Posts Tagged ‘Landlord and Tenant Board’

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Results from the Bedbug Summit II

Saturday, November 27th, 2010

Recommendations and Strategies:

Arising from the Bed Bug Summit at Queen’s Park,
held on September 29, 2010,
to help Combat, Control and Contain Bed Bug Infestations in our Communities and Our Province

By:  MPP Mike Colle
Eglinton-Lawrence

1.       Province-Wide Public Education and Public Awareness Campaign

A successful strategy in the fight against Bed Bugs requires the  cooperation of everyone, including all levels of government, public and private stakeholders, and the public at large.

A province-wide public education and public awareness campaign should be developed by the Province of Ontario, to ensure the public is aware of ways in which  they can identify, prevent, and control Bed Bug infestation.

The Provincial Government should develop a public education campaign in partnership with local public health agencies, local municipalities, local school  boards, local transit authorities, hospitals, private sector partners in housing, and the  hospitality industry.

Brochures, advertisements, public transit and public service announcements, in multiple languages, should be distributed to the public at large, which includes information on how to identify, prevent and control Bed Bugs.

Information kits should be made available to landlords, schools, long-term care facilities, hospitals, and public and private facilities such as hotels, motels, libraries,  and so forth, that may be susceptible to Bed Bug infestations.

The public awareness campaign should include a wide use of online resources such as websites and social media.

An information hotline must also be created, where residents can call to report Bed Bug infestations or express any questions or concerns.   This province-wide public education and public awareness campaign, should
contain consistent messaging across the Province, in clear, plain English, that the general public can easily understand.

2.        Scientific Base Line Study to Examine the Causes and Effects of  Bed Bug Infestations in Ontario

The Province should establish a panel of experts, to determine what the safest and most effective practices are to control and prevent Bed Bug infestations,  (i.e. examining the safety and effectiveness of various chemicals and strategies such  as the use of heat and cold treatment), and the effectiveness of home remedies.

3.        Review of Provincial Legislation

The Province should undertake a review of legislation, such as the Landlord and Tenant Act, the Municipal Licensing Act, Ontario Works Legislation, and the Occupational Health Act, to determine whether steps have to be taken to ensure that these Provincial Laws are compatible with the initiatives needed to combat Bed Bugs.

4.        Focused Training of Public Service

The Province should ensure that relevant Public Servants are given the proper orientation and background in order to better deal with Bed Bug infestation, and how  they can partner in providing solutions and proper protocols to prevent  infestations throughout their Ministry or Agency.

5.        Federal Government Action Required

The Federal Government needs to undertake a national overview in tracking the  infestation of Bed Bugs across the country.   The Federal Government should examine the possibility of establishing new procedures, at various border crossings, to ensure that proper protocols and inspections are undertaken to stop the importation of Bed Bugs into Canada.

There needs to be an audit undertaken of possible sources of cross border  infestation, such as the importation of used vehicles, furniture, and clothing.  While the more obvious vehicles (i.e. trucks delivering mattresses, furniture,
and clothing) should be inspected, other delivery vehicles should also be inspected to ensure Bed Bugs are not being transported within vehicles (such as moving vans and used vehicles).

6.        Partnership with Local Public Health Units

The Province should partner with local public health units, to track the existence of infestations throughout the Province.   The Province should also partner with local public health units, every Residential health and social service agency, public agencies in hospitals, hotels,  motels, hostels, schools, long-term care facilities, and local Community Care Access Centres (CCAC’s), to establish better training and awareness, and to establish better front line containment and prevention strategies in high risk areas.

7.        Funding and Support for Non-Profit Housing Providers

The Province should undertake to provide funding and support for Housing Providers, in their efforts to contain and combat infestations in acute and serious cases, where immediate intervention is warranted.  This intervention could be modeled in a pilot project that would replicate the Extreme Cleaning currently being practiced by some of the social service providers in the City of Toronto.

