Getyourplace, a housing management company coveting foreign students in Montreal, openly asked for security deposits when the practice is prohibited in Quebec. Universities that “trust” Getyourplace, according to its website, say they will review their association with the company after being challenged by The Press.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
“A deposit equal to one month’s rent is required for the furniture contract when booking the room,” read until recently on the Getyourplace website.
However, in Quebec, a landlord cannot require such a deposit in advance, with the exception of the first month’s rent when signing the lease. “Even though they say it’s equal to a month’s rent, [comme] that’s not why, it wouldn’t be legal, “says Me Justine Sara, housing lawyer at Juripop.
The company presents itself on its Facebook page as providing “furnished rooms for students coming to Montreal, for 4 to 12 months, and at a very affordable price”. The 31 rooms in 6 different apartments displayed on Getyourplace were all rented at the time of this writing. They are notably located on the Plateau Mont-Royal, in the Côte-des-Neiges district and downtown.
Asked about the deposit on multiple occasions, Getyourplace never responded to requests for The Press. However, the company changed the information presented on its website after being contacted.
It now reads: “When booking your room, you can book your room unfurnished, and no deposit will be required. If you want your room to have furniture, you will have to sign a free furniture loan contract, independent of your rental contract for your room, and for which you will be asked for a deposit. »
However, “that is not legal either, because the furniture rental contract is accessory to the housing lease, then the same rules apply” under article 1892 of the Civil Code , explains M.e Sara, nor can the landlord ask for a deposit for this purpose.
Another interpretation would have it rather a “loan for use free of charge”, to which article 1892 does not apply. “However, this seems to me to directly circumvent the spirit of the law since the furniture included in the lease must be declared in the lease,” adds Ms.e Sarah. To say that the furniture is lent outside the lease, free of charge, in order to be able to ask for a deposit seems to me to be for the sole purpose of evading the application of the law. »
Dropped by universities
“HEC Montréal, UdeM, ESG UQAM, Poly, ETS trust us to house their students,” says Getyourplace on its website, displaying their logos. The Press contacted all of these establishments to find out the nature of their association with Getyourplace and to find out if they endorse the company’s practices.
“Verifications are currently taking place and, until further notice, we have decided to remove Getyourplace from our list of resources,” said Geneviève O’Meara, spokesperson for the Université de Montréal (UdeM). “Besides, we didn’t authorize the organization to use our logo. »
UdeM does not endorse circumventing the law or regulations in place […]. Until light is shed on their practices, Getyourplace will no longer appear on our site and we will ask them to remove any reference to UdeM from theirs.
Geneviève O’Meara, spokesperson for the University of Montreal
“The organization was once mentioned on a list for short-term transitional accommodation, but it is no longer on it,” said University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) spokesperson Jenny Desrochers, adding that “steps are being taken” to review the messages involving the establishment on the Getyourplace website.
“Of course, if you show fault on their part or non-compliance with the rules, we will quickly remove the company from our list of available resources,” says Olivier Audet, from the École de technologie supérieure (ETS).
HEC Montréal “confirms [n’avoir] never received a complaint from students about this company,” said spokesperson Émilie Novales. “Before recommending this company to our students, we required that the contracts with the students comply with the law in force in Quebec,” she adds.
Polytechnique Montréal was unable to answer questions from The Press at the time of this writing.