Chair’s message Two years ago, ACORN and some “progressive” City Councilors pushed hard for landlord licensing. Other Ontario cities have landlord licensing (or registration), which requires City inspections, an application to get a license, a lot of paperwork and records, and an annual fee for each rental unit. EOLO prevented licensing from being adopted, so we do not need to pay the City any fees to rent homes to tenants. However, the City still felt some new requirements were needed, and enacted the Rental Housing Property Management By-law. The by-law will come into force on August 31, 2021, three months from now. The new rules seek to avoid and solve the problems caused by miscommunication between tenants and landlords. Most landlords give much of the required information to tenants now, and most landlords keep most of the required records now. However, the by-law will add to all residential landlords’ administrative obligations. - John Dickie, EOLO Chair
The City of Ottawa’s new requirements for residential landlords This article describes the City of Ottawa’s new requirements for residential landlords that apply in addition to those described in the last issue.
Information package for tenants The by-law requires all residential landlords to provide an information package to their tenants. For many landlords, the information contained in the package is already being provided. For the most part, the new requirement is about providing the information in a single package. Contact information The information package must include the landlord’s, or property manager’s, contact information. That includes a name, a mailing address, a telephone number, and at least one method of sending text electronically (e.g., by email, text messaging, through a Portal). There must also be instructions on how a tenant may follow up previously submitted tenant service requests, and on how tenants may report unresolved issues to the City of Ottawa. If the contact information changes, an update must be provided to the tenants in advance, or within 24 hours following the change.
When a property manager is listed as the point of contact, the property manager is required to maintain current contact information for the property owner. On the request of a by-law officer, the property manager must provide the owner’s contact information. Safety, cleaning, and maintenance The information package must include information about fire safety, including the location of any fire safety equipment in the dwelling unit; and a specific statement about fire safety, available in the by-law or on the City’s website. The information package must include a schedule for cleaning and maintenance tasks to be undertaken by the landlord, such as cleaning of interior and exterior common areas, snow clearing, or lawn care. Landlords may wish to use the phrase “as needed”, as in “the landlord will cut the grass weekly, or as needed.” Note that this is NOT meant to include the building systems maintenance work (e.g. water pumps, boilers).With regard to waste and recycling, the information package must state who is responsible for placing items out for curbside collection, including the removal of empty collection containers;
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