Landlord could face court for neglecting Dawes Rd. building
The appalling conditions at two Dawes Rd. apartment buildings are the same now as when they were first made public, according to tenants who have complained about cockroaches, dog feces, lack of hot water and harrassment by management.
What has changed at 500 and 608 Dawes Rd. is the city’s pressure on landlord Havcare Investments to complete work orders and engineering studies ordered by Municipal and Licensing Services bylaw officers.
If Havcare doesn’t carry out the required work, the case will become a court matter, Councillor Janet Davis said on Oct. 23.
"(The tenants) pay a decent rent there and they deserve to have decent rental conditions," said the Beaches-East York councillor.
She said the person identified by complainants as Mrs. Linton but also known as Carolyn Krebs, landlord for the two properties, has until Nov. 3 to complete three major work orders on 500 Dawes Rd. The orders were issued Oct. 11 for repairs to the balcony slabs, installation of locks on balcony windows and an engineering report to be done on the condition of the structure. There are also concerns about garbage on the property.
"This is a landlord that continues to ignore responsibilities," Davis said.
Earlier this year, tenants at 500 Dawes Rd. reported cockroaches, dog feces in the elevator and going days without hot water were commonplace in their apartment building. They claimed they had been harassed by Mrs. Linton and building superintendent Gordon Martin.
Adding fuel to the fire, they charged, the harassment only escalated when tenants joined the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now, an international grassroots group dedicated to representing low-to-moderate income families challenge deplorable rental conditions.
"It’s too much, too much," former 500 Dawes Rd. resident Marie Tonks, an ACORN member, said in a statement. "No one is allowed to treat people this way.
"The way Mrs. Linton treats people is criminal."
"For too long the residents of 500 Dawes Rd. and 608 Dawes Rd. have been suffering from a steady stream of harassment ranging from verbal abuse to illegal evictions," said a prepared statement sent out by ACORN in late September. "The state of the buildings owned by Mrs. Linton on Dawes Rd. is completely outrageous (and) the buildings are so poorly maintained that they fall far short of the property standards mandated by the municipality."
In March, the international group helped tenants of 500 Dawes Rd. form a union with tenants from the neighbouring 608 Dawes Rd.
In April, the Town Crier toured the apartment building. Filthy, graffiti-ridden stairwells, peeling paint, the smell of urine and feces in the elevators, cockroaches on the walls and tattered carpet-ing were just some of the reported conditions. The basement laundry room was locked since there was no hot water at the time.
"I just want them to clean the building," said April Abbott, a 500 Dawes Rd. resident, back in April. "If they’re asking for your money every month then clean up the building and take care of the work orders."
That same month, the three levels of government got a firsthand look at the building’s conditions.
Members of ACORN toured the site with Councillor Davis, Beaches-East York MPP Michael Prue and Beach-East York MP Maria Minna in a rally entitled "Freedom from Fear."
A second tour for the media and politicians was held on Sept. 26, again to raise awareness of the dire living conditions.
Prue said he is not surprised that conditions are still the same. While the entire issue is more of a municipal one rather than a provincial one, Prue said he personally visited 500 Dawes Rd. two times in the first two weeks of October.
"Some of the garbage was still there and it didn’t seem to be very nice," he said after visiting only the exterior of the building.
Prue remarked that the building was one of the nicest buildings in East York when he was the mayor, but "the same cannot be said today."