London ACORN’s Healthy Homes Forum Building Momentum for Landlord Licensing!

On Thursday, May 8th, London ACORN members held a 40+ person forum to discuss local tenant issues and how the city could license landlords to hold them accountable! Leaders kicked off the forum by discussing the lack of oversight put on landlords in the city – “You need a license to drive a car, you need a license to run a small business, you need a license to hunt, you need a license to fish, you need a license to own a cat…How is it that we understand the need to license pets, but the person who has dominion over our homes, isn’t held to that same standard?” said Jordan Smith, Chair of London’s Carling-Stoneybrook ACORN chapter.
Following this, we welcomed guest speaker Councillor Sam Trosow, who shared words of support for our organizing efforts towards landlord licensing and accountability. Outreach Captain Felix Krasnov then launched the group into a brief educational activity to help explain how tenants can advocate for themselves when landlords refuse to do maintenance, and the power of organizing when landlords ignore their responsibilities!

After the group activity, London Central and Surrounding Secretary Farrah Sherrard reviewed ACORN’s demands for landlord licensing, which would mean:

• Requiring landlords to apply for a license and undergo inspections.
• Based on inspection results, buildings are assigned a letter grade which is posted publicly in the lobby and online similar to restaurants. The grade also determines the frequency of future inspections every 1-3 years.
• If buildings receive a failing grade, this should trigger a full audit of the building and punitive fines.
• Continued/repeat non-compliance results in the City taking remedial action to complete the repair and bill the landlord.
• The City sets strict timelines for repairs – no more than 7 days to respond to tenant requests.
• Ensuring landlords maintain a process for receiving and tracking tenant service requests.
• Requiring landlords to maintain a capital maintenance plan.
• Providing tenants with informational packages on their rights and resources.
• Developing a tenant education and engagement program that is actively promoted by the City and includes tenant stakeholder groups like ACORN.
• Landlords pay a per unit, annual licensing fee to cover the cost of the program. City-owned corporations (e.g. Middlesex-London Housing Corporation) and non-profits would not be subject to fee, however, they would still need to comply with the licensing program.

Following the demands review, ACORN Leader Ken DeJong did some mythbusting of common landlord licensing misconceptions. Then, to finish up the forum, the floor was opened for all tenants to share their experiences with slumlords in the city, discuss tenants’ rights, and brainstorm how we can organize against these issues as a community.
ACORN members in London are getting ORGANIZED and are ready to do what it takes to make landlord licensing a reality in our city! JOIN US Monday, July 14th at 12 noon in Victoria Park for our “Slumlord of the Year” awards ceremony followed by a march to City Hall for a special “award” to the City of London!