Inside Toronto: Toronto tenants, politicians to talk rent control
- Details
- Category: Fair Housing for Toronto Tenants
- Published on 14 May 2012
Toronto politicians and tenants will talk this Saturday, May 12, afternoon about whether Ontario's government should reinstate permanent rent controls and allow the city to license its landlords.
ACORN Canada (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Canada) has fought for a system of landlord licensing in Toronto which would force landlords to pay for repairs, but it cannot happen without changes in provincial law.
The advocacy group, which says the city's rents "continue to skyrocket" as buildings deteriorate, also wants to see the province return to rent controls which limit permitted rent increases on apartments whether or not those apartments are vacant.
Liberal and New Democrat MPPs and city councillors have been invited to a provincial housing forum on these issues at 1:30 p.m. at the Ontario Federation of Labour building on Gervais Drive, near the corner of Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East.
Original article available at: http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/1353953--toronto-tenants-politicians-to-talk-rent-control
Press Release: ACORN Canada launches Centre for Tenant Organizing, new hub for tenant activism in Toronto.
- Details
- Category: Fair Housing for Toronto Tenants
- Published on 29 March 2012
ACORN Canada, a national membership organization of low and moderate income families, is announcing today the launch of new online hub of activism and organizing for Toronto tenants.
The Centre for Tenant Organizing aims to be an online clearinghouse for tenant engagement – connecting tenants to organizing materials, campaign support & City services. The launch is in response to demand from tenants across Toronto for resources to help them to unite their neighbours in campaigns and projects to win improved housing standards.
The site was launched with a Vital Ideas grant from the Toronto Community Foundation.
The site is available at: http://www.tenantorganizing.ca
Group protests rental conditions at St. Clarens Avenue Apartments
- Details
- Category: Fair Housing for Toronto Tenants
- Published on 21 February 2012
Tenants of a Dupont Street and Lansdowne Avenue area tower say they're suffering with rental conditions they are unable to live in.
A dozen residents of 730 St. Clarens Avenue Apartments rallied outside their building this week to bring attention to the issue. They claim they're dealing with poor maintenance, safety hazards and an insect infestation, including cockroaches and bedbugs.
Ana Dinar and her sister Mary Francisco began renting an apartment there in 2008 and said the longer they lived in the building, the more maintenance issues arose. Their shower ran continuously for months, they said.
"There's mold and mildew growing because of the constant running water," said Dinar at Wednesday's rally.
Fellow tenant Ahmed Rahman, who has lived at 730 St. Clarens for six years, said he waited for months to get his toilet repaired.
"Yes, it got fixed, but it took three months," said Rahman, who along with fellow tenants held signs that read, 'Honk for Better Housing.'
Heather Kilgour, the building's office manager, said she couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.
"I don't know what people were trying to prove," she said. "We take care of our tenants. We do repairs. We fix what needs to be done."
Inside Toronto: ACORN Canada holds tenants rally, Dec. 30
- Details
- Category: Fair Housing for Toronto Tenants
- Published on 03 January 2012
Tenants of an East York highrise say they will rally Friday afternoon, Dec. 30, in front of their building.
Toronto ACORN, an advocacy group, is calling on the City of Toronto to force the owner to do repairs at 500 Dawes Road.
A fire in an elevator Dec. 8 injured two men working in the building, and Janet Davis, the local city councillor, met tenants of the building on Dec. 20 to discuss its condition and their rights.
In a release, ACORN, which is planning the rally for 2:15 p.m., said the owner "has a history of not doing repairs and of treating people poorly" and the city isn't responding to conditions in the building quickly enough.
An audit of the building completed Dec. 3 2008, found dozens of property standards defects but a city report this month found only five defects in the orders to the owner remain outstanding.
The owner, the report said, must still submit engineer's reports on the exterior and interior lighting, take a condition survey on concrete balcony floor slabs and repair the balconies, which "are not maintained in good repair"
The report also said walls in the parking garage "are not maintained free of holes, breaks or cracks."
Toronto Sun: Residents of east end building fed up
- Details
- Category: Fair Housing for Toronto Tenants
- Published on 03 January 2012
Talking about the cockroaches in her apartment makes at least one tenant of an east Toronto apartment building distraught.
There is also the inadequate heating, faulty appliances, defective toilets, mice, bedbugs and garbage piled high at the rear of the building, Lisa Hume said. But it is the cockroaches that keep her up at night with worry.
The scurrying roaches are so numerous when the lights are turned on in her 500 Dawes Rd. apartment that it sometimes appears as if the floor is moving, she said.
Hume was one of 40-or-so tenants of the building gathered in the lobby Friday to protest the landlord’s lack of upkeep of the low-rent apartment building, and the shoddy conditions they say they are living in.
After numerous visits from city standards, health and fire officials, tenants are now asking both the City and Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board to step in and help them.
Hume, who has been spearheading the tenants’ call for action along with a community activists Toronto ACORN, has consulted a law firm dealing in legal-aid cases.
