The lessee sought :

• leave to appeal from a decision of the Régie du logement, dismissing her application for revocation of a decision condemning her to pay $1,062 in unpaid rent

The lessor sought :

• to have the application for abuse of procedure dismissed
• to have the lessee declared a quarrelsome litigant
• $13,584 in damages

Both applications were dismissed.

The Court of Quebec cannot award damages in the context of a dismissal of an application for leave to appeal from a decision of the Régie du logement.

The decision to allow the lessor’s representative to testify in French is a management decision taken during the hearing; that decision, which fell under the discretion of the administrative judge of the Régie du logement, cannot be reviewed by way of a revocation of judgment.

After dismissing an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Régie du logement, the Court of Quebec judge did not have the required jurisdiction to declare the appellant lessee quarrelsome.

Collins c. Immeubles Guy St-Louis inc. (29 janvier 2021)

The lessor sought :

• $10,469 for services rendered to the lessee that were not included in the rent

The Tribunal awarded the lessor :

• $800 for the services offered to the lessee

The Administrative Housing Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear a contestation of the assessment of the degree of care, frequency, and need for the lessee to receive certain services offered in the private seniors’ residence operated by the lessor.

No health care professional testified to explain the lessee’s state of health and the care it required.

The lessee needed help to dress more warmly before she was taken for dialysis when the temperature required it. The Tribunal estimated the value of those services at $25.

HCN-Cogir Lessee c. Misitano (7 janvier 2021)

The lessees sought :

• an order for specific performance
• to have the rent fixed
• a rent reduction
• material, moral, and punitive damages

The lessor sought :

• the dismissal of the lessees’ application because it was not effected within a reasonable time

The lessees’ application is expired

An application instituted with the Housing Administrative Tribunal before August 31, 2020, that has not yet been notified on that date becomes subject to the rules then in force respecting notification of the application set out in s. 56.2 of the Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal.

That section provides that proof of notification must be filed “within 45 days after the application is instituted”; failing which, “the application expires and the Tribunal closes the record”.

The lessees did not file in the record proof of notification.

Mattalia c. Rasteiro (18 janvier 2021)

The lessor appealed the Administrative Housing Tribunal’s decision declining jurisdiction to hear his application with respect to an indemnity for re-leasing on the ground that the lease between the parties was cancelled due to a defect in consent.

Appeal allowed.

The cancelled lease is deemed to have never existed. Each party must then return to the other the prestations that were received.

Given the lessees’ actual occupancy of the premises prior to the Administrative Housing Tribunal’s decision to cancel the lease, restitution in kind is impossible; therefore it must be done by equivalence.

Therefore, the Administrative Housing Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the lessor’s application to claim an indemnity for re-lease.

Blouin c. Argall (16 décembre 2020)

The lessor files an application to dismiss.

The lessee's application is inadmissible.

The application, which constitutes a recovery of a small claim, was made by a lawyer.

Contravention of art. 73 of the Act respecting the Régie du logement.

Inability to remedy the situation.

Savard c. Beaudry (November 30, 2018)

The lessee seeks:

• $2,000 for abuse of procedure
• $4,000 in punitive damages for harassment
• $3,000 in moral damages
• $100 per month in rent reduction

The lessor seeks:

• $3,650 in rent recovery
• $640 for property damages
• $26,000 in damages

The administrative judge awards the lessee:

• $3,000 in punitive damages
• $2,000 in moral damages

The lessor's proceeding is dismissed.

The lessor's allegations are not based on any legal basis or probative fact.

Filing a legal claim should not be taken lightly and should not be used as a tool for baseless resiliation.

The Régie du logement has no jurisdiction to sanction abusive proceedings.

The lessor used the letters he sent to the lessee and his proceeding to harass the lessee to get him to leave the dwelling.

Tang c. Bouti (November 7, 2018)

The lessor is appealing a decision rendered by the Régie du logement.

The Administrative and Appeal Division of the Court of Québec refused to intervene.

Lack of an official application for recusation of the judge according to the procedure set out in the Rules of procedure of the Régie du logement.

The ground for recusation invoked orally by the lessor, namely the lack of impartiality arising from the fact that the administrative judge was already seized of a similar case involving the parties, is not one of the grounds listed in arts. 64 and 65 of the Act respecting the Régie du logement.

The lessor has not shown that the absence of recusation of the judge at the earliest opportunity affected her impartiality or brought the administration of the justice into disrepute.

