State of the FMTA

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide an up to date analysis of issues that affect tenants.  I will focus on the gains that have been accomplished, the results of our work, the role of the FMTA, and the work that lies ahead. 

I was asked to prepare this, last year,  by the Tenant Action Committee and the Board of the FMTA

Rent Regulation

The Ontario Government has made several positive changes to Rent Regulation, primarily in the new Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).  Every single positive change was called for with vigour and consistency by the FMTA.  The failure of the Government to act on ending vacancy decontrol will continue to be addressed.  There still have been no cases decided under the new Act.

• Annual Guideline

The annual guideline has been announced as 1.4% for 2008.  This is the lowest percentage increase ever, but still is an increase on top of all other increases.  The increase is equal to the Ontario Consumer Price Index for the last 12 months.  Property tax on rental apartments only increased 1.2% in 2007, and of course inflation does not affect the original cost of building the unit.  So, the guideline remains unfair, but not as unfair as when the Government gave landlords a 2% annual bonus.

• Above Guideline Increases (AGI)

The rules affecting Above Guideline Increases have been tightened considerably, and procedural improvements are being implemented.  The FMTA has worked with hundreds of buildings and almost 1000 AGI cases, particularly since the Outreach Program started in conjunction with the City of Toronto Tenant Defence Fund.  Our analysis of over 350 cases shows that tenants have been able to achieve annual rent savings in excess of $5.1 million as a result of being organized and disputing applications. Average reductions are about 1.25%, or $180 per year to the typical tenant.  These savings were achieved in the face of a very hostile environment that was set up by the Tribunal and under the Tenant Protection Act (TPA).

That environment is changing with the new RTA.  The Tribunal is now  the Landlord Tenant Board. The onerous $1 a page photocopying charge is gone.  Tenants will not be left in the dark as to the facts of these cases. 

The definitions of eligible capital expenditures are tightened. A 3% annual cap and a 9% total cap is  placed on capital expenditures.  There are many cases every year, where this cap will prove beneficial to tenants.  A costs no longer borne provision has been added.

Changes are also being made to lessen the impact of any claimed extraordinary operating costs increases for utilities or property taxes.  This is addressed in regulations.  The FMTA had considerable input into the drafting of the regulations.

At hundreds of meetings, our organizers are asked about maintenance issues in their buildings.  Tenants were shocked to learn that the Tribunal would take no interest in maintenance at an AGI hearing.  Tenants can now have maintenance issues considered on such an application.

Besides all of our internal work on these matters and our presentations to Government and to the public, these changes came about because of tenants speaking out in response to our encouragement and their own sense of injustice.  This included calls and letters to their MPPs, the Minister and the Premier.  It included responding to surveys and coming out to public meetings.

We will also need to continue to be vigilant on the new Landlord Tenant Board.  We are already experiencing problems with tenant applications, and we have developed many ideas to make it fairer for tenants to apply. This includes a one form system that we have developed and are asking the Board to adopt.

Vacancy Decontrol

The legal ability of landlords to raise rents to anything they want for a new tenant has been continued. This was despite a very specific promise from the Premier to end vacancy decontrol.  Our challenge will be to make this into an election issue in 2007.  Our Tenant Action Committee has started work on this key issue.   We were able to eliminate a loophole from this provision where a tenant could be charged “market” rent and then hit with an AGI for items already in the apartment at the time of occupancy.

Maintenance

Improvements have been made to provisions respecting rights to maintenance.  On paper, tenants have always had the right to good maintenance.  In reality, the sanctions are so weak, and the system so complex, that landlords could easily get away with inadequate maintenance.

The new Act will make it easier for tenants to achieve rent reductions or rent freezes when maintenance is below standard.  A violation of a work order would be the basis for granting a rent freeze.  However, the Government declined to make this automatic.  This will put the onus on tenants to apply.  This will be a basis for organizing by the Outreach Team. 

Tenants may also raise maintenance as an issue in any application for eviction or an application for an Above Guideline Increase.  This will prevent some evictions in badly maintained buildings, and unfair rent increases in others.

If the new system is simplified and if the new Board is “user friendly” as promised, it should also be easier for tenants to make a successful application for an abatement of rent.  Those “ifs” need to be closely monitored and made an issue by the FMTA.

At the Municipal level, we have seen ongoing improvement to the Property Standard system.  The FMTA has been part of the process of bringing about those improvements. This began with the post amalgamation requirement to mesh 6 former municipal by-laws into one by-law for all of Toronto.

Our Hotline Co-Ordinator has been vigilant in these matters.  She has been in frequent communication with the Executive Director of Municipal Licensing and Standards. She has pushed for rigorous enforcement and followed up on complaints..  We have also been instrumental in the development of the City web site that allows tenants to check out apartment buildings for by-law violations.

The Outreach team has been calling for grants for groups to fight bad landlords at the tribunal.  So far, two such grants have been awarded.  We are at the ready to work with the City on their “bad landlord” project.      