8.       Comprehensive Strategy to Deal with our Most Vulnerable

A comprehensive strategy to deal with our most vulnerable residents should be  established.   The Province needs to establish a series of strategies that will support  vulnerable individuals that reside in assisted public housing that, through no fault of  their own, have been infested with Bed Bugs and are unable to cope, due to a mental
or physical disability, age, frailty, lack of financial resources, or lack of support to deal with the infestation.

There needs to be a coordinated strategy employed, that would include public health nurses, public health agencies, social service agencies (such as Woodgreen Community Services and St. Clair West Services for Seniors), to work hand in hand with public housing providers.   The Province should also find ways to fund treatment and cleaning of Bed
Bugs for vulnerable and low-income residents.  There is a need for expert intensive case management to assist people in  preparing homes for treatment, recovering from treatment, and avoiding repeat outbreaks. High Support Case Management for vulnerable individuals is required in order to attend to their needs.

9.   Need for  Provincial Coordination

The Province (either through the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, or the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing),  needs to ensure that all government ministries and their resources are made available in this battle against Bed Bug infestation.   A designated office should provide coordination and information sharing for all  parts of government that might be helpful in dealing with this challenge.

This central office could be established to focus on the immediate actions  needed to contain this infestation, and to recommend long-term strategies, and  long-term actions required to prevent and control Bed Bug infestation.

The designation of an individual (or individuals), to oversee this office and co-ordinate a provincial response is essential.

10.   Establishment of a Private Sector “Roundtable Partnership”

The Province should help establish a private sector “Roundtable Partnership”,  to see how the private sector might be able to support the local governments, and the Provincial Government, in their efforts to combat Bed Bugs.

The private sector might be asked to contribute support in providing products (i.e. mattress covers, discounted furniture, and vacuum cleaners) to those of low  income, who are unable to deal with the high costs associated with Bed Bug  Infestation.

11.  Establishment of an Expert Panel of Scientists

The Province should establish an expert panel of scientists from both within government and outside of government, to advise and support government scientists and public health experts who are engaged in Bed Bug infestation control,
containment, and combat.   This panel needs to ensure there is a national and international intervention and best practices regime established for ongoing state of the art remedies.

12.   Establishment of Best Practices for Pest Control

The Province, in cooperation with Pest Control experts, should determine the best method model for pest control protocols. There needs to be coordination, and an effort to work with pest control experts, to develop ongoing best practices (and the safest strategies), in dealing with infestations.  Training, and possible certification of
qualified individuals to deal with Bed Bugs is also recommended.

There needs to be an effort to eliminate delays and confusion in the approval of safe chemicals to fight Bed Bug infestation.   A full scale Integrated Pest Management System needs to be developed and shared with all professional pest management stakeholders.

13.   Long-Term Sealing, Caulking, Scrubbing Program

There needs to be implementation of a long-term sealing, caulking, scrubbing program, that would be established as a possible standard for all Public Health Agencies, in cooperation with public housing providers and other residential housing providers

14.  Examination of Over the Counter Chemicals

Over the Counter sales of chemicals to the general public should be examined and evaluated for their safety and effectiveness.

15.   Role for Our Schools in Expanding Awareness

All school boards should undertake a public awareness campaign through parents, teachers, and students, to educate them on the control and hazards of Bed Bug infestations.

16.   Strategy for Seniors

There needs to be an organized outreach program undertaken by the Province,  in cooperation with municipal authorities, that focuses on the special needs of our Seniors and the strategies that could be employed to help vulnerable seniors deal with Bed Bug infestations.

17.   Review Building Code Guidelines and Procedures for New  Construction and Renovations

Possible new building practices should be examined (especially for multi-resident homes), that would help in preventing future infestations. These  practices should also be applied to building renovations, so that any renovations would be completed in a manner that would help prevent Bed Bug infestations from spreading (i.e. possible use of diatomaceous earth).

