Télécharger le PDF : Notice of lessee’s death

Télécharger le PDF : Notice of termination of a lease due to admission of the lessee to a residential and long-term care centre or to a private seniors' residence

Télécharger le PDF : Notice to new lessee (Change of destination of a dwelling for seniors - Immovable remaining offered for dwelling purposes)

What is a private residence?

Private seniors’ residences are a kind of housing for self sufficient and semi self sufficient seniors. The services they offer depend on the needs of the people who live there.

These residences are privately owned and operated. There are numerous governmental standards and rules that they must comply with. When they meet these legal requirements, they receive a certificate of compliance that allows them to be a residence for seniors.

The Tribunal administratif du logement is a specialized tribunal that handles lease related matters. Seniors and owners can contact the Tribunal to learn about their rights and obligations and to settle disputes.

Joint application – Private seniors’ residences

What about the public health and social services network?

Private residences should not be confused with institutions in the public health and social services network, such as residential and long term care centres (CHSLDs). They should also not be confused with housing facilities that have contracts with those institutions, such as intermediate and family type housing facilities.

Such housing facilities must follow significantly different rules and are outside the jurisdiction of the Tribunal administratif du logement.

Ending a lease

A lease is a contract that lets one person (the lessee) rent a place to live. It might be a lease for a house, an apartment or a room. The person who rents the place to the lessee is called the lessor or owner.

Like any other contract, a lease cannot be ended without the proper procedure and justification. A senior who is a lessee must make sure to end their current lease before signing a new lease with the private residence they have chosen.

The law says that, in some situations, a lessor cannot object when a senior wants to end a lease. Those situations are:

1. The senior has gotten a dwelling in low rental housing (LRH) or an equivalent dwelling.
2. The senior’s safety or the safety of a child living with the senior is threatened.
3. The senior has a disability that means they can no longer live in the dwelling.
4. The senior must leave the dwelling for health reasons.

Moving for health reasons

A person can end a lease at any time if they’re moving to a private residence for seniors that offers them nursing care or personal assistance services that they need for health reasons. This is true whether the senior is moving into a private residence for the first time or moving from one to another. A senior can also end a lease if they are moving to any other type of housing that provides such care or services, no matter what it’s called.

The senior must send the following documents to the lessor:

• A written notice stating that the senior is leaving and ending the lease
• Confirmation from the appropriate authority proving that the senior has been admitted to the residence
• A certificate from an authorized person, confirming that the senior meets the conditions for admission. The authorized person must be a health and social services professional (such as a physician, nurse or social worker) who works in a CLSC, a CHSLD, hospital or private practice.

Signing a lease with a private residence

Once the senior has sent their former lessor all the documents to end their old lease, they must sign a new lease with the private residence. The residence must use the official lease form provided by the Tribunal administratif du logement. Seniors who are leaving a house or condo that they owned to move into a private residence must also sign a lease using this form.

Services offered

The services offered by a private residence must be listed in a standard form (called a mandatory schedule) attached to the lease.

In the mandatory schedule, the lessor must also specify the individual cost of each service of a personal nature that the lessee receives.

For example, the schedule might include:

• Meals
• Help with getting around, getting dressed, eating and bathing
• Help with medications (delivery, taking medications, etc.)
• Nursing care
• Any other type of care or personal assistance service defined by the Act respecting health services and social services or regulations under that law

Regarding services of a personal nature, note that when a senior dies or sends a written notice to the owner to end a lease, only those services of a personal nature that the senior actually received must be paid.

Nursing care, services of a personal nature and personal assistance services can be used on a temporary or permanent basis depending on the lessee’s needs and whether the lessee requests them.

Changes to the lease

When the lease is about to end, the lessor can ask to modify some of its conditions when it is renewed. These changes could include the cost of services, the length of the lease or the amount of rent.

Once the lessee has received this notice, they have one month to choose one of the following three options and notify the lessor of their choice. The options are:

1. The lessee accepts the proposed modification(s) and wants to renew the lease.
    

2. The lessee refuses the modification(s) but wants to renew the lease. The lessee must notify the lessor in writing.

   Once the lessee has notified the lessor of this refusal, the lessor has one month to ask the Tribunal administratif du logement to fix the rent or modify conditions of the lease. If the lessor does not do this, the lease will be renewed with no changes.

3. The lessee plans to leave and does not want to renew the lease. The lessee must notify the lessor in writing.

In all cases, if the lessee does not respond to the notice of modifications within one month, the lease is automatically renewed with the changes the lessor requested.

The Tribunal administratif du logement cannot fix the rent or modify the conditions of a lease for a dwelling located in a building that was built within the previous five years if the lease mentions this restriction. For such a dwelling, a lessee who does not agree to the proposed modifications must leave.

Ending a lease with a private residence

A lessee who plans to leave a private residence must send a written notice of non-renewal to the lessor before the end of the lease. This notice must be sent within the same time frame that applies to a lessor’s notice of modifications (see previous table).

