Nova Scotia second province to resolve tenant-landlord disputes by telephone

HALIFAX - Tenants and landlords in Nova Scotia will soon resolve disputes via telephone, instead of an in-person hearing.

Service Nova Scotia Minister Geoff MacLellan says the idea is to make the process faster and more efficient.

Nova Scotia currently deals with more than 5,000 dispute applications a year and will become the second province after British Columbia to replace in-person hearings with telephone hearings.

The use of phone hearings was tested through a Halifax pilot project over the past 18 months.

The province says more than 90 of about 650 participants completed a voluntary online survey -- and 90 per cent indicated they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the process.

Phone hearings will be booked next Wednesday for Halifax and areas west of Halifax, Sydney and Amherst, with Sept. 4 the target date for all hearings across the province to be conducted by phone.