Version en français – L’audition au Tribunal administratif du logement

What is the Tribunal Administratif du Logement?

It is the tribunal that has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters relating to the lease, as long as the amount requested does not exceed $ 70,000. Until 2020, it was called the Régie du Logement.

 

How to open a file at the Tribunal administratif du logement?

Official notice:
As a tenant who wishes to open a case at the Tribunal, you must first notify your landlord in writing, denouncing the problem. We can help you to prepare this kind of letter.

Filing a complaint:
In response to the landlord’s inaction, you can then go to the Tribunal to open a file. You must submit an application to one of the official sites in Montréal:

⇒1425 Boulevard René-Lévesque O
Montreal, QC
(514) 873-2245

⇒5199 Rue Sherbrooke E
Montreal, QC
(514) 873-2245

Notification:
You must send a copy of the application filed to your landlord and you must bring proof of this notification on the day of the hearing.

  • From hand to hand with acknowledgment of receipt
  • By mail with proof of receipt
  • By bailiff

After that, depending on the waiting time which is determined by the type of application, each party will receive a notice of hearing, which will indicate the date, time and place where it will occur.

 

Day of the hearing

Role of the commissioner: the commissioner is the judge who will decide on your case

The postponement: it is possible for you or your landlord to request a postponement of the hearing if you are unable to be there or if both parties agree.

The course of the hearing:
Be there on time (indicated on the notice)! At the beginning of the hearing, the parties and witnesses solemnly affirm to tell the truth. At the hearing, you have to behave with respect for the commissioner and the other parties. You also need to be properly dressed.

At the hearing, the commissioner will hear the evidence and the arguments of each party and will judge on the issue.

Do not forget you can discuss only what was written on the initial application filed with the Tribunal. The judge refuses to hear external elements. This is why it is important to go amend the application to the Tribunal administratif du logement if changes arrived in the meantime. Otherwise, you have to start all over again.

Proof:
Burden of proof: the burden of proof always rests on the shoulders of the applicant (the one who opened the file to the Tribunal administratif du logement)

Accepted types of evidence: There are multiple types of evidence that can come support your application that will make all the difference in your case.

  • Testimonial: anyone who witnessed the facts, gestures or communications that may support your case is required to testify for you during your meeting. Quality is better than quantity.
  • Photographs: Take all the photos necessary (works, vermin damage, mold, etc.)
  • Expert Reports: Any expert report shall be supported by the testimony of the person who completed it (police, fireman, electrician, contractor, Public Health, etc.) except for municipal inspectors, whose report is sufficient.
  • Writings and communications: all written communications between you and your landlord. The writing is the best way to prove the expression of the will.
  • Bills and proof of payment: if you ask the payment of property damaged, lost or stolen, you absolutely must have all supporting receipts. It’s the same for everything related to receipts from your landlord after a rent payment.
  • Other Documents: other real evidence that can help you in court and could change from your application will be accepted. DO NOT FORGET YOUR LEASE!

*** Any document submitted should be photocopied in three copies (one for each party and one for the commissioner).

Counter-proof:
After hearing all the evidence of the claimant, the commissioner leaves a chance to the defendant (the person against whom the application is made) to comment on all of the evidence and he can add new elements and make witnesses testify.

Plea: Finally, the parties summarize their arguments. What they have to say about their overall situation and the evidence presented.

Decision:
It is impossible to know the extent of the decision on the day of the hearing, unless we reach a common understanding between the two parties during negotiations approved by the commissioner.

The decision is mailed in the weeks following the hearing. The turnaround time for a decision is generally 30 days.

 

How to contest a decision?

Correction:
The commissioner corrects a clerical error in the decision or he makes a judgment on a specific part of the request he had initially omitted to judge. You must file your request within the 30 days following the decision.

Revocation:
The hearing has to be redone because:

  • the applicant was unable to attend due to illness or other cause considered sufficient;
  • an important witness was unable to attend;
  • any other case of force majeure occurred;
  • any other reason deemed sufficient.

You have 10 days to make your request for revocation.

The appeal
In cases where an appeal of the decision is possible before the Court of Quebec, the appeal is not made of right, but has to be allowed. This authorization is given when it is considered that the commissioner made an error of law or if the applicant shows that the issues he wishes to submit are serious and of general interest in nature. You must file your request within 30 days of your knowledge of the judgment.

 

For more detailed information, please see the following document: Préparation Régie