Latest news with #tenantRights
CBS News
11 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
Cooper Apartments fire leaves Fort Worth tenants displaced and frustrated
Cooper Apartment tenants displaced by a massive six-alarm fire Monday received clothing and toiletries at a giveaway Friday organized by the Fort Worth Apartment Association. But some fire victims told CBS News Texas that it's more help than they're getting from management. Rent confusion and lack of communication Cooper Apartments CBS News Texas "They don't answer emails. They don't answer texts," said Evelyn Martinez. "They posted the rent, but they said to turn off autopay. I know a lot of people who paid for July's rent, and they can't get their money back." Ashlyn, another tenant, said she hasn't been able to return to her unit. "I have no word on when we'll be able to get in," she said. "I'm supposed to move somewhere else. I have nothing to move with. Sadly, I have no savings. I'm a single woman. I take care of myself." Concerns over damage and mold Jocelyn Sanchez shared a photo of a hole in the ceiling of her second-story apartment and said she's worried about water damage. "All that water is going to be in the vents," she said. "One of the residents said she's already seeing mold formation around the AC where the air comes out." Sanchez escaped the fire with her cat, Coco, but said she's unsure what comes next. "A lot of us don't know if we're going to be able to get out of our lease," she said. "They kind of made it seem like if your unit is livable, they still want us to pay rent." Management responds at event A manager at the giveaway event declined to go on camera but told CBS News Texas that all residents can get out of their leases and should email the management company. He added that they are still determining how to handle July rent. "Maybe even give us a prorated rate for June," Sanchez said. "Obviously, we haven't been staying there, especially for Building One. If they could get their deposits back and all of that. It's just a very sad situation." Fire ruled accidental The Fort Worth Fire Department released its investigative report Friday, ruling the fire accidental. Investigators determined that an electrical failure in the crawl space above the top story ignited the blaze. The report also noted that a maintenance contractor was working on an HVAC issue when the fire broke out.
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Report finds increasing number of Australian renters fear confronting landlords
Report finds increasing number of Australian renters fear confronting landlords Published 23 June 2025, 8:43 am A shortage of residential properties available for rent may be discouraging some renters from claiming their full rights as tenants. According to a new report - almost seven out of ten private renters surveyed worry about asking for repairs in case the landlord retaliates by increasing their rent.
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- General
- Khaleej Times
Dubai: Do tenants have to pay for accidental damage during maintenance?
Question: I live in a two-bedroom apartment in Dubai. One of the major AC components was damaged due to something we did; so basically, it was our fault. Are we responsible for fixing it and covering the cost of the damages, or would this fall under regular maintenance? Answer: In Dubai, it is the responsibility of a landlord to carry out the maintenance and repair works of a rented apartment, unless agreed otherwise. This is in accordance with Article 16 of Law No. 26 of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, which states, "Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, a landlord shall, during the term of the lease contract, be responsible for the real property maintenance works and for repairing any breakdown or defect that affects the tenant's full intended use of the real property. Furthermore, a landlord may be responsible for rectifying any breakdown, damages or defects caused to a rented apartment and if such breakdown, damages, or defects are caused due to reasons which are beyond the control of a tenant. This is under Article 17 of the Dubai Rent Law, which states, 'A landlord may not make to the real property or any of its facilities or appurtenances, any changes that preclude the intended use of the same. The landlord shall be responsible for any such changes whether made by him or by any other person authorised by him. In addition, the landlord shall be responsible for any breakdown, impairment, defect, or damage sustained by the real property for reasons beyond the control of the tenant.' Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. However, it is a tenant's responsibility to maintain the rented apartment in good condition and not to make any changes and/or carry out restoration or maintenance works without obtaining the permission of your landlord. This is in accordance with Article 19 of the Dubai Rent Law, which states, 'A tenant must pay the rent on its due dates and must maintain the real property in a good condition as a reasonable person would maintain his own property. Without prejudice to the tenant's obligation to carry out any restoration that is agreed upon or which is customary for tenants to undertake, the tenant may not make any changes or carry out any restoration or maintenance works in the real property without obtaining the permission of the landlord and the necessary licences from the competent official entities.' When a renting period ends, a tenant must return the property in the same condition it was received — except for normal wear and tear or damage caused by factors outside the tenant's control. If there's a disagreement about the property's condition, it will be resolved by the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre (the Tribunal). This is in accordance with Article 21 of the Dubai Rent Law, which states, 'Upon expiry of the term of a Lease Contract, the tenant must surrender possession of the real property to the landlord in the same condition in which the tenant received it at the time of entering into the lease contract, except for ordinary wear and tear or any damage sustained due to reasons beyond the tenant's control. Where a dispute between the parties arises in this regard, it shall be referred to the tribunal to issue its decision on the same.' Based on the aforementioned provisions of the Dubai Rent Law, it may be advised that where damage to a major AC component is caused by your own actions, the responsibility to repair or replace the damaged part may fall upon you, rather than being treated as routine maintenance typically handled by your landlord.
