Latest news with #tenantrights
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Wolverhampton landlady agrees ban with court on letting properties
An "unscrupulous" landlady who threatened to unlawfully evict a tenant with a young family has agreed to stop letting properties until Kawal Saddique, director of Emerald Lettings and Developments Limited, "hounded" the mother by engaging in a number of unfair commercial practices including demanding rent, City of Wolverhampton Council gave an undertaking at Wolverhampton County Court to stop letting and managing private residential properties until July 2028 or face being sent to prison, fined or having assets council said the case against Ms Saddique, which was heard on 18 July, was the first time new legislation had been used in Wolverhampton. Undertakings are voluntary legal commitments made to the court and fall under recent changes to the Digital Marketing, Competition and Consumer Act council said the landlady, who manages 36 properties across the city, accepted she and the company had made an unlawful threat to evict a tenant, who was living in a property with her young also demanded rent that was not owed and misled the public by failing to include details of the business on official stationery, according to the Saddique accepted that she had done, or was likely to do, something considered unfair or harmful to consumers and agreed to not let housing in England, engage in letting agency work, engage in property management work or hold a house in multiple occupation licence, with agreed currently living in properties managed by her will remain in their homes and the properties will be managed by other letting agents. 'Untrustworthy person' Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services, said it was a "terrible case" of a tenant and her young family being "hounded" by someone they should have been able to trust."Most importantly, it has seen an unscrupulous and untrustworthy person removed from the letting and rental sector."Councillor Steve Evans, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for city housing, said there was a "growing trend" of unfair practices by landlords and the council would use the new powers where applicable. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
CBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Only 6 days until Toronto's new renovictions bylaw comes into effect
Social Sharing A new renovictions bylaw comes into effect July 31 and the city's mayor and renter advocate groups are thrilled at what it could mean for tenants. The Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw was first passed by council last November and aims to protect tenants from being turfed from their homes by bad-faith landlords attempting to raise rents under the disguise of renovations. Mayor Olivia Chow said at a news conference Friday that landlords often claim their housing units need to be empty, when in reality, many of the renovations can be done with tenants still inside. "Far too often, landlords try to take advantage of tenants who might not fully understand their legal rights," she said. "Every time I'm out on the streets, I hear of tenants being evicted and the bogus excuses." How the bylaw works Landlords need a qualified person, licensed under the Ontario Association of Architects or Professional Engineers Ontario, to confirm vacant possession of a unit is required for the renovations. Landlords will then have to pay a $700 application fee within seven days of issuing an N13 legal notice with intent to renovate to the tenant. If a qualified person verifies that the unit needs to be vacated while renovations are ongoing, landlords must provide: Tenants wishing to return with either temporary, comparable housing at similar rents or agree to pay monthly rent-gap payments. Tenants choosing not to return with a severance compensation equal to three months of rent-gap payments. In both cases, landlords must give tenants a one-time moving allowance of $1,500 for a studio or one-bedroom unit or $2,500 for a two-or-more bedroom unit. Chow said the city's building department will review landlord renovation permits. Landlords who do not follow the bylaw could be charged up to $100,000. All landlords needed to do was provide an N13 to the Landlord and Tenant Board and the "clock was ticking" for tenants prior to this bylaw's enactment, said Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher at the same news conference. Landlords could then rent their units to new people at steeper rent prices. In Ontario, any rental unit built after November 2018 is not subject to provincial rent control. Fletcher said this bylaw is a "new day" for Toronto tenants. "The rescue is here," she said. "Fairness will be the very base line of anything that happens." More work to be done: advocates Advocacy groups are also excited about what this means for tenants. Landlords are finally being held accountable, which makes Yaroslava Montenegro, who is the executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Association, an advocacy group for tenants' rights, happy. "This is a huge win for our movement. This bylaw was built on decades of hard work by tenants holding city officials and landlords accountable," she said at Friday's news conference. This bylaw is demonstrative of what work and solidarity can do, Montenegro said. "This is a fight for dignity, for stability and also for tenant power. Together we are stronger, together we will win," she said. Tenants deserve stability and security, agreed Michael Cuadra, co-chair of ACORN's Weston chapter. ACORN is a multi-issue, membership-based community union of low and moderate-income people. "This is a welcome sigh of relief, of protection," he said at the news conference. "Alone we can be deceived. Alone, we can be ignored. Together we can be heard, together we can solve problems." This is a step in the right direction, but there is still work to be done, said Douglas Kwan, director of advocacy and legal services in Ontario for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants. Wait times at Landlord and Tenant Board hearings continue to be lengthy, the province's affordable housing stock is diminishing with legislation on it yet to be enforced and the homelessness crisis is ever present, Kwan said at the news conference. Though this bylaw will only come into effect July 31, tenants saw other big housing news this week. City council voted in favour of a colour-coded system for apartment buildings, set to be integrated into the RentSafeTO program in 2026, and council also voted to waive all development charges on multiplexes and sixplexes, with a pre-approved prototype available so homeowners don't have to find a planner on their own.
