伟景温哥华的市议员Tim Stevenson下周将向温哥华市议会提交一份动议，希望考虑允许租客在出租的单位里养自己的宠物。
BC省目前的法例是，如果房东表态，不允许租客养宠物，那么租客就不能在出租房里养宠物。Stevenson表示，这几年他听到很多对此的抱怨。
Stevenson称，包括长者咨询委员会、BC公寓业主和管理联合会等多个组织将被要求向温哥华市议会提供一些建议，以考虑如何制订章程，以更好地处理租客养宠物问题。
根据CKNW的报道，温哥华市长将支持这一动议。
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Is your pet keeping you from renting the place you want?
Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson has a pet peeve when it comes to rental housing and landlords.
And this Tuesday, he will table a motion that the city consult the Seniors Advisory Committee, the BC Apartment Owners and Managers Association, and the next Renters’ Roundtable to obtain recommendations to improve tenant's rights when it comes to keeping pets in rental buildings.
Stevenson, who has represented Vancouver’s West End as both a councillor and MLA said he hears horror stories all the time about people with pets who can’t find a place to live.
“Right now it is up to the whim of the landlord if you are allowed a pet,” Stevenson said on Wednesday. “Right now there is nothing to stop a landlord banning pets.”
One of the problems with landlords refusing to allow pets in the rental unit is the number of pets that are abandoned or turned over to the SPCA, adds the colourful politician.
“The SPCA says it has a real problem with abandoned pets,” he said.
And while the Residential Tenancy Act is provincial, Stevenson wants to lobby Victoria for changes to the act to allow for pets in a rental property.
“Many people say it is extremely difficult to find a place that allows pets,” he said. “I’m just trying to find a way to break down the barriers.”
Pet owners, Stevenson feels, are far more responsible these days, and he thinks the provincial statue should change with the times. “The time has come to talk about it at a provincial level and find a pragmatic reasonable solution.”
Amy Spencer, of the Rental Housing Council said the tenancy act was changed in 2004 to better meet the needs of pet owners. The changes allowed for a landlord to get a damage deposit of half the month’s rent, in case the dog chews or destroys some of the property.
“We know most pet owners are responsible pet owners,” she said.
Spencer points out many of Vancouver’s landlords have a rental suite in their house and may not be able to house a pet because of things like allergies. “This is a very personal choice for most landlords,” she said. “Having a pet also depends on the type of building.”
April Fahr of the advocacy group HugABull said they hear stories all the time of dog owners being turned down for a rental unit because of their pooch. “The rental market is so competitive and the landlord will pick and choose whether he wants a pet,”she said. “Vancouver is a hard city to live in if you have an animal.
“I think it is unfortunate that people do face this type of discrimination.”
She has a few suggestions for dog owners who are looking to secure rental housing. “Put together a resume on your pet,” she said. Fahr also advises people to take their dog to meet the landlord.
Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson will table a motion Tuesday that the city consult the Seniors Advisory Committee, the BC Apartment Owners and Managers Association, and the next Renters’ Roundtable to obtain recommendations to improve tenant's rights when it comes to keeping pets in rental buildings.
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Vancouver City Council is pushing for new rules to stop B.C. landlords from excluding tenants with pets.
Councillor Tim Stevenson says more than half the people in the city are renters, but there's little opportunity to find a place that allows animals, and existing rules are too arbitrary.
"I have a building with 100 suites in it, but I don't want anybody to have a cat or a dog. Next door, it may be different, but that guy sells his apartment and now everybody that has a cat or dog has to go," said Stevenson.
Stevenson is putting forward a motion next week, calling on rental associations to come up with pragmatic changes to current legislation.
Amy Spencer, president of the Rental Housing Council, says requiring landlords to allow tenants to have animals is unworkable.
"Most landlords are people that own homes, and so if they own a basement suite, then they also have to live with a pet," said Spencer.
Stevenson says other cities, like Toronto, don't allow people to discriminate against pet owners. "They've been doing it for over 20 years and nobody is trying to dismantle it, and it seems to have worked well for all sides," he said.
However, in B.C., the city doesn't actually have jurisdiction over rental guidelines. Ultimately, any change in the law would be up to the provincial government.
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The province has authority to regulate in this area. Under the Residential Tenancy Act, landlords may prohibit pets or restrict the size of animals in rental housing.
The preamble to Stevenson’s motion notes that the Ontario government doesn’t allow landlords to ban pets. Instead, the Ontario legislation specifically states: “A provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting the presence of animals in or about the residential complex is void.”
Stevenson’s motion points out that the vacancy rate in Vancouver has averaged 0.9 percent over the past 30 years, making it difficult for tenants with pets to find housing in the city.
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The 22-year-old Edmonton resident is excited to be moving to Vancouver this summer where she's been accepted into an arts school.
But she is a pet owner, and finding a landlord willing to rent to her and her two cats, Laszlo and Paprika, is proving a challenge.
"A lot of (landlords) are hesitant," Lucas said of the discouraging results of her housing search to date. "They are more lenient with cats, I find. But it's one cat; whereas I have two."
The particular difficulties faced by pet owners in Vancouver's notoriously tight rental market have dogged Tim Stevenson for years.
Stevenson, a city councillor with Vision Vancouver, said he's heard complaints from tenants dating to the mid-1990s when he was the MLA for Vancouver-Bur-rard about how hard it is to keep pets in rental buildings, and he feels it's time to find a solution.
Stevenson wants the city to ask the province to change the law and give tenants more rights to have pets.
"I think people should have a pet if they need one," he said.
His motion is expected to be introduced to council next week.
The current Residential Tenancy Act gives authority to landlords to refuse pets, restrict the size, kind or number of animals allowed, and to charge an extra deposit for accepting pets.
Tenants who get an animal without obtaining the agreement of their landlord can be forced to either get rid of it or face eviction themselves.
Lorie Chortyk of the B.C. SPCA said her association has long advocated better protections for pet owners. She said the top reason people in B.C. have to surrender a pet is because they can't find rental accommodation.
"These are people who are very responsible pet owners, who are willing to pay pet deposits and pick up after their pets," Chortyk said. "It's heartbreaking."
Stevenson said B.C. could learn from Ontario, where legislation does not allow landlords to ban pets from rental housing.
His motion calls for consulting the city's Seniors Advisory Committee and the B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association, which represents about 3,500 landlords provincewide.
"What I am wanting to do is get this conversation started," he said.
Amy Spencer, president and CEO of the Rental Housing Council, said council members are willing to discuss the issue with the city, but ultimately want the laws to remain as they are.
Spencer said 90 per cent of landlords in B.C. own fewer than eight rental units. Deciding who to rent to, she said, is, and should remain, a very personal choice. She said landlords who refuse pets often do so for valid reasons related to allergies to cat or dog fur, and there have been cases where landlords have been sued by tenants who develop health problems caused by lingering pet dander.
Lucas still hopes to find a landlord who isn't worried about her cats.
Leaving them behind is not an option.
"I rescued my pets. It was a huge decision for me," she said. "They are part of my family."
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