The new City of Toronto Act is expected to lead to tougher sanctions against non-compliant landlords, and eventually a licensing system.    Currently, a Torontonian is safer buying a hot dog from a cart than in renting an apartment. 

With our vastly improved multi-lingual and multi-cultural work, we should be able to help many more tenants in dealing with their maintenance and other issues.

Licencing Landlords

Working with our allies, we have successfully called for the licencing of landlords. The questions are; how soon will this happen? And How effective will the system be?  We have produced our own position paper, and we have participated fully in the consultation process.  

Evictions

Fewer people will be evicted because of our work and the work of our allies in the Community Legal Clinic system.  A tenant will no longer be evicted without a hearing.  A tenant will not be forced to pay full rent when living in sub standard conditions.  The onerous 5 day dispute rule is gone.   The new Board must consider the circumstances of an eviction application. 

Our eviction prevention work must continue, primarily through the Hotline. Information is power and that is our stock in trade.  The Outreach Team has helped in several cases to avoid mass evictions of tenants. That work will continue as well.

Housing Policy

There remains an inadequate supply of affordable rental housing.  The waiting list for rent geared to income is at about 70,000 households in Toronto.  An unacceptable percentage of tenants pay far too high a percentage of their income to rent. 

The FMTA has always supported the building of non profit and co-operative housing units.  Only recently, through a series of announcements, have the Federal and Provincial governments have returned to building such housing. 

Exploiting the situation, landlords are calling for more shelter subsidies to be paid to them to fill up some of their vacant units which occurred because of massive rent hikes.  Reluctantly, we must support some increase in subsidy for existing units to ease the short term pain.  In the long term, we must avoid subsidizing profiteering by landlords at the expense of the taxpayer.  When you build a unit, you subsidize the cost in the short term and recover in the long term.  When you rent from a landlord, it costs more because you subsidize the cost and the profit of the unit, and that cost is never recovered.

The new Act continues the policy of protecting tenants from eviction if a municipality approves a conversion to condominium.   It also provides compensation for tenants who may be evicted because of a demolition or conversion to non residential use.   

More importantly, the City Official Plan continues to preserve rental housing.  In collaboration with our member Association, the Brentwood Towers and with ACTO, we recently helped win a case at the Ontario Municipal Board to prevent the conversion of over 900 downtown apartments.

The City has recently moved to fortify its policies under the new City of Toronto Act, and has closed a loophole known as co-ownership.  It even calls for penalties if landlords harass tenants in these circumstances.

The Outreach Team has worked with a number of groups who have been caught in the plans of developers to get rid of tenants and pursue other profits.  That work will continue, and we must be cognizant of the turmoil these developers cause for tenants. 

The issue of unfair property tax for tenants remains.  We were able to get the City to begin to address this last year.   The City has agreed to lessen (somewhat) the burden that tenants pay, but the inequity and unfairness will continue.  We need to re-open this issue in the near future.  

For social housing tenants, the continued existence of the Social Housing Reform Act must be addressed. That Act undermines security of tenure and is draconian in its’ approach to low income people. Making matters worse, the Ontario Government decided that when it comes to determining the lawful rent in social housing, the landlord is always right and they can not be challenged at the new Landlord Tenant Board.

The Outreach Team has received increased interest in helping organize tenants in social housing.

An emerging issue was highlighted by an FMTA supporter at the recent hearings on the RTA.  More and more tenants live in condominiums and there are issues with the legal responsibilities of Condominium Boards and tenants living in the building.

We now have a thorough section for condominium tenants on our web site.

Finally, the government continues to exempt rental housing built since 1991 from legal protection.  This issue will become more important over time, as tenants in those buildings can be easily exploited.

Election 2007

The Ontario election will be held October 10, 2007.   We need to develop a plan to have some impact on the election, but also to be well placed to discuss positive change after October 10.   We will have to counter any claims that the elimination of the TPA ended any need for further reform. We will have to raise vacancy decontrol and stronger measures to protect tenants from bad landlords.

This document illustrates the important work that we do at the FMTA.  Since the devastation of the Tenant Protection Act, we have worked hard to bring about positive changes. Although it would be wrong to suggest that everything is fine, and that we have accomplished all that we could, it is apparent that our work has brought about meaningful change and can continue to do so. 

Tenants have saved rent money, maintenance provisions are stronger, eviction protection is better, housing policy has improved, and tenants have been empowered.

Together we are strong.  We will need to be to keep working for the benefit of our members and the tenants of Toronto.

