Yes, there is Landlord & Tenant Act in Ontario and it governs residential tenancies, but I have encountered nothing other than careless, mean, greedy, irresponsible landlords since returning to the province in October 2009. Legislation will never serve to teach people how to be decent. People like that cannot be forced to see themselves in a true light.
The last two, a wealthy married couple, have specialized in ripping off tenants by charging extortionate rents for a house that at first blush appears to be in a lovely location in pretty Cobourg, close to Victoria Park and the beach. It’s a busy place, a lot of cars and foot traffic. The basement is unusable. The windows are ill-fitting and don’t just allow draughts, outright wind blew through the bathroom. The rest of the windows don’t even open; some are nailed shut. Out of three toilets, only one was working at any given time. I never was able to use the Jacuzzi-type bathtub. It didn’t work. And the place with thick with filthy black grease and the firmer tenants’ junk when I moved in. There were many many more problems.
Now, a more modest place with no expectations as far as location goes in Whitby. But the same problems and a ton of lip service from a landlord who has a day job and is too busy to be a landlord, who hires inept handymen as so-called contractors and who makes hollow promises. I’ve been here six weeks; I still have no heat, no use of the bathtub, and can only operate 3 of the 8 windows. The screen door blows open every time there is a breeze and thumps its way through most nights, keeping us awake. Lights don’t work, baseboards are missing; so is part of the floor in the sitting room. The water in the shower runs to cold in less than 2 minutes. He had promised to have renos completed when I moved in and a “professional cleaning lady” clean the place. Ha! It was to “contractor: who wiped down the kitchen sink, but left the fridge, stove and bathroom filthy.
Now this guy expects me to paint the entire woodwork (doors, baseboards, trim, kitchen cupboards, etc.) using my supplies and my labour at no cost to him.
I’ll be off to visit the Landlord & Tenant Tribunal office on Monday. In order to do this, I must waste half of my day on the bus, pay $45 to file my list of deficiencies, and then I have to serve that claim to the landlord myself. He has never given me his address.
I am a careful tenant. I look after the places I rent. I keep them clean and orderly. I improve them. I treat them as if they were my own home. And I am fed up with landlords.
As soon as I am able and as soon as we decide where we plan to live on a long-term basis, a house will be purchased. Enough of this.
