On November 10th, landlord licensing comes up for evaluation before the City Council’s Executive Committee. The Council’s attention to the issue comes after years of hard work on the part of Toronto tenants, through grassroots groups like ACORN.
It is likely that the Committee will pass along a landlord licensing proposal, sponsored by one of the city’s longest serving councillors (Ward 15: Eglinton-Lawrence) and Licensing and Standards Comittee chair, Howard Moscoe to the larger Council.
You might think that this would bring us one step closer to better housing and so a cause for celebration. But things aren’t so simple.
While the bill supported by Moscoe would
– require all city landlords (including the City) to apply and pay for licenses
– subject properties to regular inspections similar to those performed on restaurants and food vendors, paid for by the license fees
– allow the City to levy fines against bad landlords
one very important provision, a City-controlled escrow account, is missing.
The escrow account provision would allow wronged tenants to pay their rent into a City-controlled account, instead of continuing to pay the negligent landlord. The collected funds could then be used by the City to fix the problems with the units/buildings.
By in effect, withholding profit from landlords who don’t take care of their properties, the escrow provision would act as a punishment (no fixes, no rental income), a deterrent (maintain the property or have your profits withheld) and a solution (if the landlord won’t pay then at least your rent will go to bettering your situation). Escrow accounts are a standard component of successful landlord licensing bills in other cities and would be a powerful tool in the fight for good housing here in Toronto.
So, why doesn’t the legislation proposed by Councillor Moscoe include an escrow account?
The red herring explanation we are being given is that Toronto City Council is not sure whether under the new City of Toronto Act they have the power to create an escrow programme.
This explanation is laughable.
1) There does not seem to have been any investigation by City lawyers into whether setting up an escrow program is legal or not and no negotiations with the Province on how to accomplish this crucial portion of the legislation otherwise, even though the council has been grappling with the concept of landlord licensing for months and months now.
2) Even if we accept that creating an escrow account may not be kosher, the City has seldom hesitated to test its limits. The precedent has been to act or refuse to act as the case may be and to deal with challenges if and when they come. So why the lack of resolve on this issue?
We are left to conclude that escrow account creation has been left out of the proposals being considered by the Committee because the councillors, even the ones who supposedly are on our side and support licensing landlords, simply don’t want to include it.
And why should they? By voting for (crippled) landlord licensing without an escrow component they win twice; seeming to be pro-tenant but also keeping landlords (who are big contributors) very happy.
It’s this kind of slippery dealing that is frustrating to tenants who have been following the issue.
While Howard Moscoe basks in the glow of his supposed support for us, we know that if the legislation he is championing is endorsed by the Committee and later passed by Council, that we will only get some of what we’ve been fighting for and that it may be near impossible to add the escrow programme to the provisions later.
What to do?
First, contact Mayor Miller and the councillors on the Executive Committee to let them know that you are in favor of landlord licensing with an escrow component. Let them feel the pressure. Click here for their contact info.
SECOND: There is an upcoming community meeting scheduled to let the councillors and the media know where we as tenants stand.
**The news media in addition to councillors who have shown themselves to be pro-tenant in the past and those on the Executive Committee have been invited. We will be asking the councillors to publicly pledge their support for landlord licensing that includes an escrow programme. The gathering is being organized by ACORN Toronto.
The meeting will take place on
Saturday, November 8th at 1PM at the Main Square Recreation Centre (scroll down for location details)
The turnout on the 8th has to be large to impress on the councillors that we care about real landlord licensing. So, please if you are a tenant (and even if you are not but are supportive) come out, bring your kids, your friends, your neighbours, everybody so that we can make our voices heard.
MEETING LOCATION:
(245 Main Street, south of Main Street subway station and Danforth, just behind the Main Square high rise buildings and before the bridge over the railroad tracks).
Nov. 8th Meeting location on map
See you there!
East York Tenants Group 