Toronto City Council approved new rules for landlords to help better inform and protect tenants, starting July 1, 2017.
Under the new requirements, landlords will have to:
- Register with the city and provide information about the property owner and operator
- Develop a system for tracking tenant requests for repairs
- Respond to urgent tenant requests within 24 hours and non-urgent requests within 7 days
- Provide information to tenants regarding planned or unplanned service disruptions, including disruption to heat, water, security, electricity, elevators (including nature of disruption, duration of disruption, units affected).
- Provide information to tenants regarding major capital projects (including nature of project, duration of project, units affected).
- Post emergency contact information
- Use a licensed or certified contractor where required by law for activities including but not limited to servicing heat, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing systems
- Have a state of good repair capital plan (for elements including the roof, elevators, windows and mechanical systems) and make the plan available to tenants and prospective tenants upon request.
For more information, see the stories at the following links:
Toronto Star: Toronto council approves new bylaw to protect tenants
CBC: City of Toronto approves new apartment bylaws to protect tenants
You can read what City Council voted on at the link below:
