I’ve been looking for apartments in Victoria lately and run into a few property management companies that aren’t following the Residential Tenancy Act. In the hopes of informing other tenants of their rights and punishing bad companies, I’m putting this here so Google picks it up:

• Apartments R Us Property Management Ltd attempted to get me to pay a non-refundable application deposit for 976 Humboldt St. When I explained that was in violation of s. 15 of the Residential Tenancy Act, he “waived” the deposit.
• Cornerstone Properties Ltd refused to process my rental application for 835 View St unless I provided my social insurance number for a credit check. Although I explained that a SIN is not necessary for a credit check and that I cannot be required to provide it, they refused to process my application. Interestingly, the Better Business Bureau refused to accept my complaint on this, despite the fact that the government strongly recommends against collecting SINs.

I didn’t end up renting either of these places, so I’m not going to go through the Residential Tenancy Branch’s official dispute process (although I did email a complain). The fact that property management companies act like this tells me that most tenants don’t know their rights. I think it should be illegal to request a social insurance number for non-employment, non-tax purposes.

Every individual landlord I’ve dealt with in BC knows and follows the law better than the employees of the companies above. I can also recommend Duttons in Victoria.