no economy to support it they will not build. If you removed all the tenancy laws there would be no tenants.

We are experiencing this in Vancouver at the moment, rents are declining due to an over supply of product. We could build more housing now and it would sit vacant because there are not enough people to occupy the units. It is hard to build at a steady pace to meet all the needs of a growing city as it never grows at one pace. These ups and downs have occurred throughout history and will continue in the future.

I agree that rent controls can be restrictive and limit a landlord’s ability to manage their properties. What rent controls do for society is provide a balance of cost for tenants.

I wonder what the landlord would think if the banks had the same power to take back a property like the landlord’s demand when rent is not paid. If banks could sign one year mortgages and after that year raise it to any price they want nobody would buy a home.

Would they be demanding controls on what the banks are allowed to do in those instances? The answer is yes, which is why we have controls on banks ability to repossess a home when a mortgage payment is missed. It is not an easy process, it takes time and gives the home owner the chance to make amends.

During covid when rents were increasing rapidly tenant advocate groups were out in force demanding change to the system to protect tenants from escalating costs. Now that the table has turned and rents are declining they don’t really have much of an argument which is why they are not as vocal at this time. It is hard to argue that landlords should not be able to change the rent during tenancies when the rents are declining.

Every industry has regulations it must manage under to work in that industry. Hotels, taxis, bars and restaurants would all love more control over how they manage their business. Without rules and regulations we succumb to the whims of the few who have all the power. It is a difficult balance to obtain and will never be perfect. One side will always be asking for more. Our experience is that many landlords enter the business without understanding how the business works, they don’t know the laws. In any industry if you are unaware of the rules and regulations you must adhere to you are not going to be successful.

We think that some rent controls are a good thing for the industry as a whole. There can always be improvements from the tenant side and the landlord’s perspective. The majority of the rent controls in BC have been created due to tenant complaints about how landlords have managed the system in the past. Governments have felt the need to step in and change the law to protect the party with less power in the transaction.

Rent controls or restrictions are not preventing development, the economy is the only factor that encourages or slows development.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/29/26 Philip Davies 5/29/26

Performing inspections

Is it important to perform inspections of the rental property?.

Yes it is a key part of managing the rental property. It’s also a key part of the screening of tenants as well. Performing an inspection helps the landlord with communication with the tenants. It also keeps the landlord up to date with the condition of the property during the tenancy. It provides the tenant with an opportunity to communicate issues to the landlord about the property. It helps the two way communication process.

During inspection the landlord should be looking at various issues at the property. We look to confirm that only the parties on the tenancy agreement are living at the unit. We confirm tenants have not obtained a pet without permission. We are looking at items that might need future repairs to see if they can be repaired before they are a larger issue.

Confirming the people residing in the unit is very important. You are looking at the house to see if there is evidence of different parties reading in the unit. Landlords have the right to vett the people who rent their property. If you rent to two people and one moves out and another moves in without your references checks this could be an issue. Who is the new person and what is their background? They are not on the tenancy agreement and technically have no right to the tenancy unless the landlord knows they are at the unit and chooses not to do anything about it. When a landlord identifies an issue at the property they must choose to deal with it in a specified manner. If there is a new unapproved tenant, this would be considered subletting and could be grounds for terminating the agreement. If the landlord fails to enforce this part of the agreement and do anything you could be perceived as granting this change to the tenancy agreement. If a year later they are having issues with the new tenant they will be hard pressed to validate actions to vacate the person as they were aware for a year before taking action on the issue.

This is the same with pets. We often hear from landlords that their tenant now has a pet. When we ask what they did about it they respond with nothing. If you take no actions you are granting the pet at the tenancy. In both pets and new tenants you have options. These include having the new tenant apply and you perform background checks on them, and the two tenants sign a new lease. You can enforce the tenancy agreement requiring the tenants to vacate the unit as you did not approve this change. You can do nothing and this over time would grant the tenant permission to reside there.

The same is with a pet, you can do nothing which is perceived as granting the tenant permission to have the pet. You can enforce the tenancy agreement no pet clause which requires them to vacate the pet or vacate the property. If the landlord decides to allow the pet, the proper process is to perform another condition inspection report of the property before the pet arrives to clearly identify what the unit looks like at that time. Landlords are also permitted at this time to collect the pet deposit.

The important part of this issue is to make a decision and communicate the decision to the tenants. Then both parties can move forward with what decision was made.

When we indicate that we are performing inspections to prospective applicants they will decide to proceed or they will elect to look elsewhere. If they are unwilling to allow you to enter the unit regularly they are not quality tenants. People who have nothing to hide have no issues with the landlord accessing the unit for the inspections.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/22/26 Philip Davies 5/22/26

Does the decline in the Market help Purpose built properties or individual owners more?

In the recent past the governments have pushed to build purpose built rental properties in the Vancouver Market under the argument we don’t have enough rental properties. Prior to this individual owned product was used as the majority of the rental stock in BC especially the lower mainland. During covid housing prices increased due to many people moving to locations further away from work, which decreased the rental stock in the market.

The sales and rental market have both slowed and we are now experiencing an oversupply of rental properties versus the number of tenants in the market. How is the over supply going to affect the small landlords compared to the rental building landlords. It is declining the prices in the entire rental market.