18.   Establish Best Practices for Waste Disposal Protocols

Best Practices for Waste Disposal Protocols should be established, especially in the case of items such as mattresses, used furniture, clothing, and toys. The General Public should be warned on the risks associated with bringing used items into their homes or places of employment, without proper cleaning and disinfection.

19.   Used Goods Warnings

Clear, identifiable warnings need to be placed on household items (such as mattresses, furniture, toys, and clothing), which have been discarded because of Bed Bug infestation. Perhaps the use of a simple large orange “X” might be
displayed.

20.   Minimum Standard Benchmarks and Protocols for Schools

There should be minimum set of standards set in place, highlighting  benchmarks in schools, day care centres, colleges and universities, in the identification, control, and methodology used in dealing with Bed Bug infestation.

Conclusion:

Thank you to all who attended the Bed Bug Summit at Queen’s Park, and who made their most helpful contributions.

It is imperative that all sectors of society engage in a comprehensive and  co-operative effort to fight Bed Bug infestation.  The longer we delay in taking a leadership role, the more difficult and costly it will be to stem the spread of
infestation, and the more severe the negative health and economic impacts of Bed  Bugs will be on the people of Ontario.

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The shame of St. Patrick Street

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

It took months to evict the tenants of a crack house. The case highlights the frustration of a the long journey through the Landlord and Tenant Board

OTTAWA — The rental agreement was anything but ordinary.

On Aug. 18, before the Landlord and Tenant Board, Ottawa public housing agreed to let tenants of a crack house stay in the home for two more months so long as they didn’t threaten the neighbours, wreck the place more than they already had, stop leaving needles strewn in the common grounds and clean up dog feces inside and outside of 440 New St. Patrick St. in Lowertown.

They were finally evicted Monday, the agreed date, and two weeks after a 31-year-old mom and addict Melissa Glasner, was found hanging in the basement.

Someone in the home had cut her down from the rope, then called 911 at 6:23 p.m. on Oct. 16. She had been dead for hours and there was nothing paramedics or police could do. The death of Glasner was filed away as a suicide. There were others in the house, but they didn’t notice she was missing until it was too late.

The police know the public-housing unit well because they raided it this summer for drugs and charged a handful of people, but not the tenants, with drug trafficking.

It’s the end unit with the uninviting welcome mat that states: “Come back with a warrant.” (The police did in July).

Inside the public-housing unit, it’s even less welcoming, according to a government official, with dog feces smeared on the floors, holes in the walls and garbage strewn upstairs and down. Mattresses are propped up against the windows in the basement and in the bedrooms upstairs. The windows on the main floor are covered up with bed sheets and cardboard.

Outside, in the yard, there’s not a patch of grass or plants, just garbage — Vodka bottles, pop and beer tins, stolen bicycles — stripped of parts, broken lawn chairs and a derelict barbecue without a propane tank.

Ottawa housing first made an application to evict its tenants in June and got a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board in August. The application to evict the tenants of the crack house came after neighbours complained about threats.

It also came at a time when more than 15,000 people — including parents with young children — are on a waiting list for public housing.

Ottawa Community Housing CEO Jo-Anne Poirier said in an interview that the publicly funded corporation acted as quickly as possible to evict the tenants within the legal process. She said delays in the case — it took four months to evict — in part, had to do with the provincial board giving the tenants enough time to obtain legal representation. Once they did, they were allowed to stay an extra two months so long as they obeyed the rules set out in an agreement.

Poirier expressed sympathy for the neighbours of the crack house and said the housing corporation has to “balance the interests of individual tenants and the collective good.”

She says Ottawa housing has only one or two of these drug-house cases each year. A provincial official disputed that, saying it’s more like 15-20. Either way, all agree that one is too many.

And this case highlights the frustration with what appears to be a long journey through the Landlord and Tenant Board, with adjudicators letting a crackhouse stay open four months after Ottawa housing applied to evict, and two months after an adjudicator ruled in favour of the eviction.