CBC
14-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Protestors march through downtown Toronto to call out corporate landlords
A group of Toronto advocates marched alongside a giant fake cockroach during a protest Saturday as they called on the city to provide more affordable housing and spoke out against corporate landlord practices. Several people held large cockroach props with speech bubbles containing the names of some major corporate landlords in the city as they marched toward those companies' offices in the Financial District. Corporate landlords "have been jacking up our rents, but also not maintaining our units," said Bruno Dobrusin, a member of the York South-Weston Tenant Union, one of the organizers of the protest. "That's why we brought the cockroaches, because [it shows] what we have to live with." The demonstration began at 214-230 Sherbourne St., a vacant lot at the intersection with Dundas St. E. that advocates have long called on the city to turn the lot into affordable housing. In 2022, KingSett Capital, a private equity real estate investment firm, purchased the lot with the intention of building a 46-storey condo building there. The city had worked on a bid to buy 214-230 Sherbourne Street at the time but was unsuccessful, said James Wattie, a spokesperson for CreateTO, a city-owned agency that looks to create opportunities based on the city's real estate portfolio. In spring 2023, the city negotiated with the corporation about buying back the stretch of land, but the proposal did not meet KingSett's asking price, said Toronto Centre Coun. Chris Moise in a statement last July. City council has since directed staff to continue discussions with KingSett "to find solutions that ensure an affordable housing component is included in the development," Wattie said in an email Saturday. These solutions "could include acquiring the site, should funding become available and subject to council approval," he said. KingSett Capital's Toronto office is one of the locations where protestors marched to Saturday, with others including Dream Unlimited and Canadian Apartment Properties REIT. CBC Toronto has reached out to the companies for comment and will update this story if we receive a response. Sherbourne and Dundas 'epicentre' of housing crisis Poverty is "very visible" near Sherbourne and Dundas streets, said Gaetan Heroux, member of 230 Fightback, an advocacy group that's asking the city to buy back the lot and turn it into affordable housing. "It's important for us to have social housing on the lot … We're in the epicentre of the housing crisis," he said. Among those at the rally was Megan Kee, an organizer with the advocacy group No Demovictions. The term demovictions, also known as demolition-driven eviction, refers to when a landlord evicts tenants from a building so that it can be demolished and redeveloped into new apartments or condos. Kee said she lives near Yonge and Eglinton in an affordable housing building with 121 units that is being torn down to build condos. WATCH | How modular housing could help solve Ontario's housing crisis: How modular housing could help solve Ontario's housing crisis 3 months ago Duration 2:36 Ontario's housing crisis has been an ongoing issue for years, and some experts say modular housing could play a crucial role in addressing the problem. The prefabricated buildings are built in factories and assembled on-site. CBC's Ali Chiasson has more. "A lot of people in my situation don't have the financial ability to go anywhere else," she said. "We're sort of stuck." Kee said she believes corporate landlords are primarily driven by profit, not doing what's best for their tenants. "When a business is in charge of fundamental human rights, profit is always going to be the number one priority," she said. "It's not going to be human wellbeing, it's not going to be quality of life."
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rexdale renters urge city to crack down on poor conditions at apartment complex
Greg Desgroseilliers has dealt with repeat flooding inside his Toronto apartment, but he doesn't live in a flood plain nor is it the result of thunderous rain storms. His place floods when his neighbours use the shared laundry room. He said dirty laundry water repeatedly flooded the 21 Bergamot Ave. townhouse he moved into in 2008, wrecking its parquet flooring so many times Desgroseilliers has now just painted the concrete subfloor and gotten used to mopping it up. He's also stopped calling his landlord, Pinedale Properties Ltd., who he said previously just did cosmetic fixes and put down a replacement floor that felt like "Jenga" underfoot. "I just felt like it's a losing battle," Desgroseilliers told CBC Toronto as he provided our reporter a tour of his place. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was also at the apartment complex on Saturday. She was invited by tenants who are pressing the city to bolster its RentSafeTO program, which is designed to ensure landlords meet maintenance standards. Chow's council has sought to improve RentSafeTO enforcement in recent years, but renters in various parts of the city have said it still lacks teeth. Chow said she can see why. The Bergamot buildings' rankings on RentSafe's website are between 89 and 91 per cent. "It does not look like a 90 per cent building for me," Chow said. "It's not a good quality of life when you cannot use your laundry. It's not a good quality of life when your floor gets flooded. And it's terrible quality of life when there is an entrance where there's no ramp and if you're in a wheelchair you can't get in. That's hard." Chow promised tenants that the building inspections carried out by bylaw officers would improve. "It has not been perfect, but it will improve. OK, you have my word, it will improve," Chow said. Pinedale Properties Ltd., which manages both rental buildings and commercial sites while also serving as a developer, runs the buildings. CBC Toronto has sought comment from the company for this story but hasn't heard back as of 7 p.m. Saturday. This story will be updated if Pinedale responds. Saturday's tour was organized by ACORN Toronto, a civic group focused on improving the lives of low-and-moderate-income people in the city that also helps tenants organize. The organization has publicly called Pinedale a "slumlord" and posted a list of complaints from the tenants on its website. Those issues include everything from pest infestations to poor security to tenants being asked to pay to upgrade appliances, which Pinedale is then allowed to keep when they move out. ACORN provided paperwork that showed a tenant was asked in September of 2024 to spend $398.33 to upgrade a fridge, and that fridge would "remain the property of Pinedale Properties Ltd." Monique Gordon, who works with ACORN and has lived at the complex for 13 years, said she has faced harassment from the landlord for speaking out about poor conditions including poor plumbing, lack of temperature control and more. Gordon said she's been given an eviction for mid-July, though she's vowing to fight it, and has heard several other renters are in the same situation. City staff were present at that March meeting, and ACORN said it won a commitment from those workers to investigate potential violations at the building. Coun. Vincent Crisanti, who represents the area where the buildings are located, also attended Saturday's event and encouraged tenants to remain unified and keep speaking up. He said his office is engaged with the work of seeking improvements. For her part, Chow once again said if the company doesn't make improvements the city will step in to do the work, and then send the company the bill.
