Workshop empowers immigrant renters

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This article was published 27/07/2012 (4818 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Moving from a refugee camp to a rental property isn’t easy, especially when you don’t know the language or the rules, say advocates helping the Bhutanese community learn the ropes.

“In the Bhutanese community, people have many problems renting a house,” said Puspa Dahal, who has his own problems. He’s one of 5,500 Bhutanese refugees the Canadian government agreed to resettle from UN-run camps in Nepal where 108,000 lived for nearly two decades.

“We’re used to living in a refugee camp — we have no idea of renting a house in Canada,” said Dahal, who came to Canada in 2010.

In Winnipeg, there are about 500 Bhutanese people, said Dahal. He attended a rental workshop Wednesday for Bhutanese people put on by New Journey Housing. It was an eye-opener, he said, especially for people having problems.

One Bhutanese family who arrived in 2011, for example, had a problem with their fridge not working.

“They complained and were told they have to leave the house immediately,” he said. “We had to find them a new place.” They didn’t know the rules for tenants and landlords, said Dahal, who’s learning to help himself deal with his own problems.

“My rent is 5.2 per cent more.” The college student, his dad and brother — who works full-time and is learning English at night — share a two-bedroom unit. Their rent is going up to $843 a month from $800.

At the renters workshop, he learned about rent-control guidelines.

“This year, rent can increase only by one per cent,” he said. Landlords can justify a larger hike if they’ve done repairs and renovations but their St. Vital block has had none, said Dahal, who also learned about the Residential Tenancies Branch.

“I’m planning to go there and talk to them.”

After the two-hour workshop, he knows his rights but he’s still worried about filing a complaint.

“We are new to Canada. We are scared (of what will happen) if I go and complain,” he said. “I have no job. It’s hard to find another apartment.”

The government-assisted refugees get help from Welcome Place for their first year but after that, they’re on their own. If they have to apply for assistance, the amount they get for rent isn’t enough, he said.

If they can find a cheaper place to rent, they often need a co-signer. Welcome Place can’t back them up and co-sign after its one-year commitment ends, he said.

“For the Bhutanese community, we’re new. It’s hard to find a co-signer.”

New Journey Housing, the non-profit agency that helps newcomers find housing, hopes the workshop will inspire confidence in tenants and landlords.

Participants who complete the workshop get a certificate they can show to potential future landlords when applying for an apartment, said New Journey Housing’s executive director Susan Radstrom.

“The workshop can also help landlords to feel more comfortable renting to newcomers who do not have a rental history,” she said. “The landlords know that the newcomers have taken a workshop regarding being responsible, paying rent on time, keeping your apartment clean, et cetera.”

The purpose of the workshop, though, is to give the newcomers information to deal with a difficult rental situation, knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as a tenant and to hopefully help prevent housing crises, said Radstrom.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca