'My Old Apartment' Wants Renters To Know If Their Landlords Illegally Hiked Rent

Have you ever rented an apartment that seemed expensive, and wondered what the people who lived there before you were paying?

Advocates on Prince Edward Island think you have a right to know.

In mid-February, My Old Apartment sent out its first card to a tenant who didnt realize their landlord had increased their rent by an illegal amount. The tenant, who was paying $1,500 a month in rent, received a card that read: Welcome to my old apartment. Are you paying too much rent? When I moved out on 09/17, the rent was $1,200 a month. Inside was information about how to file the paperwork to try to get their money back.

The first card has been delivered!!! The current Tenant is paying $1,500. Thats too much.
More info about the cards tomorrow pic.twitter.com/VUYZgEEiIn

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The first card has been delivered!!! The current Tenant is paying $1,500. Thats too much.
More info about the cards tomorrow pic.twitter.com/VUYZgEEiIn
My Old Apartment (@ApartmentOld) February 16, 2021

The initiative was the idea of Darcie Lanthier, the president of a solar panel company in Charlottetown. Shes also an advocate for social justice, she told HuffPost Canada, and has run for the Green Party a few times. But she didnt attach her name to the cards because she didnt want anyone to think it was a partisan issue, she said.

I usually budget about $100 a month for random volunteer activities and donations, she said. During the pandemic, because she hasnt been going out to eat or going to concerts, she has more disposable income.

Housing is often on her mind, she said. Theres a housing crisis in Canada. Housing is a basic human right and its just being used as a commodity.

P.E.I.s rental vacancy rate is now up to 2.6 per cent , which falls in the relatively healthy range of two to four per cent . In 2018, though, it was down to just 0.8 per cent.

There was absolutely no movement in the housing market. You couldnt move anywhere. Tenants were terrified.

And as vacancy rates went up, paradoxically, the cost of rent increased dramatically.