On December 1, 2000 the Residential Tenancies Branch launched Internet access
to final Orders and Decisions of the Residential Tenancies Branch and
Commission.
Landlords and tenants have been requesting faster and easier access to Orders of the Branch and Commission. Currently, an Order and the Reasons in a particular matter are available to anyone who attends the Branch and asks to see them. However they must know exact particulars relating to the Order to allow for a manual search of the documents to determine if an order was issued. This new service will enable a landlord or tenant to search the information on the database to see if there have been Orders against a prospective tenant, landlord or residential complex.
The service can be accessed from the Residential Tenancies Home page located at http://www.gov.mb.ca/cca/residtb.html. You can access the Orders System by clicking on the Orders System link on the left-hand side of the screen, then you can do a Search by clicking on the Search link. A user ID and password are required.
To protect privacy, the current addresses and telephone numbers of both andlords and tenants will be deleted from the Orders and Reasons.
Persons who check the Orders System and find orders against a name should ensure that the order relates to the prospective tenant, landlord, etc. Orders related to rent increase applications are not included.
The types of Orders are possession, repair, security deposit, utility claims, rent redirects, uninhabitable, and others (an example is a request for a determination of a question). Orders that are under appeal will not be posted until the appeal has expired.
Internet access is available by annual subscription on application or on a walk-in basis at a public access workstation. An annual subscription costs $250 and will give clients 24-hour access to the system, seven days a week.
Tenants and landlords without computer or Internet access can use a public access workstation at the Winnipeg office. Individual searches conducted at the branch, cost $5 for 30 minutes. Copies of documents are provided for 15 cents a page. Staff at the Brandon and Thompson offices will access the system and print off information for walk-in clients.
The new system will initially list orders issued by the Residential Tenancies Branch and Residential Tenancies Commission in 1999 and 2000. The system will be updated weekly.