A message from Social Planning Toronto:  "Please find attached Social Planning Toronto and Vote for Housing's four housing election fact sheets. We hope that you will find them a useful resource in your provincial election organizing work and in raising housing issues at all-candidates meetings, with community and neighbours and with the candidates at the door. These fact sheets are part of a larger series that Social Planning Toronto is developing. The full series will be available in early September.

"We're working with community partners to have all of the fact sheets translated into a variety of languages, and hope to have them ready to go in early September."

The Fact Sheets are attached below.

Check out voteforhousing.ca for more info!

From The Canadian Press:

Ontario's governing Liberals say if they are re-elected this fall they will change the way the province's rent increase rate is set after it took one of the biggest jumps in years Friday.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rick Bartolucci made the promise after announcing the rate by which landlords would be able to increase tenants' rents in 2012 would be 3.1 per cent.

That's more than four times higher than the 2011 rate of 0.7 per cent. An organization that represents tenants, the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations, would like to see the new legislation address the issue of vacant unit rate increases.

The 2006 legislation made it so landlords could boost rents as high as they wanted when their units become vacant.

"Rents have actually been increasing higher than inflation" because of this, said Geordie Dent, the group's executive director.

The federation's board would like to see legislation that puts a cap on rent increases for new tenants and old tenants so that the rate of increase isn't as high as 3.1 per cent.

The board would also like to see other factors taken into consideration so that major rent increases only take place when unemployment is low and tenants can afford them as a result.

This year, the FMTA is teaming up with several organizations in the GTA to hold our first annual International Tenants Day!

What is International Tenants Day?

International Tenants Day is an annual event coordinated by the Swedish-based International Union of Tenants. It aims to promote tenant rights around the world while creating awareness of tenant issues.

International Tenants Day takes place on October 3rd this year.

What is happening for International Tenants Day in Toronto?

Several agencies are teaming up this year to turn International Tenants Day into International Tenants Month! We'll be running a series of workshops, summits, rallies, report-releases and media work. Fact sheets and other materials will also be created. Dates for September events will be released in the near future!

The following dates have been confirmed:

September 8, 2011

Metro Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor Street, 2nd Floor Auditorium

Vote for Housing presents: Provincial Election Debate on Livable and Affordable Housing with the Candidates for Toronto Centre

Doors open 6:30 p.m., debate 7-9 p.m.

Toronto Centre Candidates:
Martin Abell, Conservative Party (invited)
Cathy Crowe, New Democratic Party (confirmed)
Mark Daye, Green Party (confirmed)
Glen Murray, Liberal Party (confirmed)

No registration required.
For more information: [email protected] or (416) 351-0095 x257 or voteforhousing.ca

September 14th, 2011

519 Church St. Community Centre.

ACTO presents: Provincial Election 2011 forum - Housing Rights, Tenant Rights

10:30am-12:00pm

What the government needs to do to end the housing crisis and what the parties have promised, www.acto.ca

September 15th, 2011

The Hub - 1527 Victoria Park Av. East, 2nd floor

Family Service Toronto presents: All Party Public Forum

7-9pm (registration at 6:30pm)

This forum will feature local political candidates from the major parties, Laurie Monsebraaten from the Toronto Star and will focus on afforbale housing and the benefits of a housing benefit.

RSVP by Sept. 8 - Email Liyu Guo at [email protected] Or call 416-595-9230, x244. Space is limited. Contact by Sept. 8th if you need support in order to attend this forum (e.g. child minding &/or
TTC tokens).

September 20th, 2011

Multi-Faith Centre, University of Toronto, 569 Spadina Ave

North American Muslim Foundation presents: A forum on Housing and Homelessness

9am-3pm (registration at 8:30am)

An interfaith and intercultural dialouge on housing and homelessness with speakers including Michael Shapcott and Senator Hugh Segal.  To register call 416-299-1969 x 26 or e-mail [email protected].

September 26th, 2011

City Hall

Rally for Toronto Coalition presents: Rally for Toronto

5:30pm

The Rally for Toronto Coalition is aiming to highlight the impacts cuts will have on communities in Toronto.

October 1st, 2011

Ryerson University Podium Building, POD 205, 350 Victoria Street (near Gould and Victoria)

FMTA & Friends present: 2011 Tenant Summit!

10am - 2:30pm

The Tenant Summit will combine wokrshops on tenants rights, speakers and the release of the FMTA's "State of the Unit" report on tenant issues in the GTA. Registration required. Please register at 416-646-1772 or at [email protected]

October 3rd, 2011
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, 777 Bay Street
International Tenants Day Rally
12:00pm
Come out and show your support for tenant rights in the City.

