2-Dec-12

 12:05 p.m.

Ross, Rob D. & I attended at 179 John St. as per notice delivered yesterday morning.  Ms. S. was alone in the apartment, and, at least initially, disinclined to leave. Eventually did relate that John would be there within 10 minutes to pick her up. See video.

More than 30 minutes later, I called the OPP non-emergency number to ask their advice. While I was on the phone with dispatch, C and J appeared and went to the van. A second conversation occurred, during which J insisted that he did not want us to enter or to make any repairs; C did at least want the stove fixed. I indicated that if they would like to rescind the notice re: necessary repairs and permission to enter, I would require this in writing. J stated that he would return in 20 minutes with such a document but when I pressed for clarification as to what they expected at that time (since they have already called police on us twice – in one case for entering our own unit and running the vacuum cleaner. Since we will now likely be listing the entire building for sale, cleaning the basement – and even vacuuming – does not seem at all unreasonable to us, but whatever) …. ANYWAY… J. told us to go ahead and “do whatever the f*** you want.” See video.

We did enter the unit, recording both with the video camera and pictures its condition throughout.

The following repairs and observations were made (as per C.’s list of 30-Nov)

Refrigerator –admittedly is filthy, but the food in the freezer was in fact frozen, and the beer in the fridge was cold. Will provide thermometers to ensure safe operating temperatures.

Stove – we were unable to repair the 2 elements which reportedly do not work as all of the parts required to test them are absent; most notably, there are no elements at all. When tenant returns the missing parts, we will again attempt this repair. As to the oven which supposedly has not worked for the entire period of her tenancy (it is disgusting, and has obviously been used regularly), turning the dial on the timer restored function to the oven. Since the incoming legal tenants are providing their own appliances, the existing ones will be repaired when necessary and if possible, but not replaced.

Bathroom – both sink and tub taps were tested and provided both hot and cold water. Perhaps Ms. S. has simply not allowed the hot water tap to run long enough to prime it? In any case, to access hot water in the sink, one must push the handle to the left – but there is hot water. We did not find any evidence of mould. The drywall at the head (tap end) of the tub will need indeed require replacement –given that it was, in fact, J, who ripped out the existing drywall, and demanded and withheld $200 for parts and repair of this area, it astonishes me that this is now apparently a priority, but we will certainly arrange to have this completed as soon as possible. As to the toilet handle which Ms. S.r or a guest has broken off, we will certainly replace this part.

Deck

Ms. S.and her partner J. insisted, in June 2012, that they wished to remove and replace the deck. We not only provided them with permission to do so, Ross went down and helped with the labour and removal. When J. indicated that they had a new deck to bring in but were unable to do so until they had “enough money” to arrange for a truck, Ross provided the $50 requested. The $50 was never returned, nor has the supposed replacement deck appeared.

The remaining deck and step is in fact much smaller, and does seem to be in need of minor repair. This will be completed when weather and conditions permit. Since Ms. S. is currently using this deck as a garbage dump, in contravention of Tay Township by-laws, and in defiance of both N5 notices she has been served, and since her tenancy, as per her own notice, was to end on 30-Nov, this particular repair is not, for us, a priority.

We did, however, with the approval of the OPP, secure the exit to this deck from the outside on 1-Dec, in response to Ms. S.’s expressed concern about the safety of her children. On 2-Dec when we attended at the unit, our temporary fixes and warning notices had been removed.

Ms. S. has requested a rent reduction based on the fact that the deck is no longer available for their use. Given that she has stayed in the unit beyond her notice and is no longer a legal tenant, AND given that she has not paid one red cent towards rent since a partial payment in Oct-12, and given that she and J. insisted it be removed and did most of the work themselves, I am presuming that she means this particular request as a joke. Right? Come on - it has got to be a joke!

Patio Sliding Doors

Again, we saw no evidence of mould around this entrance. The door is, however, off its track and there is, therefore, a significant gap through which cold air can enter. Additionally, the door handle, which we replaced with a new part upon Ms. S.’s move-in, is indeed broken and does not lock.

On our next visit, Ross will attempt to reseat the door in the track to seal the gap. Once that is done, we will provide the tenant with a patio door winter seal kit which she may use if she wishes to further reduce any drafts. This is a temporary fix, which will have to do until we can make arrangements to have the wall built in and a new exterior door installed.

As to Ms. S.’s expressed concern about the potential fire hazard of not having a functioning handle on this door, please note that there are still 2 additional doors through which tenants may leave the building (as well as yet another which leads to our unit. This door is supposed to be locked but the tenant makes no secret of her lack of respect for us and our property, and uses it at will.) We will replace the door handle one more time to assuage her concern, however – no matter how ridiculous a request it is. If you would like a proper door handle there, how about you STOP BREAKING IT?

Lighting in the kitchen.

There are 2 light fixtures in the kitchen, one fluorescent (ceiling) and one incandescent (above the sink). The one above the sink requires only a light bulb. The ceiling light fixture also requires new bulbs, but it does seem that the ballast is now loose. The entire fixture will be replaced when we next obtain access to the unit. As I have noted on repeated occasions, however, replacing light bulbs is the responsibility of the tenant, not the landlord. If the tenants require instruction, we can certainly show them how it works. On a related note, with the exception of the fixture above the kitchen sink, every single lampshade which was provided in the unit is now missing or damaged beyond repair.

Doors

Ms. S. claims in her list of complaints that there are bedroom doors missing. This is, in fact, not so. While she and her family or guests have indeed damaged every door in the house, and all but 2 are missing doorknobs, each of the 3 bedrooms does in fact have a door. The only door which is actually “missing” is for a bedroom closet, which due to its configuration and irregular size, has never had a door. If there is something in the Landlord and Tenant Act which says that all storage areas must have a door, I have yet to find it.

All doors were newly installed, complete with doorknobs, when Ms. S. rented the unit.

Animals

Ms. S. complains that there are skunks in the area and would apparently like us to do something about this problem. However, as she has been advised repeatedly, Ms. S. is creating the problem by storing garbage on the property rather than taking it out to the curb for pick up on Tuesday mornings. She has received notices from the township as well as 2 N5 notices from us (first notice, 10-Oct; second notice 30-Nov). As well, on 5 and 6 Nov, we removed a great deal of garbage for her. Dump fees alone were in $110. And still, Ms. S.continues to fill the property with toys, empty beer and liquor containers, and poorly sealed garbage bags which contain both diapers and foodstuffs. As long as she continues to create an ideal living environment for them, even a licensed exterminator, which Ross happens to be, is unable to completely resolve the issue.

We have filled in the area skunks have dug around the front steps, but since there are a multitude of other potential hiding places among the children’s toys strewn about the yard, this is unlikely to have a significant impact.