Poirier-Pelletier c. Fortin (March 13, 2019)

The lessor applies for:

• resiliation of the lease
• recovery of unpaid rent ($3,640)

(monthly rent is $1,020)

The lease is resiliated.

Lessees are ordered to pay the lessor $3,640.

The Régie du logement does not have jurisdiction to decide the case when the occupancy of the premises results from a promise to purchase.

The Régie has jurisdiction, however, if the time limit to acquire the building has expired.

In this case, the only contract binding the lessees and the lessor since July 1, 2018, (i.e. the expiry of the time limit to acquire the building) is a lease with an indeterminate term.

Lessees are over three weeks late in paying the rent.

Labelle c. Lambert (June 12, 2019)

The lessee applies to have the proceedings instituted against him by the lessor cancelled.

The Régie dismisses:

• the application in opposition to the seizure in the hands of a third person and in contestation of the eviction execution measure

Renouncing a right cannot be equivocal and the facts must establish this clear willingness to renounce it.

In order to have a tacit renunciation, the facts must establish a clear willingness to give up one’s right.

In reaching an agreement with the lessee, the lessor did not renounce her right to enforce the decision rendered by the Régie du logement.

Aware of the lessee’s financial difficulties, the lessor wanted to give him a second chance to pay his arrears and keep the dwelling.

The lessee did not take this opportunity since he was again unable to comply with his obligation to pay the rent on the first day of each month.

Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal c. John (May 14, 2019)

The lessor appeals the decision of the Régie du logement dismissing her application for postponement.

The decision of the Régie du logement does not justify appellate intervention.

The Régie’s decision to refuse the postponement was an exercise of discretion and a case management decision.

The Régie rendered a reasonable decision in dismissing the lessee’s application for postponement, given the costs incurred by the plaintiff insurance companies to adduce their evidence, the time elapsed since the facts giving rise to the damage, the previous postponements, and the importance of the proper administration of quasi-judicial resources, coupled with her noted lack of diligence in ensuring the presence of her witness at the hearing.

Structures métropolitaines (SMI) inc. c. Compagnie mutuelle d’assurances Wawanesa (June 12, 2019)

The lessor applies for leave to appeal a decision rendered by the Régie du logement refusing to allow it to be represented by counsel.

Leave to appeal is granted.

When a lessee or a lessor appears before the Régie du logement with counsel, he or she cannot predict whether or not he or she will be able to be represented at the hearing; this unpredictability is unacceptable.

The question of whether an application for a rent reduction of a disputed value below the threshold of admissibility before the Small Claims Division can constitute an application whose sole object is the recovery a debt within the meaning of art. 73 of the Act respecting the Régie du Logement, which prevents counsel from acting on behalf of the parties, is controversial and deserves to be considered on appeal.

Metcap Living Management inc. c. Rouleau (July 29, 2019)

The lessee requests that the lease resiliation agreement with the lessor be declared invalid.

The Régie du logement declines jurisdiction.

The dwellings have a specific purpose; they are covered by a housing agreement closely associated with the code of conduct and the regulations determined by the non-profit organization Mères avec pouvoir (MAP), which is aimed at single mothers.

Since the residential lease is dependent on the lessee’s participation in the program offered by MAP, it must be considered an accessory to an innominate contract consisting primarily of obligations in the nature of a service contract.

Achille c. Inter-loge (August 21, 2019)

The lessee claims:

• damages
• moral damages

The Régie does not have jurisdiction to hear the application.

The sign posted on the door of the dwelling – suggesting that the lessee offers sexual services and, which, according to the lessee, was placed by the building janitor with the connivance of the lessor – appears to constitute an attack on the lessee’s dignity, honour and reputation.

This act does not constitute a breach of the lessor’s contractual obligations but a delictual fault that falls within the scope of extracontractual liability, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the Régie.

Jélétian c. 9034-2452 Québec inc. (December 30, 2019)

The lessor appeals:

• a decision of the Régie du logement refusing the right to be represented by counsel

The lessee’s appeal is dismissed.

An application for a rent reduction for a past period of time, where the amount in dispute does not exceed the threshold of admissibility before the Small Claims Division ($15,000), constitutes an application whose sole object is the recovery a debt within the meaning of art. 73 of the Act respecting the Régie du Logement, thus preventing counsel from acting on behalf of the parties.