If the lessee received a notice of modifications from the lessor, however, they only need to notify the lessor in writing that they do not want to renew the lease (option 3 above).

Death of the lessee

The lease may be ended when the lessee dies, as follows:

• If the lessee lived alone, the liquidator of the succession or an heir has six months after the lessee’s death to send a written notice to the lessor. The lease will end two months after this notice is sent.

• If the lessee lived with someone else, that other person may become the new lessee and continue to live in the dwelling. To do so, they must send the lessor a written notice within two months after the original lessee’s death.

  If the person who lived with the original lessee does not notify the lessor within this two month period, the liquidator of the succession or an heir can end the lease. They must send a written notice to the lessor within one month after the end of the two month period. The person must leave the dwelling during the month after this notice is sent.

Respecting the deadline for ending a lease

If a lessee does not obey the deadlines for ending their lease, the lessor can ask the lessee to pay compensation for damages the lessor suffers.

However, if someone else rents the dwelling after the lessee leaves, the previous lessee only has to pay the rent for the time when nobody was living there.

In all cases, the lessee can try to come to an agreement with the lessor to end a lease early.

Closing of a residence and problems affecting residents’ health and safety

In the following situations, specific rules ensure that seniors can continue to receive services from the residence until it closes, and that they can get help finding a new place to live. Special rules also apply to ending their leases.

When there is danger to the health and safety of the residents:

• The relevant health and social services agency can evacuate and relocate the residents.
• Evacuated residents do not have to pay rent for the period they were evacuated.
• Residents can end their leases afterward.

When a private seniors’ residence closes:

• After its certification is revoked or refused:
  • A lessee may end their lease by giving a written notice of at least 15 days. This notice must be sent within 60 days after the residence closes.
• Because of a decision by the operator:
  • The operator must notify the health and social services agency at least six months before closing. If the operator does not give this notice, any notices given to lessees under the Civil Code of Québec rules on leases of dwellings are invalid.

Change of destination of a private seniors’ residence

if the immovable remains offered for dwelling purposes, a lessor may not evict a lessee solely because of a change of destination, unless the lessor offered, not later than one month before sending the notice of eviction, to resiliate the lease and to enter into a new lease, without interruption, and the lessee has refused that offer. The offer must indicate, in particular, the services, accessories, dependencies and other benefits provided under the previous lease that will no longer be provided, as well as the cost of each of them. It must also reproduce the content of article 1955.1 and 1959.2 of the Civil Code of Quebec.

Within one month after receiving the lessor’s offer, the lessee is bound to inform the lessor of whether or not the lessee accepts the offer; the proposal is deemed to have been refused if the lessee fails to respond.

A lessee who accepts such an offer may nevertheless, within one month after entering into the lease, apply to the Tribunal to have the rent or, as applicable, for a ruling on any other modification in comparison with the resiliated lease.

Where a dwelling situated in a private seniors’ residence or in another lodging facility where services of a personal nature provided to the lessee are provided to seniors is the subject of a change of destination while remaining offered for dwelling purposes, the rent stipulated in the first lease entered into following the change must correspond to the rent that was charged under the previous lease, less the part of the rent relating to the cost of the services, including services of a personal nature provided to the lessee, accessories, dependencies and other benefits that will no longer be provided under the new lease. The lessor may nevertheless adjust the rent according to the criteria prescribed by the regulations concerning the fixing of rent.

The lessor must, upon entering into the first lease following the change of destination, give a new lessee a notice indicating the rent charged under the previous lease and the services, accessories, dependencies and other benefits provided under the previous lease that will no longer be provided, as well as the cost of each of them.

A new lessee who considers that the rent charged does not comply with the provisions of the first paragraph may, within one month after entering into the lease, file an application to have the rent fixed by the Tribunal. Such an application must be filed within two months after the beginning of the lease if the lessee did not receive the notice referred to in the second paragraph; if the lessor gave a notice containing a misrepresentation, the lessee must file the application within two months after becoming aware of that fact.

In case of eviction, the lessor shall pay to the evicted lessee reasonable moving expenses as well as an indemnity equal to one month's rent for each year of uninterrupted lease of the dwelling by the lessee, which indemnity may not however exceed an amount representing 24 months' rent or be less than an amount representing 3 months' rent. If the lessee considers that the injury suffered warrants a greater indemnity, the lessee may apply to the court to have the amount fixed.

Note: If the eviction notice was given before February 21, 2024, the lessor shall pay to the evicted lessee reasonable moving expenses as well as an indemnity equal to three month's rent.

Don’t hesitate to contact the Tribunal administratif du logement or the Ministry of health and social services (ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux) to learn more about your rights in such situations.

Useful resources

Website of the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux:

www.msss.gouv.qc.ca

This site includes a link to the Registre des résidences privées pour aînés, a registry that lists private seniors’ residences that have certificates of compliance.

Seniors can also file a complaint about:

• Respect for their rights as users of health services
• The quality of services they’ve received

They should contact Services Québec, who will give them the contact information for their area’s Regional Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner. Services Québec can be reached at: 1 877 644-4545