CBS News
7 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Frustrated tenants take action one month after Fort Worth apartment fire
One month after a six-alarm fire ripped through The Cooper Apartments in Fort Worth, tenants on Wednesday began taking matters into their own hands. Some residents entered the building and tossed belongings from a second-floor balcony. "It has been awfully frustrating," said Parker Perego. "I spent a month living in my parents' guestroom until I finally was able to find a new place in. Now that I have a new place, I don't have much of anything to put in it because it's all locked upstairs." Antonio Busby was one of at least two dozen tenants who protested outside the complex Wednesday, hoping to get answers from the Cooper management team about when they would be allowed to recover their belongings. The fire displaced more than 800 tenants, including Busby. "I feel like it's unacceptable," Busby said. "I feel like they're more concerned with their own liability before the well-being of their own tenants." Tenant Miriam Zarza is still missing her three pets that were inside the building when the fire happened. "Like I'm devastated. I don't want kids. These were my kids. These were my only babies. I've been having them since they were born. It's just a very heartbreaking experience," said Zarza. After 30 days of tenant demands, the management team finally provided some answers. In a statement to CBS News Texas, a spokesperson said that starting Monday, they will "begin reaching out to each resident individually to discuss next steps relative to their personal belongings." "That's very surprising. It seems like they're trying to make a good face for show rather than getting with the residents and letting them know what the timeline is," said Busby. "So, that's pretty shocking to me. I'm glad to hear it, but I wish it had come from the rental property and the Light Bulb Capital Group rather than coming from you right now." The Cooper management team added that, given the size of the community, the process will take time, but they will provide tenants with regular updates. While Zarza said the news of being allowed back inside her apartment provides some relief, it doesn't bring back her pets or ease the frustration she and others have felt over the past month. "I'll believe it when I see it. They've been saying that since the week of the fire, and we have not gotten updates," Zarza said. "So honestly, I'll just believe it when I see it."
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
LA family evicted by landlord then threatened with ICE
A Latino family in Los Angeles is suing their landlord over a 2024 eviction, alleging the landlord's attorney threatened them with immigration agents. The tenant, Yicenia Morales, a US citizen, expressed distress and fear after the attorney's email referenced potential deportation by ICE. The landlord's attorney, Rod Fehlman, denies the message was a threat, stating it was a warning about ICE arrests at courthouses and was taken out of context. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a warning that it is illegal to discriminate or retaliate against tenants based on their immigration status. The tenant's lawyer noted an increase in 'emboldened' comments regarding race and immigration status towards renters, linking it to the Trump administration.
CBS News
21-07-2025
- CBS News
Pittsburgh college student says he returned to apartment to find 2 strangers living there
When a college student in Pittsburgh returned to his apartment after being away for a month, he found two strangers living there instead of his roommate. University of Pittsburgh student Maverick Crupi said he was blindsided last month when strangers suddenly moved in without notice from his landlord at the SkyVue Apartments. "I opened the door, I walked in, and everything in the kitchen that was there, that I had there, was no longer there," Crupi said. "And there was new pots, there was new pans, there's a candle." Crupi said he also found two naked strangers inside his apartment in the city's Oakland neighborhood. "This lady, she's probably like 35, 40 [years old], just naked, walks out, looks at me and starts screaming," he said. The college student said he was given no notice that his former roommate apparently sublet his room. After reviewing his contract, he believed it was in total violation of his rights as a tenant. "If you're going to rely on the contract to have me pay you rent every month and utilities and follow whatever addendums you have in there, then you, as the person that made the contract, need to follow it to a T, too." A clause in the contract states that replacing a resident or subletting "is allowed only when we expressly consent in writing," going on to say that "the remaining resident and replacement residents must sign an entirely new lease contract." But KDKA Investigates learned the contract Crupi signed was a "by-the-bed" lease, meaning while his apartment was a two-bedroom with a shared living space, he was only renting, paying for and leasing his bedroom. Several local attorneys told KDKA Investigates SkyVue was not in breach of the contract. "Because these were individual separate leases, then that's something where he's not really going to have much of a claim to the breach of the covenant of quiet and enjoyment here, just because new tenants were put in there without his prior knowledge or consent," attorney Daniel Stoner said. Stoner said that had Crupi and his former roommate signed a joint lease together, the subletting clause in his contract would have been effective. But even then, Stoner said it comes down to landlord discretion. "It is true that the landlord, that's really at their discretion and option if they want to enforce those clauses or not, and sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't," Stoner said. Several attorneys KDKA Investigates talked to say most tenant-landlord contracts typically are more landlord-friendly and weigh in favor of the property owner. "Look at your contract, look at the laws that are in the city, try to see if you're getting what you're entitled to. At the end of the day, the bare minimum, hopefully, at least you're getting that, and people are following their contract," Crupi said. Stoner said make sure tenants read and understand their contracts, and do not be afraid to ask questions. "Those are questions that you certainly should be asking, particularly if you are entering into a lease where you're renting out an individual bedroom and you're living in a unit with other people that are that are renting," Stoner said. If a tenant needs help with a contract, Stoner said to contact an attorney. He also suggested practicing good communication. Even so, Stoner said the landlord could have done a better job making sure this wasn't a surprise for Crupi. "If somebody did get hurt, the landlord could potentially be liable for all this," the attorney said. "This could have been easily preventable just by giving the guy a call or sending him a text or email to let him know this is happening."
