Free legal advice for tenants available at summer clinics across N.B.
Drop-ins with UNB law students scheduled in northern N.B., Miramichi, Woodstock and Saint John
As director of the University of New Brunswick's legal clinic, Jeannette Savoie says some of the most common legal questions she's asked are about how the province's rent cap works.
Among the questions: Is the cap mandatory? What if a landlord raises rent more than three per cent?
"A lot of time, when we answer questions for people, it's like, 'Huh, I didn't know I could do that.'"
Savoie said she has seen even the most experienced renters taken advantage of by landlords, or paying unnecessary fees because of a lack of understanding of how rental laws work.
For instance, she said, many people don't know there are costly consequences for improperly notifying a landlord of a lease termination.
"I've seen people leave their tenancy without giving notice and then end up getting charged a fee or three months rent."
She said a lack of knowledge about legal evictions is also common.
"Tenants will come to us and ask questions, 'My landlord slid a note under the door saying I am evicted a certain day. Is that legal?' Well, no, it isn't."
It's why she and several UNB law students have partnered with Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick on a tour of the province, answering questions about issues such as evictions, unit repairs, having pets in apartments and other common concerns.
"It makes a huge difference," said Amber Chisholm, associate director of the legal education service said.
"Being well-informed in a situation of crisis or stress can really help somebody make strategic decisions about their situation and also make decisions that are actually going to be effective for them."
The clinics offer free, 30-minute sessions with a law student, who provides summary legal advice, and are supervised by a practising lawyer.
The clinics are now underway in northern areas of the province and are scheduled to make stops in the south, ending in Saint John on July 21.
Chisholm said the clinics can enable tenants to get legal advice early on during a tenancy to help them gain negotiating power with landlords and to avoid conflict before it escalates further.
"Especially with tenants, there is often a sense of a power imbalance or a sense of urgency involved with kinds of legal problems that are affecting somebody's housing."
Bridging a gap in rural areas with little pro-bono services
Savoie said the clinics were strategically scheduled in areas where New Brunswickers can't easily access free legal help.
"If I look at New Brunswick, the northeast probably has the least access to the services that you could find in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John … just because of the rurality of everything," she said.
Most of the pop-up clinics are located in areas that are open to the public, such as community centres and libraries.
Nichola Taylor, chair of ACORN's New Brunswick chapter, said legal clinics like these are also crucial for renters with low to moderate income who might not be able to afford someone who can advocate on their behalf during a legal crisis.
"There's no one there really to help them," Taylor said. "I'm sure often they feel like they're forgotten."
Taylor said newcomers and other first-time renters should inform themselves about tenants regulations that are specific to the province -- but that can be difficult.
"If you're a newcomer who may have a language barrier, for example, that's even harder to do," she said.
While Chisholm said the clinics don't have official translators on site, they do offer services in English and French.
She recommends people who might need assistance in another language bring someone who can help facilitate the conversation between them and the law student.
To Savoie, helping tenants become empowered through these clinics is rewarding for her students.
"They're there because they want to make a difference, and I think it all comes down to that."
The next sessions are happening on Tuesday in Shippagan, and will travel through Tracadie, Campbellton, Bathurst, Miramichi, Edmundston, Woodstock and end at Saint John on July 21.
A full schedule of the clinics is available here.
As for the two commonly asked questions Chisholm referred to, she said landlords are obligated to comply with the cap in place in New Brunswick that makes it illegal to raise rent prices higher than three per cent per year.
Tenants can file a request for assistance with the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office within 60 days of receiving a notice of a rent increase that does not comply with the rent cap, she said. Landlords can defend themselves before the office to justify the need for a greater increase.
With files from Information Morning Moncton