How you can participate in International Tenants Day?
Are you interested in turning International Tenants Day into International Tenants Month?
The goal of International Tenants Day is to promote pride in being a tenant, garner some media and political attention to tenant issues and to unite tenants and agencies into a show of force.
You can help in a variety of ways: by promoting events, helping to organize some of the activities or reports, making your events part of International Tenants Day, handing out the flyers and fact sheets, or simply participating in the wide array of activities.  Contact [email protected] or call 416-646-1772 for more information!

The FMTA takes deals directly with over 30,000 clients a year through our Hotline, Education and Outreach services.  Every now and then we get feedback from our clients as to how they feel about our services...

----------------------
Dear Tenant Hotline,

Thank you so much for your help. I actually did manage to get my money back and nullified the lease before moving in. The landlord was far from being ready to rent the unit and was not willing to do a discount for the month of August. He thought that I would accept to have contractors coming in to reno the unit that was empty for months...

Best,

Hotline user - July 30th, 2011

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Dear Tenant Hotline,

I would just like to say thank you for your assistance in providing me with the information that i needed with my landlord. I felt very lost and alone and was uneducated about my rights as a tenant and i appreciate your patience and assistance with me. I located your number in Councillor Josh Matlow's flyer that was placed in my mail slot and it couldnt have come at a better time. I also contacted Mayor Rob Ford's offices and his representative referred me to your offices and your staff has been very helpful. I thank you deeply and i hope that you continue to assist other tenants who are unaware of their rights and have difficult landlords.

Sincerely,

Hotline user - July 20th, 2011

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Dear Outreach Team,

Thanks again for doing such an amazing job of the workshop here yesterday. The buzz around here has been only positive. People found the presentations entirely relevant to their work as well as really interesting.

I wanted also to let you know that an honorarium of $100 will be sent to the FMTA by our finance manager. While obviously not adequate compensation for your work on this, it's an acknowledgement of our appreciation for the time you spent preparing and presenting this excellent workshop.

Best regards, and look forward to connecting with you again soon,

Outreach user - July 29th, 2011

The FMTA was featured in a variety of news stories in the past month!

Tenants at a Jane and Finch building have been having serious problems with their landlord.  With the help of ACORN, they are trying to get their building audited by the City's MRAB program.  The FMTA was there to talk to the Toronto Star about the MRAB program and how it works.

The Province has released the latest guideline amount for 2012.  Landlords will be able to raise rents by 3.1% next year.  The FMTA was able to talk about the impact on tenants in CTV.ca, The Toronto Star, CBC and the Hamilton Spec.

Finally, over 150 tenants made deputations to City Hall regarding proposed cuts to, among other things, the Affordable Housing Office and a host of community services.  FMTA board members spoke passionately as to how those cuts could affect tenants.

A person is not covered under the Residential Tenancies Act until they are officially a tenant in a building, but discrimination prevents many people from securing rental housing in the first place. Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner if the Ontario Housing Tribunal, issued a statement about discriminatory housing advertisements following an extensive review of sites with housing listings. The Commission found that on some rental housing sites, up to 20% of listings contained discriminatory provisions.

Many people, Hall says, are not aware of what words and clauses count as discrimination according to the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Some of the most common examples of discriminatory additions include "adult building", "must provide proof of employment" and "No ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program)". The Commission has released a fact sheet about discriminatory housing advertisements to help potential tenants identify them, and rental housing providers to avoid making them. http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/factsheets/fairads

Hall has requested the cooperation of print media and rental housing websites in ending discrimination in housing advertisements.

For the full story and more resources on discrimination in rental accommodation,

click here: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/news/fairads.

If you think you may have experienced discrimination related to rental housing, you can contact the Tenant Hotline (416-921-9494) or the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (1-800-263-1139 ext. 22).

As the warm weather approaches, tensions can often heat up between landlords and tenants over the question of air conditioners. The law can be a bit confusing on this issue.

Here are the goods.

• A landlord cannot introduce an additional charge for something that has previously been included in your rent. This is an illegal charge.
• A landlord cannot remove something that they have previously provided as a part of your rental agreement (whether or not that particular service is written down). This is called a loss of service.
• If the landlord wishes to charge an additional fee for air conditioning in the summer months, it must be tied to the tenant's monthly rent. It cannot be a one time fee for the whole summer. For example, a charge of $25 per month for the months when an air conditioner is used is legal, whereas a $300 charge for the whole summer is not legal.

