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Announcements / March FMTA Tenant Workshops (free!)
« on: March 20, 2024, 04:35:44 pm »

Passing along this message from our friends over at the FMTA...


Sign up to attend some of FMTA's upcoming Tenant Workshops for the end of March! March 25 - 27th.

These workshops provide tenants and tenant advocates with in-depth training on the law and strategies to advocate for themselves and their neighbours.

All workshops are taught by experienced lawyers and community advocates.

The schedule for the upcoming Tenant Workshops are as follows.

1) Tenant Rights 101: Mon, Mar 25 @ 7pm
2) Organizing a Tenant Association: Tues, Mar 26 @ 7pm
3) Fighting a Demolition: Wed, Mar 27 @ 7pm
All workshops are taught virtually over Zoom.

FMTA
https://www.torontotenants.org/





2

We the Admins of the Toronto Renter's Forum just wanted make a couple of supportive comments regarding this post, and in particular these words:

Quote
Sitting behind our computers and complaining about our rent rates is not going to change anything in the real world for either ourselves OR our neighbours.

We receive lots of questions from renters, and we hear lots of horror stories, and these things are part of the reason that we created this Forum.  And while we believe that this Forum is a (small) part of the solution (we endeavour to be a safe place for renters to compare notes, learn from one another's experiences, and maybe even organise themselves into a renter’s union or something, etc.), we also know that this Forum has a negative effect upon renters’ activism too.  What we’re talking about is the fact that many renters use this Forum to vent their frustrations upon our sympathetic ears, and then they feel better, and then they leave without taking action to actually improve their own situation.

We unfortunately live in an era of social-media induced inaction.  Occupying your landlord’s office for a couple of hours does far more to further your cause than spending those hours making hundreds of angry posts online, because online noise doesn’t have the same impact when the actions that you are complaining about are unfair, rather than illegal.

No politician is going to see your hundreds of posts and send in city inspectors or the police, because by and large the abusive things that your landlord is doing to you are LEGAL.

Take, for example, Above Guideline Rent Increases - they are profoundly unfair (no other business gets to temporarily modify the legal contract you have with them in order to push their maintenance and upkeep costs onto you the customer, no indeed!, regular businesses have to depreciate the value of their equipment and set aside funds to repair and replace things as necessary).  But the fact is that Above Guideline Rent Increases are legal, codified in the Residential Tenancies Act.

Wise homeowners save money in a Rainy Day Fund, and there are laws requiring condo boards to maintain appropriately sized Reserve Funds held in trust to cover large expensive capital projects.  The problem of how to pay for large repairs isn’t a difficult one to solve.  Yet somehow the landlords have used their money and influence to lobby the government to create laws to their advantage.  This is what must change.  And it won’t change because people make a few angry posts online.  Real change to remove unfair laws requires real action in the real world.  And that is why we like CNDraycott’s post, because it is the correct first step towards making these changes.




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Announcements / No Demovictions demonstration on October 2nd at 5PM
« on: September 30, 2023, 11:55:47 am »

Our friends over at No Demovictions are organising a protest demonstration for this Monday.

The stock of affordable purpose-built rental buildings in Toronto is currently being destroyed at an unprecedented rate, causing irreparable damage to an already limited pool of affordable housing, which contributes to soaring rent prices, gentrification, and the number of people experiencing homelessness.

WHEN:
Monday, October 2nd, 2023 at 5PM
International Tenants Day

WHERE:
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West

WHY:
Demand action on profit-driven demovictions and tenants rights

Here's a link for more information:  ACT NOW! demonstration



4

Our friends over at the FMTA are asking renters to sign a petition in support of restoring rent control to all Ontario renters (returning things to as they were before Doug Ford's Conservative government removed rent control for some renters).  We strongly encourage all Ontario renters to sign the petition, to protect ourselves and all renters from egregious rent increases, and from Doug Ford's chipping away and watering down of rent control.  Please take a moment to protect your and our ability to afford to stay in our homes!


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   Here is the FMTA's Call to Action  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Friend --

A couple of Tenants in Toronto were given a whopping $7000 monthly increase, from $2500 to $9500!!


How did this happen?

Because Ford made it legal.

In 2018 Doug Ford removed all rent control on new buildings built after November, 2018 which allows landlords to raise the rent to any amount they want. 

Does that mean a landlord could raise rent by $1 million?

It's hard to believe, but yes, he's actually made that legal.


What can be done about this?

Demand the current Provincial Ford Government bring back rent control to all units!

Sign a petition from these tenants for better rent control: https://www.change.org/p/establish-real-rent-control-for-all-buildings-in-ontario

Support this law from these tenants' MPP on improving rent control

https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-48

 

FMTA
https://www.torontotenants.org/

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Announcements / Guideline Rent Increase for 2024 is 2.5%
« on: June 30, 2023, 07:07:47 pm »

Here's a link to the official announcement:
   https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases


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Announcements / Toronto Mayor, Who to Vote For?
« on: June 24, 2023, 01:16:24 pm »
The FMTA has just posted the results of their Mayoral Housing Pledge 2023:

Mayoral Housing Pledge 2023

Another fact to add...  Doug Ford (who is no friend to renters) is strongly endorsing Toronto Chief of Police Mark Saunders for Mayor, and Saunders has promised to lower property taxes to the tune of $1000 per family in Toronto.  However, 47% of the people living in Toronto are renters, and this tax break won't affect renters because their landlords will be the recipients of that tax break.  And one must wonder what social services Saunders will have to cut in order to finance that tax break for the rich?  Don't vote for anyone who is going to make things worse for you!