Police keep public-housing projects on their radar and have enlisted community liaisons to keep the streets a little safer. But with 440 New St. Patrick St., also commonly known as St. Patrick Street to its residents and their correspondence, it seemed nothing could be done about the threats, noise, the screaming and fighting and the rampant drug use, and the discarded needles and smashed booze bottles in the complex’s common grounds.

So when police raided the drug house in July, some residents literally broke down in tears, and expressed relief and publicly thanked the police, who at the time said the eviction would be imminent.

The councillor for the ward, Georges Bédard, told the press at the time that when citizens report crime, the system works to root out the outlawed underbelly.

Still, the tenants were allowed to legally stay in the crack house until Monday, and long after the July drug raid. That decision had nothing to do with the police. That contract was agreed to by Ottawa housing and the tenants under the authority of Gerald Naud, a member of the Landlord and Tenant Board who signed the decision.

Months later, Melissa Glasner was found dead in the basement.

“Nobody that knows her thinks she had that in her, and nobody thinks she was the kind of person who would kill herself,” said aunt Fran Layton, 64.

“Addicts overdose, they don’t hang themselves. And there were all kinds of people in the house and nobody noticed she was missing?”

Layton described Melissa as a “good person” who cared about family and friends.

“Most addicts are always trying to rip people off, Melissa was always trying to help people,” Layton recalled.

Layton last spoke to Melissa a week before she was found hanging. She seemed in good spirits and gave no indication of any trouble.

The aunt also said Melissa didn’t leave a suicide note.

“If she was trying to get straight and clean, why would she do it? I find it difficult to believe she killed herself,” Layton said.

Melissa was living at a shelter at the time of her death, and friend Tabitha Morris described street life downtown as “Hell in four blocks.”

Melissa’s last moments in that life were spent in the dirty basement of a crack house in Lowertown.

The neighbours in the public-housing project thought the tenants of the drug house would have been gone after the summer’s police raid. No such luck.

In that time — three months — one neighbour was threatened by the tenants. Another neighbour told the Citizen she feared for her young child’s home life with the crack house customers next door “screaming and fighting all night long.” She expressed relief that they were finally evicted and said she wouldn’t miss all the nights the police and paramedics showed up next door.

The unusual conditions that allowed the tenants of the crack house to stay in the public-housing unit included a condition that they pay Ottawa housing $745 — more than half of which was for damages to the publicly-owned home. Other conditions included that the tenants, for the remaining two months before eviction, not “impair the safety on the residential complex of any person” or “remove any smoke detectors in the residential complex” or “dispose of any bottle, needle or syringe in the common area of the rental complex, including the yards.”

The night Melissa Glasner died in the basement of the crack house, neighbours in the project didn’t realize anyone had died next door.

They had seen ambulances at the crack house every other weekend for two years, and so on Oct. 16, when another ambulance pulled up, the neighbours paid little attention.

Gary Dimmock can be reached

at 613-291-2827 or gdimmock@ottawacitizen.com

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/shame … z15MjTA46F

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Yet Another Day at the Landlord and Tenant Board

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Today I paid a visit to the local Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) office here in my new hometown of Mississauga, I began filing my applications at this office having just moved to the area.

From my handful of trips to the Mississauga office I have encountered many new generation Canadians. I know however thru my conversations with some while waiting in line that many here are small time landlords much like the ones that make up the core membership of the Ontario Landlord Association. Inevitably I end up helping out landlords who have questions. Many of the landlords are new to the game. I shutter to think how exposed they are in their limited knowledge of the Residential Tenancies Act. What chance would they have in dealing with problem tenants like the ones I was there to deal with? A N8 application for 6 months of late payments, a N5 for moving in a washer and dryer into a small 2 bedroom unit which that refuse to get rid off.

The common small scale landlord does not stand a chance against professional tenants, their free duty council and a system designed to keep tenants from being quickly evicted while the landlord foots the bill.

