Montreal triplex landlord – tenant locked the backyard gate without permission. What are my rights?
I own a triplex in Montreal. Per lease conditions, only the main floor tenant has exclusive use of the backyard. The basement and upper floor tenants have no backyard access rights, but all units have emergency exits to the backyard for safety reasons.
A few months ago, the main floor tenant’s kids broke the gate latch. The tenant then added a chain lock to the gate — no permission asked, none given. I’ve asked him to replace the latch and remove the chain. He agreed, but it’s been over a month and nothing has changed.
The problem: the power room (hot water heaters e.t.c) is in the backyard. I now need them to physically open the gate every time I need access to my own utility room.
Separate but related issue:
There’s been an ongoing noise dispute between the main and upper floor tenants. Today, the main floor tenant’s kids confronted the upper floor tenant’s wife and kids about the noise. The upper floor tenant (a great family, unfortunately) is now moving out June 30, partly because of this tension. I plan to formally notify the main floor tenant this weekend that they are not to approach other tenants directly — all complaints go through me.
My actual question:
Even though the main floor tenant has exclusive backyard rights per the lease, can they claim a privacy right to lock the gate and restrict my access to the backyard and power room? Or does my right as owner/landlord to access utilities override claim of privacy?