ACORN Canada | Uniting Communities for Justice

Tenants in New Westminster Stand up to Slum Landlords

ACORN Canada members in BC were at it again, going after problem landlords and holding them accountable as part of our larger Healthy Homes Campaign.  This time in New Westminster, ACORN members had city inspectors out to inspect their building and at the same time held an action to demand their landlord, the Sahota family, clean up their act.  

You may remember from previous BC updates that this isn’t the first time a building owned by the Sahota family has been in the news.  Less than two months ago, a member in Surrey won a precedent setting fina against the family for failing to maintain a building in Surrey.   Moving forward ACORN will be laying out reforms to the Residential Tenancy Act, and reforms to how the act is enforced, as well as turning up the heat on the Sahota family and other slum landlords who think having families live in hellacious conditions is acceptable. Stay tuned for this as our members have no plans of stopping until everyone has a healthy home!

Ottawa Citizen: Tenants group presses for better housing standards

OTTAWA — Members of Ottawa ACORN rallied Wednesday in Sandalwood Park to press the City of Ottawa for better housing standards in their battle to get quicker action from landlords on repair and maintenance issues.

About 20 members were at the park near Herongate Mall, holding signs that read “We Want Healthy Homes” and “Make Landlords Accountable” and reiterating their concerns about the need to live in safe and clean housing.

ACORN Ottawa has about 9,700 members and is one of the largest tenant organizations in the city.

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1310 News: Herongate residents denounce 'appalling' living conditions

Their bathrooms are leaking, their ceilings are caving.

Some homes have birds nesting in the walls, other mould growing on the window sills. Many have been waiting months on end for their landlord to make repairs.

Now they are calling for the city to step in.

Members of ACORN Ottawa, a low to moderate income rights group, is pushing for better housing and more rights for tenants as part of its campaign for healthy homes in the city. 

A group of about 20 residents and ACORN members rallied at Sandalwood Park Wednesday afternoon.

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CFRA: ACORN Calls for Healthy Homes

Ottawa ACORN wants to make sure tenants live in safe and clean housing.

The group will launch a campaign today for Healthy Homes in Ottawa.

ACORN wants the City of Ottawa to create an action plan on how to bring problem properties to a "Healthy Home" standard, including a minimum timeframe for landlords to respond to repairs and maintenance requests and improving the fine system.

The City is also being urged to improve the minimum standards for residential properties

http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1nid=86126

CTV: New claims of neglect made against infamous landlords

A notorious B.C. family of landlords is facing new allegations of neglect from tenants in New Westminster who say they went without running water for two weeks.

Residents of the building at 1210 Cameron Street say they've also dealt with mouldy floors, leaky ceilings and rodents, but owners Pal and Gurdyal Sahota aren't doing enough to fix it.

"There's mice in just about every unit. They're in the walls; you can hear them. In the basement, there's rats, there's various bugs, silverfish, cockroaches, bedbugs," renter John Dykema told reporters at a tenant rally Thursday.

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