The student union at Concordia University in Montreal is calling on Quebec's Human Rights Commission to investigate what it calls a pattern of abuse by landlords against international students.

The Concordia Student Union received nearly 60 complaints from international students about the problem last month alone, said the organization's president Heather Lucas.

Lucas said landlords frequently demand students pay several months rent in advance and often attempt to collect private information, despite regulations laid out by Quebec's housing board that restrict such practices.

According to the housing board's website, landlords cannot "require a payment exceeding one month's rent."

Lucas, who moved to Montreal from the United States to pursue her education, said she has had similar experiences with landlords.

She said one landlord asked her for photocopies of documents including her passport.

"They had also asked me to pay two months rent for April and May because I'm an international student when I would be moving in in June," she said. "This made no sense."

A spokesman for the Quebec Landlords' Association said the number of complaints the student union had received came as a surprise.

Martin Messier said that tenants who feel they are being treated unfairly should file a complaint with the rental board.