photo credit: dno1967b

Petition

The Petition Is Here < Click Here

Download it, sign it and mail it! (Address at the very bottom)

Well we had to call ourselves something didn’t we? Anyways this is about the water billing petition again. For previous information check out my previous post Kayla Andrade Speaks Out About Water Bills I know you’re bored, but before you go off and play Skylanders read this press release.

Kayla Andrade

She’s fierce but there’s no sign of horns and a tail. Seriously she’s a fighter and she’s taking no prisoners. She won’t take a no from the Provincial government and neither should we. I’m a battle scarred veteran of the landlord wars. Tenants have been winning for years while landlords backslide. That’s because we don’t get together and kick some government ass. We get our bills and tax increases and bad Landlord & Tenant Board judgements and go hide in private, call it a cost of doing business and lick our wounds. We have to start somewhere regaining our rights and this is as good a place as any.

Kayla Speaks On Water Issues < MP3 (Disclaimer * I have no idea if this will work)

So What If Cambridge Landlords Have To Pay Water Bills?

Ok Well Do you live in any of these cities? Because these are cities where water billing is an issue and we have contacts and members fighting this issue. Get involved.

1. Windsor
2. Essex
3. Kingsville
4. Wallaceburg
5. Chathem-Kent
6. Rodney
7. West Elgin
8. West Lorne
9. Simcoe
10. Brant
11. Caledonia
12. Haldimand
13. Fort Erie
14. Niagara Falls
15. St Catharines
16. Hamilton
17. Cambridge
18. Kitchener
19. Waterloo
20. Guelph
21. New Hamburg
22. Wellesley
23. Stratford
24. Burlington
25. Oakville
26. Mississauga
27. Toronto
28. North York
29. Vaughn
30. Caledon
31. OrangeVille
32. Midhurst
33. Barrie
34. Scarborough
35. NewMarket
36. Pickering
37. Ajax
38. Oshawa
39. Whitby
40. Brooklin
41. Uxbridge
42. Greenbank
43. Port Perry
44. Sunderland
45. Cannigton
46. Beaverton
47. Blackstock
48. Courtice
49. Orono
50. NewtonVille
51. Newcastle Village
52. Bowmanville
53. Lindsay
54. Peterborough
55. Kawartha lakes
56. Nipissing
57. North Bay
58. Kingston
59. Flinton
60. Nepean
61. Ottawa

Landlords and Tenants Across the Province Are Voicing Concerns Over Municipalities Adopting Unfair Practices For Billing of Utilities

Kayla Andrade, a small Cambridge landlord, is gathering Ontario landlords and tenants to petition Queen’s Park for amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001, (the Act) in hope of preventing municipalities from charging delinquent tenants’ accounts to the landlords’ tax rolls.

When the Act was amended in 2001, many of the provisions of the repealed Public Utilities Act were incorporated into the new Act.  This new Act includes provisions that municipalities are loosely interpreting as giving them power to charge a landlord for a tenant’s utility usage.

Municipalities are fully aware that their contracts are with the tenants directly and that the tenants are the actual users of the utilities.  If a tenant defaults, the landlords potentially become the bill collectors for the municipalities.

This has outraged many landlords. The municipalities adopting this unfair policy do so without regard to the affordable housing sector, much of which is provided by smaller landlords who cannot afford this additional burden. Tenants are also voicing concern as they fear landlords may now feel they must tighten up on tenant applications and rent hikes will be coming as a direct result of unfair billing policies. Some landlords are getting out of the business altogether. This has the potential to harm lower income families who already struggle in finding affordable housing.

A meeting for anyone who agrees that people should pay their own bills will be held on

Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 7:00pm

The Royal Canadian Legion

 4 Veterans Way, Cambridge (Galt-off Ainslie).

Hundreds of landlords and tenants will be represented, with keynote speaker, Marc Kemerer, former City Solicitor for the City of Waterloo.  Kayla will have her petition there, hoping many will sign the petition in support of fair billing policies and protecting the affordable housing sector.

Also expected to attend this meeting include:

Jim Walker ( President of Brant County Landlords Association )

Glenn Trachel ( President of Waterloo Regional Apartment Management Association )

Mike Chopowick – Manager of Policy ( Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario )

The Petition Is Here < Click Here

Download it, sign it and mail it! 

Ontario Landlord Watch
Kayla Andrade
6 Glen Road, Cambridge N1R 4L5

Call Kayla 519-740-7903

Email Kayla at: andrade_k1985@hotmail.com