The newer rental buildings in the market have been built with many amenities similar to condo buildings. Our question is will these buildings be able to sustain the quality of the product when they are experiencing multiple vacancies in the buildings. We are seeing many purpose built rental buildings with multiple listings for vacant units. The market continues to add new rental products to the market increasing the supply during a slow demanding market.

The difference witht the individual owner and the building owners is that the individual owner has the option to sell the unit and remove it from the market. The building owner can’t do that: they must adjust their pricing and or marketing tactics to attract new tenants. We were seeing one month free. We are now seeing multiple months of free rent being offered from buildings who are trying to keep the rent at a higher advertised rate. The individual landlord had more flexibility to reduce the rent to meet the market demanded price. If the building rents a unit this month and then lowers the rent the next month to a newer tenant it often causes those tenants to move, sometimes early.

We anticipate we will see some rental buildings trying to adjust their experience by reducing the services offered to new tenants and maybe close amenities in the building to all due to the revenues being insufficient to upkeep the product. For these reasons we think the rental market of the next few years is going to be harder on the rental buildings than it will be on the indifvidual owner investor.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/15/26 Philip Davies 5/15/26

Rent vs Buy

I hear this all the time and don’t understand the question.

The question is asking is it better to buy then to rent. The reason I don’t understand the question is that for every person their situation is different and this will provide a different answer to this question. The question should not be answered by numbers first, it should be looked at after you have decided where you are going to live.

For tenants trying to decide if they are going to buy instead of rent is not the question that needs to be asked. The first question is where do I want to live and how long am I going to live there. If you anticipate moving in the next five years the answer is rent, irrelevant to what the numbers say.

How does this translate to landlords? It is the same question. If you are looking to buy a rental property. The question is how long are you prepared to hold the rental property. If you are not prepared to hold the rental property for five years, you should not buy an investment property. If a person who wants to own a property to live in and they are planning to move in the next five years they will be hit with many transactional fees during the buy and sell process and they won’t make any money, the same happens with an investment property.

This is true with rental or investment properties as well. I speak to many potential clients who have bought a condo and say we are going to rent it for one or two years and then sell it.

I advise them you will not find it profitable to do that. In fact some who have rented for one year have come back and said it is not as profitable as they thought. Investment in real estate is a business and with any business it takes time to grow and make a profit. The real profit in investment real estate is in the length of time you hold the property, no different than any other investment.

Landlords often fail to consider all the expenses related to owning a rental property. There will always be repairs needed at the property, tenants may fail to pay rent and cost for owning the property including strata fees, mortgages and property taxes may change.

When you factor all of these issues you can make an informed decision, to buy the rental investment property?

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/8/26 Philip Davies 5/8/26

Why cash for Keys by landlords is bad for the industry.

One of the most common complaints we hear from landlords is, I wish there was a bad tenant list. My response is, there is one, landlords just don’t use it.

Where is the bad tenant list, it is the credit report and I don’t mean rent should be reported on their credit reports. The complaint is based on the tenants who failed to pay the rent then damaged the property on the way out the door. This is a common complaint about bad tenants.

As a landlord what can you do? In some of these cases landlords have been given an order of possession from the RTB which includes a monetary order against the tenant. If you have been given a monetary order and the tenant refuses to pay, a landlord should send this to collections. I hear many people say this won’t do anything as you can’t get blood from a stone. Well in fact sometimes you can get what you need even from a stone.

What landlords miss in this approach is that when you send it to collections, that is then reported on their credit report, and stays on their report for many years. Therefore if this person goes to rent another property, or borrow money for another reason this will appear on their credit report. That provides the next landlord the information to make an informed decisions and say we can’t rent from you as you owe a previous landlord money. If the landlord before you had sent the tenants order to collections you would have made a different choice.

If you don’t have an order of possession what can you do. During the application process you should collect data on the individual allowing you to perform a credit check to verify their information. There are sources who can assist landlords to find people in these situations. Often the credit report provides other details including address information on the party. If a person owes you money you have the information you need to locate the individual after they have left your property. After you have found them then you can serve the documents for the hearing at the RTB. Finding the tenant and taking them to RTB is important as it gives the landlord the opportunity to obtain the monetary order.

When landlords provide cash for keys all they are doing is pushing the problem to the next landlord to deal with the same issue you have dealt with.

Does the stone bleed? Sometimes yes. Often people’s lives change for the better. They may leave your property and a few years later are in a better financial position, trying to lease a car or rent another property when they are denied due to your application on their credit report. At this time they may choose to pay off the debt, and you may receive some funds from this transaction. More importantly the individual learns the importance of paying the rent and treating properties they rent respectfully moving forward.

We have rented to people who have had a debt on their report that shows they went and paid it off. This shows responsibility. We have also turned down people who have a debt on their report which has not been paid as this shows a lack of responsibility.

We have sent monetary orders to collection agencies which have reported it on a past tenants credit repair and years later they settle as it is the only way to have it removed from impeding their life moving forward.

Offering cash for keys is not solving any problems, it is passing the buck.

This is why I don’t like to hear landlords saying they offered the tenant cash for keys to vacate. If more landlords took their monetay order to collections these people would need to adjust their behaviour. Without enforcement they will never change.

Being a landlord is a long term endevour and it may take time to recover the funds you are seeking. Help the community out by following the law to help everyone.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com