The Residential Tenancies Act says:

123. (1) A landlord may increase the rent charged to a tenant for a rental unit as prescribed at any time if the landlord and the tenant agree that the landlord will add any of the following with respect to the tenant's occupancy of the rental unit:

1. A parking space.

2. A prescribed service, facility, privilege, accommodation or thing (THIS INCLUDES AIR CONDITIONERS). 2006, c. 17, s. 123 (1).

• This means that a landlord can introduce fees for additional services if both the tenant and the landlord agree to it, or if it is included as a clause in your original lease.
• If you have in your lease an agreement that you require written permission from your landlord in order to install an air conditioner, or have since then made a written agreement with your landlord about your installation of an air conditioner, your landlord may be able to increase your rent.
• They still have to go to the Landlord and Tenant Board in order to enforce this rental increase!

Other information to consider:

• The 12 Month Rule: If the landlord charged you for an air conditioner last year, they could argue at the Landlord and Tenant Board that they charged you over 12 months ago and therefore that their fee should now be legal.
• The Power of a Signature: If you gave written consent to a new fee for air conditioners, but did not understand what you were signing, the landlord will likely try to hold you to this written agreement in court. Always make sure you know what you are signing!
• Many tenants have called the hotline complaining of letters that their landlord has sent them stating that "new City bylaws" require an "engineering report" and "installment by a licensed professional". The FMTA has not heard of any such bylaw at this time and has not been able to confirm that this is actually correct. If you receive such a letter, you can call 3-1-1 and ask if such a bylaw occurs and also if any orders have been issued against your building regarding air conditioners. If no order or bylaw exists you can likely ignore your landlord's letter.

The Federation of Metro Tenants' Association held our Annual General Meeting this Saturday, June 11. Members of the Board of Directors, staff, tenants and tenant association reps assembled to report back on the initiatives of the past year, elect new members to the Board, and to plan for the coming year. In spite of major cuts to the Tenant Defence Fund, and by extension, the FMTA operating budget, 2010 was a very productive year for the Board and the staff.

Late 2010 saw the election of a new City administration whose goals include eroding tenant rights, and making major cuts to tenant services, including the FMTA. Members of the Board have promoted and defended important tenant issues in a political climate where landlord lobby groups and pro-landlord media outlets and city counselors are increasingly strong. Further, the Board helped strike down legislation that would have allowed for the deregulation of social housing units, and supported Bill 112, the goals of which included Landlord Licensing, Rent Control, and expanded rights for tenants under the RTA.

The Outreach and Organizing team have had a very busy and successful year, helping tenants in Toronto save over $350 000 in rental increases. The Tenant Education Project gave over 130 educational workshops in 2010 to over 3000 tenants and agency workers. The FMTA Tenant School was a particularly exciting new project in 2010. The school was possible by a grant from the Law Foundation of Ontario. Over the course of 5 weeks, over 100 tenants were educated on in-depth information on tenancy and the law. Tenant School was so successful that a second session was held early in 2011, and we are hoping to make the project an annual event. The O & O took on many other projects in 2010, participating in Mike Colle's Bed Bug summit, and promoting tenant voting and engagement in elections. The staff on the hotline continue to work tirelessly, taking over 10, 000 calls in 2010. They made it through another winter season, when the phone lines are flooded with calls from tenants who have received Automatic Rent Reduction notices from the City of Toronto and are seeking direction on how to apply them.

The Federation of Metro Tenants Associations, East Downtown Toronto Local Immigration Partnership and the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture present:

Information on Tenants Rights for Newcomers to Canada

Come and learn about:

• Your lease
• Evictions
• Privacy
• Repairs
• Discrimination
• And more.

June 8th, 2011
1:00 PM -2:30 PM

Location:
Sherbourne Health Centre
333 Sherbourne St,
2nd Floor Classroom

Refreshments will be provided

To register, please contact:

Hanan Harb

(416) 363-1066 Ext. 251 - [email protected]

Saturday
June 11, 2011
10.00 am - 2.00 pm

OISE
Room TBD
252 Bloor St. W
Toronto
(@ St. George Subway)

Revised Agenda

10.00am Registration and Coffee

10.30am Meeting
Chair's Report
Financial Report
                                Executive Director Report

11.25am Board Elections

12.00pm           Member Motions and Reports

12.30pm           FMTA in 2011/2012

To renew your membership in advance of the meeting, or for more information, please call 416.646.1772 or e-mail [email protected].