Toronto Renters Forum

I found this on the Toronto Star website today...

Toronto makes developers replace demolished rental units. The city fears the province plans to change that

Sorry that this one is behind a pay-wall, maybe an open copy will surface somewhere, but for those who can read the Globe and Mail online...

Eviction applications spike in Ontario as rents soar, vacancies dwindle

As Ontario faces a chronic shortage of housing and rapidly climbing rents, landlords in the province are increasingly trying to evict their tenants and take possession of those rental units.

In 2022, the Landlord and Tenant Board, which adjudicates rental-housing disputes in the province, received more than 5,550 eviction applications in which landlords sought units for themselves, family members or new buyers. That was an increase of 41 per cent from 2019, according to numbers provided by the province to The Globe and Mail.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-housing-eviction-applications-ontario/

Renters who band together, organise, and excercise their rights do sometimes come out victorious against greedy corporate landlords:

People in Toronto win the right to stay in their homes after five-year eviction battle

Tenants living in the low-rise building at 394 Dovercourt Rd. in Toronto near College Street have been enagaged in a legal battle with their corporate landlord for five years, and they just finally won the right to remain in their homes.

Here's a link to the article on blogto.com:

https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2022/09/people-toronto-win-right-to-stay-five-year-eviction/

in Toronto there is a large proportion of the population that does rent and we should...

Acccording to the City of Toronto, 47% of households rent:
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2018/td/bgrd/backgroundfile-112710.pdf

That's a lot of us, and it's definitely enough to make a difference in an election.

By the way, the Ontario NDP Party has promised to bring back proper rent control (like we had before Mike Harris took it away).  Here's a link:
https://storeys.com/ontario-ndp-platform-rent-control/

Right now new apartments have no rent control whatsoever, and older apartments have "vacancy de-control", meaning that the landlord can charge whatever they want to new tenants (so there is a HUGE incentive for landlords to get current tenants to move out so they can jack-up the rents).  Proper rent control is definitely needed to keep the rental market affordable and to disincentivise evictions by greedy landlords.

Toronto's RentSafeTO program has released it's latest (2021) review report:

2021 RentSafeTO Year in Review
Infographic

In an article in the Globe and Mail yesterday (December 8, 2021), a renter's survey was announced.  It's asking basic questions about renting, and might be of interest to some people here.

Here's a link to the article:  Renters of Canada, it’s time to vent

The survey is included at the bottom of the article, but for those who prefer just to do the survey, here's a link:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-v4-ez-91-FQoWkN_vLPVgPkyOL3AgFBl48fWJYkZ4xI3CA/viewform

Note that they also provide an e-mail address for people to contact them "if you want your story as a renter [to be] heard"...  rluciw@globeandmail.com

If your building is heated by hot-water radiators then there is a boiler system (usually in the basement) that heats water for the rads, and if your radiators are not warm (assuming that the boiler is indeed on) then your radiators are either turned-off, or full of air that needs to be bled.

• If your rads are off, then you will need to open your radiator’s valves.  Each radiator will have at least one valve (and sometimes two) that you will have to open in order for the hot water to flow through, heating the radiator.  Turn the valve’s handle counterclockwise to open it.  If your radiators have two valves (one at each end) then both must be open for the radiator to work.

• Additionally, your rads may need to be “bled” to remove air bubbles from the pipes.  Every rad has a “bleed valve” at one end – often it is a little turn screw with a grip at the end, so it looks like you could twist it open or closed with your fingers, but I have always found it much easier to use a small pair of pliers.  (Also, the rad can get quite hot when bleeding... so be careful.)

The procedure is to twist open the screw a bit, and you’ll hear air bubbles escaping and see just a little bit of water squirting out.  Hold a disposable cup under the bleed valve to catch the water.  Once the air bubbles stop and there’s only water coming out, then you’re done – twist the screw closed again and move on to the next rad.  Wash your hands when you are done, and don’t use that cup for drinking – you would not want to accidentally ingest any of the water from the rads.

Note that you will likely have to bleed your rads more than once – as the water starts circulating, additional air bubbles trapped below are freed and rise, refilling your rads with air until eventually all of the air is out of the system.

If you are in any way uncomfortable with the idea of bleeding your rads yourself or if you can’t find the bleed valves etc., then get your landlord to do this.  Also, if the valve handles or bleed valves don’t turn easily – don’t force them, again, call your landlord to come and check on things.

If you continue to have problems with your heat then keep complaining to your landlord, preferably by e-mail so you have a record of your complaints, and get a thermometer so you can document your apartment’s temperature.

I have found in the past that my landlord responds faster to complaints about the heat if I indicate to them that I know about the City of Toronto Heat Bylaw and am willing to file a complaint with the city by calling “311” if they don’t fix the problem quickly.  For your information, the City of Toronto Municipal Code 497-1.2 (https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_497.pdf) requires your landlord to provide a minimum temperature of 21° Celsius in all areas of your apartments (including every room, hallway, closet, bathroom, etc.) between September 15 and June 1.  The City of Toronto takes heat complaints seriously;  they will have a bylaw officer investigate promptly, who can fine the landlord or otherwise compel them to resolve heating problems.  Usually making the threat is all it takes to get a heating problem resolved (although there have been exceptions, it has taken my landlord a long time to resolve heat problems for some of my neighbours).

The temperature in my apartment is fine now, because of the warm weather.  But every winter my place is cold cold cold!  I have complained to my landlord in the past, but they don't do anything about it.  I mean, they sent the handyman around, who wanders away to the boiler room, but then the temperature doesn't improve.  Any suggestinos?