Metcap Living Management Inc. c. Rouleau (January 22, 2021)

The lessee applies for:

• $1,600 in moral damages
• $102 in damages
• $5,000 in punitive damages

The Tribunal declines jurisdiction.

The last paragraph of s. 63.2 of the Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal, which allows the Tribunal to rule on whether a proceeding is abusive or dilatory and to award damages to compensate for any resulting injuries suffered does not apply to a proceeding that was pending when it came into force on August 31, 2020.

The lessee’s application is intimately connected to an application instituted by the lessee before that provision came into force. It is therefore the former version, which allows for a ruling solely on the abusive nature of a proceeding, that applies.

Discontinuance to avoid a declaration of abuse of process may in itself be abusive and may therefore be refused by the Tribunal.

Appartements DSM inc. c. Ekanga Njanga (March 19, 2021)

The lessee objects:

• to a seizure in execution and a proceeding for eviction

The Court of Quebec authorizes:

• the lessee to continue to occupy his dwelling

The lessee may avoid resiliation of his lease by paying the rent due, along with interest and costs, before judgment.

In this case, the lessee paid the rent due when the judgment was rendered, but he paid the interests and the costs of $101 only two weeks later.

The Court applied the line of authority according to which, when the lessee pays before acquiring knowledge of the Tribunal administratif du logement decision, and only a modest amount in interest and costs remains outstanding “after the judgment”, the court may allow the lease to remain in force and block the eviction of the lessee if all outstanding amounts are fully paid by the date of the hearing before the Court of Quebec.

Casimy c. Chen (February 23, 2021)

The lessee applies for:

• leave to appeal from two Tribunal administratif du logement decisions rejecting her request for postponement and application for revocation of judgment

The lessee’s application is dismissed.

The lessee requested a postponement of the hearing, arguing that she was afraid to attend a hearing in person while the Montreal area was a “red zone” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She did not support the request with a medical certificate establishing that she would be at risk or evidence that the measures implemented by the Tribunal to ensure safety were inadequate.

In her application for revocation, the lessee stated that she was prevented from attending the hearing due to the pandemic. The administrative judge dismissed this application, stating that [TRANSLATION] “the case law establishes that the refusal to allow a postponement can be a ground of appeal, but it is not a ground of revocation”. There is no error in that decision.

Amari c. Heng (March 4, 2021)

The lessee objects:

• to a notice of execution of eviction

The Court of Quebec authorizes:

• the lessee to continue to occupy her dwelling

The fact that a lessee failed to pay the interest and legal costs in a timely manner is not always fatal to maintaining the lease.

The lessee paid the rent in full before the judgment and she was eager to pay the interest and the costs as soon as she became aware of the amount due. The resiliation of the lease and resulting eviction is a disproportionate, excessive, and unreasonable sanction.

Danio (Dagneau) c. Hébert (March 4, 2021)

The lessees apply for:

• leave to appeal from a decision of the Tribunal administratif du logement declining jurisdiction on the ground that their application did not concern a lease of a dwelling

The lessors apply for:

• a declaration of abuse

The Court of Quebec dismisses both applications.

The Tribunal administratif du logement has jurisdiction over all applications concerning the lease of a dwelling.

Since the daycare operated by the lessee used over one-third of the total floor area of the leased premises, the Tribunal concluded that the lease between the parties was not a lease of a dwelling.

The issue raised by the lessee regarding whether the operation of a home daycare constitutes a lease of a dwelling that “is used for purposes other than residential purposes” is not controversial. It is therefore not an issue that ought to be submitted to the Court of Quebec.

A judge of the Court of Quebec does not have the power to declare an application for leave to appeal abusive or to sanction such conduct.

Makhlouf c. Pino (March 4, 2021)

The lessor files:

• an application for review of a Régie du logement decision declining jurisdiction

The Superior Court concludes that:

• the Régie du logement had jurisdiction to hear the dispute

The parties signed a contract before a notary that included two aspects: a promise to purchase-sell an immovable (section A of the contract) and a lease on that same immovable (section B of the contract).

In cases where a lease and a promise to purchase-sell coexist, it is not necessary to determine which contract is accessory to the other, but rather to define the true object of the dispute between the parties and whether it is related to the promise to purchase or to the rental agreement that allows for use of the immovable in the meantime.

In this case, the object of the dispute between the parties bears on the obligations contained in the lease and not on those in the promise to purchase-sell.

Roy c. Massicotte (April 14, 2021)