Visit from Acorn BC activist

At our monthly lunch on February 9, 2020, Ralph Yoyo spoke briefly about Acorn BC's efforts to protect low- and middle-income renters. Acorn, a nation-wide organization advocating on a range of issues that impact low-income families, is working in BC for fairer residential tenancy legislation.

Holy Trinity is is looking forward to becoming a landlord with low-income housing, so it's a good opportunity for us to become familiar with some of the issues. Ralph spoke about a loophole in the legislation that allows unethical landlords an unlimited increase in rent between tenancies. For example, one tenant pays $850 for a 1-bedroom. They move out. It is currently legal for the landlord to increase the rent any amount when the next tenant moves in, so the rent could jump from $850/month to $1,400/month. And it does. The effect is that rents in the lower mainland have increased beyond the capacity of low income people.

Acorn is hosting a community meeting on Tuesday, February 18 at 6:30pm at Burnaby Public Library. Join them to learn more about their campaign. Call 604-522-8707 for more information