7
Announcements / FMTA 2023 Newslatter
« on: June 24, 2023, 01:08:41 pm »

The latest newsletter (Summer 2023) from our friends over at the Federation of Metro Tenant Associations* is available here:

FMTA Newsletter 2023

* The Federation of Metro Tenant Associations (FMTA) is a renter advocacy organisation here in Toronto that has many experts who can answer your questions either by telephone (416-921-9494), postal-mail, or e-mail (hotline@torontotenants.org).

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Announcements / Announcing: Rate the Landlord .org
« on: April 28, 2023, 10:44:57 am »
A new website has just been launched that allows Renters to post reviews of their Landlords!

This is a terrific new service that is badly needed.  We applaud the good folks at Rate the Landlord for coming up with this idea, and making their website available to all of us.

We encourage all Renters to take advantage of Rate the Landlord.  Let's hold our landlords accountable, and enable future renters to make informed decisions about who they rent from.


9

The NDP is going to introduce a motion to reinstate rent control in Ontario!

Please sign the petition to show your support:

   https://ontariondp.ca/bring-back-rent-control


Quote
Opposition Day Motion #4
To be debated: Monday, April 24th
 
Whereas there is a cost of living crisis in Ontario; and
 
Whereas the cost of rent has increased to more than 50% of the take-home income for many Ontario households; and
 
Whereas the removal of all rent control from homes first occupied after 2018 has exposed tenants to unaffordable double-digit rent increases; and
 
Whereas the ability to increase rent between tenancies accelerates the rising cost of rent and incentivizes illegal evictions; and
 
Whereas housing is a human right;
 
Therefore, the Legislative Assembly calls on the government to implement rent control on all units, including between tenancies.

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Announcements / FMTA - New and Expanded Services!
« on: February 27, 2023, 07:39:08 pm »

Our friends over at the Federation of Metro Tenant Associations (FMTA) have released an announcement:

We've launched new and expanded services - thanks to new funding from the City of Toronto's Tenant Support Program.

Our tenant hotline has expanded weekend service and can now answer questions on social media.  Our outreach team is now able to help with some evictions, tenant rights workshops and tenant organizing. And we've got a new fund for tenant associations!

http://www.torontotenants.org/


12

Low-income renters in Canada can apply for a one-time payment of $500

To qualify for the top-up benefit, renters must be at least 15 years of age and have paid rent in 2022 that was equal to at least 30 per cent of their net income in 2021;  families must also have a net income of $35,000 or less, while eligible individuals are capped at a net income of $20,000 or less.

Residents of Canada in 2022 for tax purposes are eligible for the benefit.
Lower-income renters in Canada can now apply for a one-time $500 top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit



13
The Home Standards Project, a not for profit which assists renters in ensuring that their rental units meet the minimum bylaw standard.

The site, Homestandards.org guides users around their unit and asks them plain language questions about it's quality. Upon its completion, the site generates a report that cross references issues they indicated with the bylaw standard. The thinking is that people can do these assessments and have more confidence and justification to request repairs from their landlord.

In the year and a half we have run the site in Kingston, we have helped find a lot of issues, with many affecting the health and safety of renters. However, we have also heard from our users that this tool has directly helped them get desperately needed repairs from absent or apathetic landlords. With so many cuts to municipal services, for many this is the best chance they have at ensuring their rental unit is kept to a reasonable standard, and with the cold weather coming we want to reach as many people as possible.

Our social media handles are @home_standards on Twitter and Instagram and The Home Standards Project on Facebook.

Complete your free home assessment at homestandards.org today and ensure that your housing is above the minimum bylaw standards.


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Announcements / Scrap Bill 23 Emergency Phone Zap! Saturday Nov 12 @ 2 pm
« on: November 11, 2022, 11:29:00 pm »
Scrap Bill 23 Emergency Phone Zap!
Saturday Nov 12 @ 2 pm

We won't let Ford dismantle tenant rights and destroy affordable housing.

Organized by the Oakwood Vaughan Tenant Association (OVTN), The Oakwood Vaughan Community Association, and the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations (FMTA)

Doug Ford’s new housing bill, named the “More Homes Built Faster Act 2022 (Bill 23),” is a massive attack on affordable housing in Toronto. It could destroy existing affordable housing units, erode tenants’ rights, and cause mass evictions. The Ford government is trying to pass this bill as quickly as possible, and we must act quickly to stop it.

If passed, the bill will give the province the ability to bulldoze City of Toronto rental replacement bylaws. Tenants could no longer have the right to return to a unit at a similar rent after a demolition. And tenants may lose their right to a compensation package when our rental units are demolished for development.  It will drastically restrict the ability of cities to build affordable housing units through Inclusionary zoning.

And it’s not just tenant rights that are under attack. It also seeks to gut municipal green standards. It would remove important protections for wetlands and woodlands and facilitate development in environmentally sensitive areas. If Ford guts Toronto’s green building standards, the city won’t achieve its climate targets.

Join with us this Saturday for an emergency Phone Zap, where we’ll call the Premier Doug Ford and Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and demand that Bill 23 be scrapped. We will not let Doug Ford dismantle our housing rights and accelerate climate change to put more money in the pockets of developers.
Join us!

When: Saturday, November 12, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Register for Zoom link here.

Questions? Contact oakwoodvaughantenants@gmail.com


FMTA
http://www.torontotenants.org/


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The Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness is inviting all City Council and Mayoral Candidates to commit to doing what it takes to end homelessness in Toronto.

This webpage provides an overview of all candidates who have taken this pledge. TAEH will follow up those pledges with a questionnaire to learn more about what each candidate’s vision for ending homelessness looks like.

https://taeh.ca/candidate-information


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