Landlord/tenant rights, dealing with problems, where to get help...
Utilities Dispute
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Turkey84 Posts: 1
Posted On: 2/10/2015
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I'm having a bit of an issue with my landlord and the water/garbage bill.
In Toronto, the fees for water and garbage are added to the properties owners taxes every four months, as I understand.
We moved into this residence in March 2012. Part of the lease stipulated that we were to pay for the water/garbage bill. Fair enough.
We never received a bill. We called the city to see if we could switch the name on the account and they said it was not possible. We never received a bill from the landlord in the almost three years we've been here until this week.
Now, the landlord is asking that we pay this bill going forward. Now, even though it's in the lease (which expired March 2013, so we're on "month to month" now) we haven't had to pay this expense in two years. Now suddenly we're expected to pay it. This feels like a "bait and switch" to me. It's effectively raised my living expenses by $750 a year.
My questions are:
Will I be obligated to pay for the garbage/water back payments?
Is the addition of the water/garbage bill to our fees legal considering that we were not billed for it for the past two years?
As an aside, we've been financially planning (accepting debt and taking jobs that pay less so I can spend more time with my family) based on cost of living we'd been experiencing. The added costs are going to be very difficult to absorb.
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Moderator Moderator Posts: 4142
Posted On: 2/13/2015
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Hello,
Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.
We can appreciate that you would be concerned about this situation.
We are currently working on getting some additional information for you.
Until then, you may want to contact the nearest community legal clinic for some information and help.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org
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Moderator Moderator Posts: 4142
Posted On: 2/19/2015
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Hi There,
Thanks for sharing your question and situation with us. We can appreciate that this is a frustrating situation.
From my understanding, you are renting a house and haven't been asked to pay the water/garbage portion of the bills since you moved in, even though it was initially in your lease. Now the landlord is asking you to pay it going forward starting March.
According to the Landlord and Tenant Board your landlord/property management can ask you to pay the bills as you had previously agreed but most likely can't ask you for the backpayments, especially since they said 'going forward'.
You may qualify for a rent decrease however, since they have "reduced or discontinued a service or facility" as part of your rent (which you paid since 2012). The T3 application you can file with the Landlord and Tenant Board will help determine if you're eligible for this.
You may wish to contact the Landlord and Tenant Board to confrim this information and to ask more question about your personal situation and how much notice you are entitled to for this type of change.
The information provided above is not legal advice. If you want legal advice please consult a community legal clinic or a lawyer about your particular situation.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
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Theresa
Information & Referral Specialist, CIRS
Your Settlement.Org Team
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