Common Tenant Questions
What is a tenants’
association?
A group of tenants who have come together to improve their situation as
tenants and create community bonds through meetings and events.
How can we work
together to help ourselves?
The PVTA can provide information about tenants' rights with regard to issues such as maintenance, security, rent increases, the eviction process, etc.
What types of issues
and problems are you interested in knowing about?
We are interested in hearing about concerns regarding maintenance,
safety or possible violations of municipal by-laws or provincial law. If the
landlord is not complying with their responsibilities, or you're not sure about
your rights, we hope to be able to provide information about your rights and
potential resources to help address the issue.
Will you contact the
landlord on my behalf so I don't have to?
No. If you are having a problem in your unit or your building, your first
step is to bring the problem to the attention of the landlord in writing and provide the
landlord with a reasonable opportunity to the resolve the matter. Keep detailed
records. If the landlord does not resolve the issue, you can contact the
tenants' association for advice on how to escalate the issue.
What's the best way
to contact the Park Vista Tenants' Association?
Please contact us via our email address as parkvista.tenantsassociation@gmail.com.
Please state the nature of your issue, your address (building and unit number), how we may get in contact with you, and
the times that are best to do so. Please allow 48-72 hours for a reply. If the
matter is urgent then please state so in the subject line.
Is there a membership
fee?
Yes. The annual membership fee is $10.
The Park Vista Tenants' Association is a volunteer-run organization.
None of the board members or other volunteers are being paid for the time they
are committing as advocates for safe, affordable, well-maintained buildings and
units.
However, there are unavoidable costs associated with such an effort,
including:
- Costs to prepare for Landlord
Tenant Board (LTB) hearings to challenge Above Guideline Increases (AGI)
in rent (including possible legal or paralegal services) and other
challenges that may be brought to the LTB on behalf of buildings
- Printing and supply costs
- Modest special event
expenses
We are committed to providing value, accountability and transparency to
members. By becoming a member, you will have a say in how the association is
run and will have the opportunity to provide input on how members' money is
spent.
If I don’t join, will
you still help me if I have a problem?
Unfortunately, we won’t. To be fair to the members who are funding the
association, we will only deal with issues if a tenant is a member.
Can the landlord stop
us from forming a tenants’ association?
No. We have the legal right to organize. The Residential
Tenancies Act says that a landlord cannot interfere with any tenant
who is organizing or joining a tenant association (RTA, s. 83, s.233)
Isn’t there a chance
this could backfire and the landlord could get less flexible and stick to the
letter of the law on things like late rent payments?
This is about tenant cooperation and a respectful approach to problem
solving, rather than heated confrontation. It is your legal right to have a
tenants’ association. That is the law as per Ontario's Residential Tenancies
Act, Section 23.