I arrived shortly after 12 pm, perfect, lunchtime. One window was open with one staff member manning her computer. Luckily there is not much of a crowd waiting and I am here for a simple application. Here is where the experience gets rocky. As I am being served I tell the administrator who is processing my application that I have an L2 application due to an N5. The admin does her job and asks me a few questions such as “is this a first or second N5? did they didn’t correct the problem?”. Those of you who are familiar with the application process will know about the section where you must state the rent on deposit for Last Month’s Rent (LMR), when the deposit was taken, when was the last time interest was paid. I informed her that I just apply the interest to LMR which will also increase by the exact same amount, essentially it’s a wash. She informed me that I must write them a cheque and they must in turn write me a cheque back for the exact same amount or I could be charged with a provincial offense. She then told me that the fines were really high and handed me a pamphlet “The residential tenancies act offenses” listing all the infractions that person could be charged with, in the pamphlet it states “It is an offense to fail to pay the tenant interest on the rent deposit when required”. While the statement may be true, crediting the tenant’s LRM is also an allowable form of payment however she insisted I was to give the tenant an cheque for the interest amount and it was then up to the tenant to pay that amount back into LMR “some tenants will and others won’t then you can charge them for it when they move out”.

According to her theory, Landlords are to pay interest out, while the tenant may or may not repay that amount back to the Landlord to top up LMR and it will be up to the Landlord to file either a $170 LTB application against a tenant who is vacating a unit most likely before a hearing date occurs. Or they can choose to file a smalls claims court suit keeping in mind the tenant will most likely not provide a forwarding address. All this for most likely less then $50 in interest, but $50 that was rightfully owed to the Landlord.

Yet another blunder when I informed her that this was a second L2 application the first was for a N8 notice because the tenant has persistently paid rent late over the last 7 months. She questioned why I was filing this second L2 as my hearing on Nov 4 would evict them for persistently paying rent late. I informed her that this is not the case. As some of you might know a first time application for persistently paying rent rarely leads to an eviction. She told me that she has never heard of that being the case and that wasn’t her experience, all the while shaking her head and continuing to type. Thanks for the information Landlord and Tenant Board!

Luckily I’ve had some experience and a great resource, The Ontario Landlord Association. I truly feel sorry for the little guys who are swimming with sharks, they must feel like they are alone on an island with nowhere to turn for help. This is why we must get the OLA name out there.

Ken S

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The OLA and OLA Members in the Globe and Mail!

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

The landlord blues

DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY

From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 3:18PM EDT

Mathieu Mazur-Goulet has three tenants living in the house he bought a year ago in an up-and-coming Ottawa neighbourhood, but he’s still waiting to break even. The 26-year-old government policy analyst bought the triplex for $257,000 and expected he’d pull in $2,700 each month to cover his fixed costs and return a modest profit.

But unexpected repair costs have made what he thought would be a great long-term investment a major drain on his personal savings. He bought the house thinking it was the perfect “passive” investment: He wanted to live in it after he started a family and planned to rent it out until then.

In a time of economic uncertainty, the idea of investing in property rather than mutual funds can be attractive, and figures indicate that more Canadians are getting into the landlord game. The Toronto Real Estate Board says the number of leased properties is on the rise; between May and August, 6,712 condominiums and townhouses were rented – an increase of 18 per cent from last year’s figures. “Many newly completed units are held by investors who have chosen to rent their units,” the board says in its most recent newsletter.

But new small-scale landlords are often hit with the costs of unexpected repairs, the struggle to find good tenants and the stress of not knowing whether the rent will be paid each month. While it may seem like a lucrative way to invest your money long term, getting cash flow out of an income property is not always a passive affair.

Without properly evaluating how rentable a unit is, income properties can lead to bad credit. “Maybe the property is vacant for a period of time,” says Ryan Chelak, an Oakville, Ont., real estate broker. “You start getting behind on your mortgage, which is a tight leash to handle.”

