As a Landlord I would first like to defend the rights of the tenant. A tenant has the right to live in a safe, warm environment which delivers the basic amenities for living day to day from hot water, heat, functioning plumbing and electrical.
The Landlord needs to be able to deliver these needs. That's the basis to exchange money for a place to live.
Here is the problem. There is too much onus on Landlords to cover the costs of delinquent low income tenants. The other unfortunate dilemma is the low income tenant who lives well below the poverty line. Whether the individual is on disability, Ontario Works etc.. .the ones suffering by design are the low income tenants and landlords. Of course not all low income tenants fall into the category of unaccountable, unreliable individuals who have a disregard for the unit they are renting. I'm not by any means demeaning or demoralizing individuals who genuinely need assistance. Fortunately there is a system, there is a process, albeit it may be far from perfect.
Bed Bugs, Cock Roaches etc.
Here lies another big issue. The onus is on the Landlord to exterminate bed bugs and cockroaches.
This is a huge problem especially considering that Landlords do not breed these pests. These pests are transient and breed harmoniously from the living environment of the people who dwell there, from previous tenants, visitors or items brought in to the unit.
The eradication of these pest should be on the onus of the government because it is a public issue. It is an epidemic not unlike a flu, rat infestation, TB any communicable disease from typhoid to cholera, west nile etc.... A Landlord must abide by the laws of the Landlord Tenant Act, Public Health, to that end the municipal and provincial government should cover the costs of extermination as pests are a variable not stemming from the Landlord but rather are stemming from society and the living condition, articles belonging to a tenant or used items they purchase....bedbugs travel easily and jump onto subjects or belongings without prejudice.They can be found in the most affluent hotels, apartments, theatres, community housing, hostels...etc.
E.g. A tenant brings a bed bug infested bed from one residence to the next. The new residence which never had an issue with bed bugs is now is infested. The treatment needs to be funded in the same way as any other epidemic..
The financial onus on the landlord is huge and unjust.....the cost for bedbug extermination is approx $400-$600 per one bedroom unit...this is only one of the reasons why we have slums and a deteriorated society because of the level of financial burden on landlords. Public Health is governed to issue an order against the Landlord for treating the unit. There is no legal onus on the tenant to ensure they following guidelines to prevent bedbugs from entering their unit. A realistic process would be if there is a pest issue, the tenant apprises the Landlord with a pest infestation form...let's call it a P1. The P1 goes to the Landlord and the landlord sends it to public health or the department which executes the extermination. This department reaches the tenant and educates them on the prevention and eradication of the pest and apprises them on what they need to do to prepare for fumigation.. They then send out their own exterminator. Leave the Landlord out of it.
There are so many considerations and rulings in the landlord and tenant act which favor the rights of the tenant and discount the value of the Landlord.
Rent Collection - Government Assisted, Delinquent Tenants - Non Payment of Rent
There needs to be more government accountability to the Landlord when it comes to ensuring a government assisted individual pays their rent on time. If a major portion of welfare, disability, cpp cheques etc is allocated to rent then the individual tenant needs to be excluded from the payment process and the rent needs to go direct to the Landlord from the agency. If a tenant decides to move, then they must fill out a rental move payment notice form 60 days prior to the move where one copy goes to the Landlord and the other to their agency worker. The receipt of this notice is acknowledged and confirmed between government agency and landlord.
This eliminates the potential of payment delinquency from the tenant and countless Landlord Tenant Tribunal Hearings.
Property damage caused by tenant. In the event a tenant damages the property they are renting and are on limited income they need to fill out a Landlord Damage Compensation Form....let's call it an LDC1. Form gets sent to the agency and to the landlord. The agency requests 3 quotes for repair from the Landlord and the lowest quote is awarded the repair.
When a tenant doesn't pay rent the Landlord delivers an N4 form to the tenant for non-payment of rent. It takes about 6-8 weeks to get a hearing with the board to evict the tenant. Once there is a hearing a ruling for a standard order of eviction another month has passed. If the tenant has still not moved out and has continued to not pay rent then the Landlord can go to the sheriff's office at the court house to request a physical eviction. The timeline for the sheriff to appear on site can be anywhere from 1 - 3 weeks. Once the Sheriff appears on site and evicts the tenant then there is the issue of the tenants belongings. They have 72 hours to remove their belongings. After the 72 hours the Landlord can then dispose of the units contents. Then there is the issue of cleaning up and fixing up the unit to get it in suitable condition to rent out again....when you add up the dollars for the 3-4 months of lost rent, hearing costs, sheriff summons, clean up and repairs the landlord is into thousands of lost dollars.....
For Government Assisted individuals there is required to be more efficient collaboration between Government Agencies and Landlords. This will eliminate the lengthy and costly process for a Landlord Tenant Tribunal Hearing and the sustaining costs of eviction, clean up and repair.
The Landlord will most likely never recoup the months of lost rent from the drawn out Landlord Tenant Tribunal Process.
As a society we really need to move toward these types of changes...it will save tax payers dollars, increase property values, and improve the quality of living for government assisted individuals.
There is always a solution, anything is possible.
