FMTA Launches Connecting Communities Tenant School
On October 1st, the FMTA and Law Foundation of Ontario launched the
Connecting Communities Tenant School. The School is a two year project
being done in conjunction with Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, Rexdale
Women's Centre and the Working Women's Community Center.
For the last two years the FMTA ran a very successful series of pilot tenant
school projects. The workshops were facilitated by the FMTA and presented by
staff lawyers of various legal aid clinics in Toronto.
How successful were they? The schools were overwhelmingly well received and
a great majority said that they would take the information back to their
communities so that they could help other tenants.
The Connecting Communities Tenant School will provide settlement workers who
work with newcomers to Canada with in-depth training in tenant law and
thereby increase the access to justice for these extremely vulnerable
tenants.
The school will be held over a two year period, with the first school slated
for January 2013 with the last "term" in August-September 2014. Like the
previous tenant schools there will be five (5) workshops of two hours each.
Connecting Communities Tenant School is an exciting and innovative program
that will expand the FMTA's outreach and is perfectly in keeping with what
we have always been doing: Empowering tenants through education and
information of their legal rights as tenants.
Together we are Strong!
For more information please contact Howard Tessler, Tenant School
Coordinator at [email protected] or 416-413-9442.
Is the heat getting you down? Start a heat registry!
A heat registry is like a neighbourhood watch but instead of keeping your community safe you are ensuring that your neighbours are protected from the extreme heat. To start a heat registry in your building all you have to do is get a group of tenants to agree to check up on eachother during the hot weather, this can include calling your neighbours on the phone to see if they are okay during the dog days of summer.
For more information on starting a heat registry check out
www.toronto.ca/housing/heatregistryguide.htm
City of Toronto Earmarks $250,000 for Bedbug Funding
On Thursday May 20, 2012 city council unanimously voted to spend $250,000 towards fightning bedbugs and assisting the Toronto's bedbug eradication team. This team is responsible for over 4,136 inspections in 2011 and 180 deep cleans. If you would like to access more assistance with bedbugs contact 311 and explain your situation
For more information on bedbugs in the City of Toronto
http://www.toronto.ca/health/bedbugs/index.htm
Limits Set On Guideline Rent Increases
On Wednesday June 13, 2012 the government of Ontario passed legislation that amended the Residential Tenancies Act as it relates to guideline rent increases. Previous to this amendment the guideline increase was set by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and would go as high as the index allowed. Now the guideline increase is still set by the CPI but it is capped at 2.5 percent. This means that if the CPI exceeds 2.5 percent you will only receive an increase of 2.5 percent. Now the guideline is limited between 0-2.5 percent, no more, no less.
For more information
http://news.ontario.ca/mah/en/2012/06/2013-rent-increase-guideline.html
New Resources!
The FMTA's Guide to Tenant Rights is now available in Hungarian.
FMTA's 38th Annual General Meeting
Join the FMTA for our 38th Annual General Meeting on June 23rd, 2012 at 10am.
The AGM will be held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) - 252 Bloor St. W, Room TBD
All FMTA AGM's include:
- Board and Staff Reports
- Presentation of the Audited Financial Statements
- Appointment of the Auditor
- Member motions Board Elections
All active members of the FMTA are welcom to attend!
Hope to see you there!
Operation Maple Presents: Living with Bedbugs
A video created by Operation Maple on living with Bedbugs in Toronto.
Featuring Bart Poesiak from Parkdale Legal Services.
FMTA Exposes Bad Landlords
Bad landlords have recently been exposed by the FMTA in a series of news articles.
The CBC program market place recently ran a 30 minute segment on a large corporate landlord who was not doing maintenance and had tenants living in delporable conditions.
The FMTA was able to work with it's partners and CBC to bring to light the issues facing the tenants in these buildings and highlight the lack of enforcement of tenant laws when it comes to basic maintenance.
Watch the episode here.
Bad landlords who take advantage of newcomers to Canada were also highlighted recently in the Toronto Star, specifically in relation to landlords who charge illegal rent deposits. The FMTA was able to work with partners including the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation and The Human Rights Legal Support Centre to expose the explointive activity landlords are engaging in and the impacts on tenants coming to Canada.
Read more here.
Wellesley Institute on Human Rights and Zoning
A year ago, the Ontario Municipal Board struck down a zoning bylaw in Kitchener that restricted supportive housing in a particular neighbourhood, citing the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Advocacy Centre for Tenant in Ontario (ACTO) was the motivating force behind this case.
Now, the Dream Team, a group of psychiatric consumer / survivors, has launched a similar legal action, alleging that zoning rules that impose minimum separations and other restrictions on supportive housing and group homes are a violation of the Human Rights Code.
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has launched a full legal hearing at regarding zoning rules that restrict the location of supportive housing for people with physical or mental health needs.
Read more at:
VECC and FMTA Save Millions in Hydro Costs for Toronto Tenants
A proposed increase in hydro rates by Toronto Hydro has been denied by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) after recommendations made by the FMTA.
More can be read here.
Toronto Hydro was seeking to increase rates by $5 month for a typical Toronto household.
The FMTA met with the Ontario Energy Board in late November to relay our concerns about the impact such a massive increase would have on Toronto tenants. 25% of tenants pay hydro costs directly, while others pay through their rent.
The Vunerable Energy Consumer Coalition (VECC) of which the FMTA is a key member also made key recomendations to the Board.
While the OEB denied the rate increase for Hydro, the FMTA also urged the Ontario Energy Board to consider a full hearing for Toronto Hydro to determin if the companies claim that their infrastructure needs required such a large increase, were correct. The OEB denied the full hearing.