Op-ed in Brampton Guardian: Corporate landlords in Brampton need to be held accountable, Peel ACORN says

Peel ACORN strongly urged city to register landlords who own properties with 5 or more units and carry proactive inspections

City of Brampton staff recently presented a report recommending a two-year pilot landlord licensing program in select wards. This is great news for greater landlord accountability, but the program is severely limited as it covers only additional rental units (ARU) or those properties that have five or less units.

Peel ACORN has been pushing the city for a landlord registration program similar to the Toronto RentSafe or Mississauga Apartment Rental Compliance Program. Both programs have their pros and cons but through these programs, the landlords who own buildings have to register and cities conduct proactive inspections.

Hundreds of thousands of tenants in Brampton live in apartment buildings with five or more units. Most of these buildings are owned by big, corporate landlords that have asset values of billions of dollars. Not only are the tenants living in units owned by these landlords struggling with mould, roaches, rodents, flooding, damaged access, lack of security etc. — that make the units uninhabitable and unsafe — they are often slapped with above-the-guideline rent increases for cosmetic repairs.

Members of Peel ACORN delegated at the Committee of Council held on Sept 20 and strongly urged that the city register landlords who own properties with five or more units and carry out proactive inspections. Each member shared their horrific experiences with corporate landlords, persistent rent increases and why landlord registration is critical. The city decided to keep the pilot program as is for now.

The latest Rentals.ca report shows that Brampton ranks among the top three mid-sized cities when it comes to annual increases in average rent for condos and purpose-built rentals. As cities, including Brampton, pledge to build more homes to achieve the 1.5 million homes target — a target set by the province — it is equally important to save existing homes by ensuring that tenants have access to safe and healthy homes.

Tanya Burkart, Jeannette Loretta, Stacy-Ann Stephenson and Nicole Brown are members of Peel ACORN, a community and tenant union with chapters in 10 cities across the country, including Peel.

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Op-ed by Tanya Burkart, Jeannette Loretta, Stacy-Ann Stephenson and Nicole Brown, Peel ACORN members for Brampton Guardian