For Mr. Mazur-Goulet, the problems began just hours after he bought the house. His insurance broker said he wouldn’t cover rental properties. Another wanted to charge him $5,000 a year, while some required detailed (and expensive) inspection reports. He finally found one that was willing to insure the house without making it unmarketable.

But that was far from the last hiccup.

It turned out the previous owner fancied himself a handyman. The bathroom in the basement apartment was industrial carpet on top of poorly laid vinyl tile on top of plywood. The unit sat vacant for months (the two others were occupied by long-term tenants) as Mr. Mazur-Goulet fixed the bathroom and made other repairs.

But poor maintenance wasn’t limited to that part of the house.

“One Sunday, I received a voice mail from my tenant telling me, ‘Mathieu, my ceiling is raining,’ ” he says. “You couldn’t imagine the dread that came over me at the time.”

He had to dip into his personal savings for the $5,500 to cover a partial roof replacement. This month, the hot water heater went bust and he had to spend $2,500 to replace it. Neither of these were costs he could pass on to his tenants, though he can write them off against his income at tax time.

Now, with all three units occupied, he’s bringing in $2,700 a month in rent, while trying to stay on top of expenses of $2,500 (which include mortgage payments, insurance and property tax as well as some repairs). But he has some financial catch-up to do.

What’s he’s thankful for, though, are good tenants. He joined the Ontario Landlords Association, which gave him tips before he purchased the triplex. After reading other members’ horror stories, he learned the importance of finding the right people. He carefully checked the references of those applying for the basement unit before he found the ideal candidate.

Jane Schweitzer wasn’t so lucky.

The 39-year-old, who works in dental administration, says she went through much turmoil last year when she tried to get rid of a problem tenant who lived in a Brantford, Ont., house Ms. Schweitzer and her husband own.

While real estate is affordable in Brantford, the rental market is hardly booming, which meant she did not have much choice in tenants. Various problems mounted until Ms. Schweitzer initiated eviction proceedings, a process that dragged through the Landlord and Tenant Board for months before the woman left.

“It consumes your life,” Ms. Schweitzer says. “You feel your house is being held hostage on you.”

Income properties just aren’t worth the trouble to her now. She plans to sell the house.

Dave Peniuk also chose a seemingly good deal over rental-market research and had to pay for it in a big way.

He was inspired to buy two multiunit houses in Niagara Falls, Ont., after seeing a late-night infomercial on investments properties. He forked over a few thousand dollars to attend a hotel seminar that promised no-money-down deals and that he’d make enough to retire after just six months. He waited for the money to roll in.

He had little idea who was renting his units, since he paid a property manager (whom he’d inherited with the house) to find tenants. After 10 months, about half the units were vacant on a semi-permanent basis. The rental income wasn’t covering Mr. Peniuk’s $3,600 monthly expenses.

He spent $10,000 trying to spruce up two long-vacant units in the six-plex but even that wasn’t enough to attract tenants to what had become known in that seedy neighbourhood to be a crack house.

He eventually sold the houses. By the end, he lost $35,000 out of his own pocket.

Mr. Peniuk still wasn’t ready to give up on the income property game – he knew he just needed to gain skills to play it better.

He moved to Burnaby, B.C., in 2006 and started to buy properties in Kelowna, Nanaimo and Toronto. He hired some highly recommended property managers to look after the B.C. units. He has a strict process in place for screening tenants, and he makes sure that all sign detailed rental agreements.

Now, he and his wife are full-time investors with $5.5-million in rental real estate.

“It’s not a superactive business, but it should not be considered passive,” he says. “It’s like any investment. You don’t just buy a stock. You should do your research on it.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/mortgages/the-landlord-blues/article1762225/

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Must See Landlord TV: RyersonianTV News OLA Interview

Monday, September 27th, 2010

An important report on the bedbug problem in Toronto.

http://www.ryersonian.ca/tv/9354/

The OLA comments at 4:20

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