A renewed call to enact a DineSafe-like colour-coded sign system for Toronto apartment buildings plagued by issues like bed bugs or neglected repairs is being brought to city council later this month.
The red, yellow and green signs, similar to the easily recognizable ones posted in restaurants to show public health violations, were first debated a few years ago, as part of the city’s RentSafe program.
They were nixed at council due to concerns about stigmatizing certain buildings. But a coalition of councillors and tenants want the mandatory signage, which would be displayed in apartment lobbies, to be part of the program, with a motion going to council the week of July 23.
“It holds Toronto’s worst landlords accountable, for not being responsible for the homes of their tenants,” said Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul’s), who is leading the call along with Coun. Chris Moise (Toronto Centre).
“It also gives perspective tenants a heads up as to what they’re walking into before they choose to make that building their home.”
Under RentSafe, which came into effect in 2017, landlords of buildings with three or more storeys and 10 or more units have to register with the city and pay a fee.
They are also audited by city staff and given a score out of a hundred, looking at factors such as cleanliness, pest control and the state of elevators.
The rules don’t apply to condos or apartments in private homes, such as basement units.
Matlow said part of the reason why he wants to bring the signs discussion back is because RentSafe is “not working as well as it should,” and current audits are very basic.
The signs would “shame the landlord” into action, he said, and also the city, if repairs aren’t made quickly.
“I just think these signs would really, really make a huge difference for tenants living in some pretty miserable conditions, ” said Chiara Padovani, co-chair of the York South—Weston Tenant Union. “It’s a stain on the landlord’s reputation.”
The tenant group backs the move, along with ACORN, the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) and NoDemovictions.
Often tenants call 3-1-1 multiple times to try to get a repair done, Padovani said.
They also sometimes find that landlords will purposefully neglect existing residents in order to get them out, renovate the unit and charge much higher rents.
Ideally, under the colour-coded system, the signs would go up any time there was a violation of city bylaws — for example, if the heater was broken, she said.
“That’s what, in our experience, will actually move landlords to do the job, their only job, which is maintaining their buildings.”
Alejandra Ruiz Vargas, chair of the East York Chapter and National President of Acorn Canada, said they have heard from tenants about long-ignored issues such as cockroaches, leaky ceilings and broken sinks.
“We want the landlords to be held accountable,” she said. “This is something that is going to give us dignity, because we finally feel that someone is listening to us.”
But Daryl Chong, president and CEO of Greater Toronto Apartment Association, which represents landlords, said the signs are a bad idea.
“Labelling people and labelling their homes is simply wrong,” he said. “I don’t see the purpose that it serves if you put a big red square on a building that a small child comes in and out of every day.”
There’s got to be a better way to deal with the buildings that do have problems, without “stigmatizing the residents and especially the children that live there,” he added.
Asked about this criticism, Padovani said tenants already feel stigmatized due to unresolved problems in their buildings.
“Tenants are not worried about the stigma that calling out their landlords will produce. They’re already worried about not being able to have people over because there’s mould in their washroom.”
