BILL NO. 62
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
70 Elizabeth II, 2021
Government Bill
Interim Residential Rental Increase Cap Act
The Honourable Colton LeBlanc
Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services
First Reading: October 28, 2021
Second Reading: October 29, 2021
Third Reading: November 4, 2021 (LINK TO BILL AS PASSED)
An Act to Implement an Interim
Residential Rental Increase Cap
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 This Act may be cited as the Interim Residential Rental Increase Cap Act.
2 Words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Residential Tenancies Act.
3 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act applies to rental increases respecting all residential premises.
(2) This Act does not apply to rental increases for tenants in a public housing program in which the amount of the tenant's rent is increased solely on the basis of an increase in the tenant's income.
(3) This Act does not apply to rental increases in a land-lease community that comply with Section 11B of the Residential Tenancies Act.
4 (1) In addition to the restrictions on increasing rent in Section 11 of the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord shall not increase the rent payable by an existing tenant by more than two per cent above the amount that the tenant was legally required to pay in the preceding 12-month period.
(2) For greater certainty, subsection (1) applies if a landlord enters into a new fixed-term lease with an existing tenant for the same residential premises.
5 (1) Where a tenant believes that a landlord has imposed a rental increase in contravention of this Act, the tenant may make an application to the Director of Residential Tenancies in accordance with Section 13 of the Residential Tenancies Act for an order requiring the landlord to reimburse the tenant for any amount of rent collected in contravention of this Act.
(2) Sections 16 to 17F of the Residential Tenancies Act apply with necessary changes to an application made under subsection (1).
6 Chapter 398 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Rent Review Act, is repealed.
7 (1) This Act, except Section 5, expires and ceases to have any force or effect after December 31, 2023.
(2) Section 5 of this Act expires and ceases to have any force or effect after December 31, 2024.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2021 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created November 5, 2021. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