Dan McIntyre

August 15, 2007
 

Chronology

• June 1995 – Mike Harris Government elected – promises “market rent control”

• Summer 1996 – Government publishes consultation paper on reforming rent control in Ontario

• Spring of 1997 – Government introduces Tenant Protection Act

• Spring of 1997 – Coalition to Save Rent Control formed in Toronto, funded by City, co-ordinated by Tim Welsh, FMTA is a member

• June 17, 1998 – Tenant Protection Act becomes law of Ontario

• November 1999 – City of Toronto approves Tenant Defence Fund Project (carries by one vote)

• April 2000 – FMTA awarded contract under Tenant Defence Fund for Outreach and Organizing

• September 2000 – We organize first of a series of Tenant Summits to bring people together

• Spring of 2001 – Tenant Defence Fund becomes a program of the City and FMTA continues to provide Outreach and Organizing

• Spring of 2001 – FMTA awarded contract for expanded Hotline services

• September 2001 – FMTA issues release showing record number of Above Guideline Increase Applications in system

• November 2001 – City of Toronto holds Tenant Forum, promoted by Outreach Team, Council Chambers are packed and overflow into other rooms

• February 20, 2002 – FMTA calls for the resignation of the Chair of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal

• June 2002 – Critical test case goes to Divisional Court on subject of unfair rent increases for claimed “extraordinary operating costs increases” based on one time spike in gas prices.  Case loses but garners empathy from Court, and a statement from the Ombudsman citing the obvious unfairness of the system.

• Fall of 2002 – FMTA develops 15 point position paper on critical issues affecting tenants

• April 2003 – FMTA holds first all candidates meeting in anticipation of 2003 Provincial election

• Summer of 2003 – FMTA contacts all political parties seeking their views on reforming the Tenant Protection Act

• Summer of 2003 – FMTA delivers 20,000 leaflets in key tenant areas urging tenants to vote, and undertakes other tenant vote initiatives.

• August 12, 2003 – Dalton McGuinty writes to the FMTA. Agrees that tenants have been devastated by Government policy, promises “real protection for tenants at all times”, an overhaul of TPA, a commitment to building affordable housing, and an end to vacancy decontrol

• October 2, 2003 – Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals are elected to govern Ontario.

• October 24, 2003 – Government promises to replace TPA within one year

• November 2003 – FMTA develops “redprint” for legislative reform

• January 2004 – FMTA meets with Brad Duguid MPP, who has been placed in charge of the “TPA file”

•  April 20, 2004 – Government publishes consultation paper on rent regulation reform, undertakes a survey, and announces a “time out” from the 2% bonus to the annual guideline.

• April 2004 – City of Toronto approves increased funding for Outreach and Organizing Team

• May 2004 – FMTA participates in 6 Government Town Hall meetings, organizes several of our own, distributes 100,000 leaflets by Canada Post to tenant areas with our own survey. We also publish our own paper on reforming tenant law in Ontario “A New Law for Tenants”.

• June 2004 – We make a formal response to the Government discussion paper, and we deliver our own survey results to the Government

• Summer 2004 – Government initiates discussions with selected stake holders.  Concerned that they were possibly backing off their promises, we meet with key area MPPs, and we encourage our members to put the pressure on

• May 2005 – We initiate our “Fix It Now” campaign to get the issue back on Government agenda.

• November 15, 2005 – NDP calls for Tenant Day in the legislature, reminds Government of their promises, and we participate in news conference and attend in the House.

• November 26, 2005 – FMTA holds Tenant Summit to help re-energize members

• January 2006 – FMTA has key meetings with Ministry staff and officials and Brad Duguid. We emphasize all of the problems that tenants are still having with the ongoing TPA. 

• January 2006 – City of Toronto passes special resolution to get Province back on track on reforming tenant law, and decides to hold another Tenant Forum.

• February 20, 2006 – FMTA releases eviction statistics showing that a record number of tenants faced evictions in 2005.  

• March 7, 2006 – The FMTA meets with the Minister of Housing.  It is becoming clearer that reform is back on the table and that it will incorporate many, but not all, of our recommendations.

• March 9, 2006 – The second Tenant Forum is held at City Hall. There is a good turnout with excellent presentations.

• May 3, 2006 – The Residential Tenancies Act is introduced in the Ontario Legislature.

• May 4, 2006 – The FMTA meets with Government officials to review key elements (and problems) with the bill.

• May 3-11 – The FMTA makes numerous media appearances, including Focus Ontario, advocating for improvements to the bill.

• June 5, 2006 – FMTA makes presentation to the Ontario Legislature, and we call for 19 specific amendments.

• June 22, 2006 – The new RTA is passed by the Ontario Legislature

• June 21-26 – FMTA sends representatives to World Urban Forum in Vancouver

• Summer 2006 – Consultations on regulations and implementation issues with RTA.

• October 2, 2006 – FMTA marks World Habitat Day with special event at Ryerson University

• October 21, 2006 – Tenant Summit to bring members up to date on the new law.

• December 2006 – City announces plan to licence landlords.

• January 2007 – FMTA commences special Tenant Education Program

• January 31, 2007 – The Residential Tenancies Act is proclaimed into law.

• June 2007 – City announces new policy on protecting rental housing

• June 2007 – FMTA is major participant in review of Human Rights issues in rental housing