Much advocacy has taken place in the two years since the creation of this petition, which was sparked by the shameless actions of the serial rental fraudster Angela Sutts, who was finally exposed in national news.
Landlords in Nova Scotia can celebrate a few key legislative changes to the Residential Tenancies Program, which address some of the points in this petition, and take effect as of April 2025.
Most important is the shortened eviction timeline. Landlords can now begin eviction proceedings after just three full days of unpaid rent, with tenants given 10 calendar days to respond—replacing the previous 30-day process. This helps to minimize serial rental fraud in Nova Scotia, as fraudsters will find that their efforts are met with shorter periods of stolen free housing before they must move on to the next landlord to scam.
Unfortunately, tenants can still appeal those evictions, with no news of valid grounds for appeal being evaluated before allowing the appeal to proceed to a hearing. There is also no news regarding a summary judgment dismissal of meritless appeals at a pre-hearing. This means tenants who appeal during the shortened eviction timeline can still exploit the system for months of free rent until they exhaust all options for appeal. There is no news of expediting the appeal and eviction process for serial rental fraudsters with a demonstrated history of repeat eviction for unpaid rent.
Thankfully, another positive legislative change is that the "Director of Residential Tenancies may publish summaries, portions or the entire text of orders made after residential tenancies hearings". While this language is cautious, vague, and may require some further advocacy in the future, this is a step in the right direction. This means that tenants who repeatedly abuse the system of residential tenancies hearings may have their actions made public, so that landlords can more easily determine which tenants to trust with their rental property during the application process, by simply looking up applicant names in publications of residential tenancies hearings. There is no mention of hearings being officially recorded, but it is not illegal for landlords to record the hearings themselves (and it is not necessary to request permission or disclose recordings to attendees). Recording hearings is a good idea for accountability.
Several other goals of this petition remain unaddressed. However, the new legislative changes so far demonstrate the power of collaborative work to advocate for a fair system that is harder to exploit. We can celebrate these changes, while uniting to continue further advocacy. Governments work slowly, but change is possible over time.
Those interested in further direct advocacy can join Rental Housing Providers Nova Scotia at rhpns.ca or the NS Small Housing Providers Advocacy Committee.