Rexdale tenants speak out against slumlord at ACORN town hall

Toronto, Ontario – On Saturday, March 1st, the Bergamot Avenue ACORN Tenant Union hosted a town hall at the Thistletown Community Centre for tenants living at 9-27 Bergamot Avenue. Joining the tenants were Etobicoke North City Councillor Vincent Crisanti, staff from RentSafeTO and Municipal Licensing & Standards, and officers from Toronto Police Service 23 Division.

Tenants spoke out against deplorable conditions they face at 9-27 Bergamot Avenue, owned and managed by Pinedale Properties Ltd. Some spoke about ongoing roach infestations, where roaches cover the ceilings, floors, and everything in between. Others spoke about being asked by Pinedale to pay hundreds of dollars for replacement appliances, only to be unable to keep them when they move out. Still others complained about a lack of security cameras throughout the properties, including the parking lot, which has seen numerous carjackings and violence in recent years.

After a detailed presentation by RentSafeTO staff, tenant leaders Monique Gordon and James Maroosis got a commitment from Councillor Crisanti to support giving RentSafeTO stronger tools to enforce minimum apartment standards. RentSafeTO staff agreed to work closely with ACORN to investigate violations on the properties and get tenants’ repairs done.

The Bergamot Avenue ACORN Tenant Union will meet this week to plan an action to build off of the momentum from the town hall.

The tenants’ full list of demands is as follows:

• Coin-O-Matic should do monthly maintenance checks on the laundry machines.
• If they won’t commit to that, Pinedale Properties should contract laundry services to another provider.
• Install wheelchair-accessible automatic doors at all main doorways in 9 Bergamot Avenue, 11 Bergamot Avenue, 25 Bergamot Avenue, and 27 Bergamot Avenue.
• Bleed the radiators at the start of each winter.
• Make sure all exterior doors lock property.
• Retain a third-party to inspect the window condensation drainage problem and report back to Pinedale and ACORN on the solution.
• Conduct monthly inspections of the hallway vents, clean them, and fix them.
• Annual cleaning and maintenance check-up on all vents in units and the central air system.
• Secure the garbage dumpsters to prevent dumping.
• Implement a recycling program.
• Bring in licensed, professional contractors
• Bring in specific companies that tenants request
• Put up “don’t feed the pigeons” signs
• Only new appliances, and without making tenants pay for them.
• Clean the windows regularly, twice a year.
• Replenish playground sand annually.
• Pest treatment should affect all surrounding units + carpets in the hallways.
• Gel for tenants with roaches when they opt out of the full-scale treatment
• Use steam to treat for bedbugs
• Treat the fly infestation in 9 Bergamot Avenue
• Stop calling doors fireproof or replace them with doors that have been certified as fireproof.
• Implement analog work orders
• Adhere to 24 hour notice, and actually show up.
• Don’t delete work orders from the records or the app → landlord needs to keep them for 2 years.
• Let people have their own appliances
• Stop charging tenants for repairs
• Hire a reputable firm for security, and provide 24 hour security on the properties.
• Bigger parking signs
• Parking enforcement → either Pinedale or the driver is to pay for the towing, not the tenant who’s spot it is.
• Parking fee cap of $50
• Cameras should be installed in the parking lots, hallways, elevators, lobbies, stairwells, garbage chute rooms, and townhouses.
• Water the grass
• Upgrade the park structure.