Adoption of Bill 16: new procedures rules for the Rental board.

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On December 5, 2019, Bill 16 was adopted by the National Assembly, then assented to on December 11, 2019. The entry into force of sections 68 to 100 of this bill will improve the procedures rules of the Tribunal of the Rental board, or rather Tribunal administratif du logement, its new name.

Mainly, the following improvements should be noted:

  • The tribunal of the Rental board (herein after “Tribunal”) will allow the parties to be heard by videoconference or other applicable technological means if necessary (this feature already exists);

  • Conciliation between the parties will be favored in order to explore mutually satisfactory solutions (already exists in pilot project);

  • The party notifying its request to the other party will have the duty to accompany it with any supporting documents (exhibits), or to provide a list of these exhibits indicating that they are available on request. This must be done within 30 days of the submission of the request to the Tribunal (except in the case of rent fixing);

  • The Tribunal may allow pre-hearing conferences to be held before the trial hearing, in order to better organize it;

  • Similarly, the Tribunal may organize a management conference, which will allow the Administrative judge to make binding decisions even before the final hearing takes place;

  • The Tribunal will have the possibility of ordering the notification of the request to persons whose rights or interests may be affected by the decision (eg. a bail bond);

  • If the parties authorize it, the Tribunal may make a decision without holding a hearing, based solely on the files it is filed (the available exhibits);

  • In the event of an abusive or dilatory action by one of the parties, the Tribunal may order the concerned party to pay damages, including the fees incurred by the parties’ lawyers;

  • If their age or state of health so requires, a person may be assisted by a trusted third party during the hearing;

  • A party who has not notified of his change of address may not request a withdrawal (demande en rétractation de jugement) if the notice of hearing has been correctly sent to the last known address.

These changes come into force on August 31, 2020. Be prepared, because this more restrictive framework for the procedure will require the parties to better present their case to the administrative judges, whose management powers are now more extensive.

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