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“Processing fees” for online rent payments are resurfacing in Yellowknife, years after the Northwest Territories’ rental office warned another landlord that similar fees could be considered an improper rent increase.
Cabin Radio has heard from several tenants that Midwest Property Management – one of the larger landlords in Yellowknife – recently switched to a new property management software.
According to Midwest’s website the new software, Entrata, appears to charge:
- $2.50 for a pre-authorized rent payment;
- $1.50 per debit payment plus 1.3 per cent of the total amount; and
- $1.50 per Visa or Mastercard payment in addition to 2.3 per cent of the total payment.
If you pay Yellowknife’s average rent for a two-bedroom apartment ($2,109 according to CMHC data from October) and opt to pay with a credit card, that amounts to about $50 per month or $600 per year.
One Midwest tenant said they had been given the option to pay their rent by cheque without having to pay any additional fees.
In November 2020, after Northview – another corporate landlord – changed hands, tenants discovered that when they tried to set up rent payments online, they were charged a “web payment fee” for paying by debit or credit card.
The territory’s rental officer at the time, Adelle Guigon, told Cabin Radio any form of additional fee runs the risk of being considered an improper rent increase under territorial legislation if proper notice isn’t given.
Northview later suspended its web payment fee after the rental officer voiced concern.
The territory’s current chief rental officer, Jerry Vanhantsaeme, said a tenant would have to bring a case to the rental office so he could evaluate the full history of the case to determine if something like this would constitute a breach of territorial legislation.
Like Guigon, Vanhantsaeme said additional fees not outlined in a rental agreement could be considered a rent increase.
“They have to be given 90 days for any type of rent increase – or three months’ notice of a rent increase – and it has to be done in writing,” said Vanhantsaeme.
He stressed that cases like this should be evaluated at the rental office.
“The person needs to make an application, because there’s always more than
one side of the story,” said Vanhantsaeme.
One Midwest tenant said they recalled receiving a notice slipped under their door informing them they had three months to begin paying through the new property management software, though they couldn’t recall if the new fees were mentioned in that notice.
Midwest and Entrata could not be reached by Cabin Radio for comment.
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