Half of $500K Sudbury social housing writeoffs due to damaged units
Crisis at Landlord/Tenant Board makes complicated eviction process harder, council told. Evicting tenants who damage their social housing units or don’t pay their rent is a complicated process made much harder by problems at the Landlord/Tenant Board, city council heard this week. Barbara Dubois, the city’s director of housing operations, outlined the process Tuesday for addressing issues with problematic clients of Greater Sudbury Housing Corp. The city has 1,848 housing units,...
read moreNew Toronto law means apartment buildings will be given colour-coded ratings, similar to restaurants
Landlords in Toronto will have to pay a fee to the city if they fail to provide for tenants in the event the buildings they live in are evacuated due to fire, flood or other service disruptions — part of a suite of changes adopted by city council Wednesday strengthening tenant rights. Landlords will also have to post a colour-coded sign in a prominent location, displaying a rating from the city, similar to what restaurants currently have to do under DineSafe. The move comes as the city...
read moreShort-term rental rules eyed
Sarnia is considering beefing up regulations for short-term rentals, amid a situation one councillor says is eating into local long-term housing supply and disrupting neighbourhoods. Sarnia is considering beefing up regulations for short-term rentals amid a situation one councillor says is eating into the local long-term housing supply and disrupting neighbourhoods. “A lot of communities have jumped on this issue, and they recognize it as a massive problem,” said Coun. Bill Dennis. Locally, he...
read moreCanadian landlords increasingly concerned about effect of cannabis use on rental property
LANDLORDS ARE INCREASINGLY CONCERNED about the effect of cannabis use on a rental property, according to a poll released October 8. Real estate website Zoocasa surveyed Canadian property owners and renters about how they feel since the legalization of cannabis last October 17. While homeowners and renters seem to be getting more comfortable with cannabis use and home growing, landlords responding to the survey were much more concerned about the growing or smoking of cannabis in their...
read moreAnother fire at 650 Parliament during re-occupancy procedures
Investigators have determined the cause of the latest fire to break out at 650 Parliament Street. The blaze began inside a 15th floor unit on Wednesday morning as crews were testing the building’s electrical system. According to Toronto Fire Services, investigators have since determined that the fire was caused by the ignition of some combustible materials that were left on a stovetop burner inside the unit. They say that the burner was left in the on position following the building’s...
read moreRHBTV – WATCH INDIVIDUAL SEGMENTS NOW.
RHB TV is Canada’s first digital news broadcast for the RENTAL HOUSING INDUSTRY! Each episode covers a variety of topics affecting the multi-residential market, such as market insights and trends, legal, finance, development and acquisitions, CMHC data and reports, energy efficiency, capital expenditures and more. Here is a segment-by-segment breakdown of the premiere episode. Visit the corresponding links to watch each segment NOW! NEWSDESK Bill 108 is making national headlines. Learn more...
read moreSmoke spreads, air quality at ‘very high risk’ as Alberta wildfires burn
Canada’s oil capital woke up to smoke that made eyes sore and breathing uncomfortable, an earlier-than-usual sign of summer as wildfires burn in the forests north of Calgary. After 8 months of cold, Calgary residents were unable to fully enjoy blue skies and warm temperatures Friday because of a white haze that blanketed the city with a strong smell of burnt wood. The government’s air quality health index for the city was at “very high risk,” suggesting people reduce or reschedule any...
read morePositive Developments for Housing Providers on Reasonable Accommodation
Two recent decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal are instructive for those in property management with respect to the duty to accommodate. Both cases involved physical modifications to residential complexes and include insight into: the procedural duty to accommodate; the substantive duty to accommodate; and, what is reasonable accommodation. In Polito v. Briarlane, the tenant requested accessible access to the residential complex by way of an automatic door opener on the front doors. The...
read moreToronto – Vital Service Disruptions in Apartment Buildings
Toronto’s Planning & Housing Committee meets tomorrow to discuss a Vital Service Disruptions in Apartment Buildings report. The City emailed the details to your designated contact in their database, so you should have already received notice. The report “provides an update on measures being undertaken by the City of Toronto to respond to Council directives on apartment building safety issues identified in the St. Jamestown catchment area.“ We have all closely followed...
read moreTenant’s Insurance
It’s not uncommon lately to see on the news that a fire, flood or other natural disaster has left a building uninhabitable, and tenants without insurance leaving them without a home or possessions. Statistics Canada says that less than 50% of renters purchase tenant’s insurance. Owners and managers understand the risk and are looking for ways to reduce their exposure to damage caused by tenants. The issues for owners are encouraging tenants to protect themselves and to confirm tenants maintain...
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