The Tribunal administrative du logement (TAL) has ruled that “no-pets” clauses in leasing violate renters’ rights.
The administrative court said, in a judgment issued on March 12, that clauses banning renters from owning pets violated Quebec’s Charter of Human of Rights and Freedoms.
In a decision, the administrative judge Suzzane Guévremont wrote, “[the] general prohibition on keeping an animal in a dwelling […] constitutes an oppressive and unacceptable intrusion into a person’s family life, within the very place that is the centre of their private life: their home.”
Guévremont issued the ruling in a dispute between a landlord and a tenant.
In a statement Monday, the animal rights group Montreal SPCA, which was an intervenor in the case, welcomed TAL’s ruling.
“We are relieved to know that the tenant in this case will not have to face the heartbreaking choice between keeping a member of their family and having a roof over their head,” said Sophie Gaillard, director of animal advocacy and legal and government affairs, Montreal SPCA.
“This decision is a reminder that the law must adapt to the evolution of the values that shape our society, specifically when it comes to our relationship with animals,” she added.
On average, nearly two animals per day are abandoned for this reason at the Montreal SPCA, according to the group.
Montreal SPCA had argued that the no-pet clauses infringed on a tenant’s right to privacy set out in section 5 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to make fundamentally personal and private decisions without undue external influence.
The Quebec landlords association (APQ) reacted to the decision saying landlords should be allowed to charge a security deposit when a tenant wants to keep a pet in the home.
They said rather than the pets, the issue was with tenants who neglect their pets.
“These situations lead to: repeated neighborhood disturbances, complaints about noise, odours, or the animal’s behavior, and, in many cases, significant damage to the home,” APQ said in a press release, adding that some damages cost landlords thousands of dollars to repair.