Hot Topics:
EOLO provides tips for the successful implementation of a green bin program in multires housing based on the City of Ottawa's requirements and recommendations, and suggestions from a leading private sector consultant, Natalia Snajdr. pg. 49
LPMA discusses the reasons for small landlords to not forego rent increases, including the potential consequences when selling the property in the future. pg. 53
HDAA discusses the general softening of rental pricing in Hamilton and across Canada, the introduction of new by-laws affecting the rental housing industry, and encampments throughout the city. pg. 57
RHSK introduces the association’s new name and outlines the details of its housing policy blueprint. pg. 61
The Member Associations
Chair’s message
The City of Ottawa has begun a four-year rollout of mandatory green bins in the multi-residential and condominium sectors. Set out below are ideas for how to make green bins work, and work well. As well as working on that issue, EOLO continues to consult with City staff on the City’s water rate review, and on numerous housing policy issues.
We hope you enjoy the holiday season.
- John Dickie, Chair, Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization
Mandatory green bins – making them work
City Solid Waste staff issued a policy change email in August to all multi-family properties that receive City solid waste collection services, setting out the next steps of the rollout plan for organics recycling in the multi-family housing sector.
The City will accept continued requests from property managers to enroll in the green bin program voluntarily, which allows more timing fexibility through the year.
City staff presented at EOLO’s Education Event on October 16, along with Natalia Snajdr. Natalia is the leading private sector environmental consultant in Ottawa, an expert in green bins. She can work with you to fnd the best approach to green bin implementation. You can reach Natalia through the “Contact Us” page on her website, SustainableStep.com.
This article will address the City’s requirements, and many tips for success.
Along with the policy change email, the City distributed guidance and tips in the form of a PowerPoint slide deck, and several attachments. What follows builds on that deck and Natalia’s comments.
Keys to success
At the EOLO Event, the panelists agreed that the two key factors in achieving a successful green bin program are:
• Resident engagement
• Keeping the green bins “ick free”
The City’s rollout plan
Solid Waste Services staff are making individual contact with managers of certain properties. The frst tier to be approached will be properties that currently receive regularly scheduled additional collections above the normal allocation, but are not enrolled in the organics program. (Those properties pay an extra fee for the additional collection.)
For properties with signifcant physical limitations, managers can request an evaluation as to whether they are entitled to a delay in activating organics recycling to allow them time to plan and make renovations to achieve a more effective organics recycling program. Properties with such limitations are said to fall in tier 4. In providing the extension of time, the City will expect renovations to be considered, planned, and implemented.
When the City moves on to tiers 2 and 3, the Solid Waste staff plan to send another broadcast email alerting everyone in those tiers to the beginning of onboarding in the next tier. Tier 2 will be buildings with less than 100 units, and tier 3 will be buildings with 100 units or more. Tier 2 onboarding is expected to begin in about nine to 12 months, while tier 3 will likely begin in the spring or summer of 2026.
When work begins on each “tier”, the City’s Solid Waste staff plan to contact property management companies in alphabetical order. Within reason, property managers will usually be able to assign the order for their properties to be onboarded within each tier.
Green bin location and care
To keep the green bins “ick free”, the key factors are the following:
• Place them in a controlled environment with convenient tenant access. A garage is often a good choice, or a garbage room or cool room.
• Avoid placing the green bin in direct sunlight. If the bin must be outside, then a cubby can be used to provide shade.
• Make sure the green bin lid closes and is kept closed. Maggots develop when fies gain access to the bin and lay eggs. Avoid that.
• Ideally, site staff should check the bins every few hours to ensure the lids are closed and the area is clean. Frequent checking, and catching problems early, means the need for clean-up is minimized.
• Green bins can be lined with plastic or paper liners to absorb moisture and minimize odour.
Kitchen catchers
Keeping the green bins “ick free” starts with helping residents to keep their temporary storage of organic waste “ick free”. For all your rental units, the City will supply free kitchen catchers, which can be placed on a counter. They come in beige plastic, and are about one foot on each side and one foot high, with a lid. Residents are welcome to use them, but do not need to.
The kitchen catcher can be lined with newspaper or advertising fyers (which is then used to wrap up the waste), or food waste can be kept in plastic bags (like bread bags or milk bags). Fat can be accumulated in paper coffee cups or ice cream containers. Using such mini-containers, food waste can be kept in the fridge or freezer until it is time to take it to the green bin. The City includes a tip sheet with those ideas for residents.
Motivating residents
Good communication with residents starts with good communication with all building staff, as to where and when the green bins will be installed (and what they will need to do). Green bins are a good environmental practice, called for by provincial policy, and necessary to manage the cost of garbage disposal. There are multiple ways to notify residents of the new City requirement, including newsletters, fyers, and notices posted in lobbies, mailrooms, garbage rooms, on doors or above the bins. Key issues to address include a brief statement of the goals, timing, and information about what residents need to do (including what waste goes in which bin).
In its slide deck, the City makes suggestions for involving residents in “Green teams” to promote the use of the green bins, and also to acknowledge successes and individual support. In rental complexes with multiple buildings, results could be reported on the basis of separate buildings to spur competition among the buildings. Low-cost or no-cost awards, such as recognition, can also stimulate resident involvement.
Natalia also recommends recording the week-to-week success of the program and reporting that to the residents.
In many cases, the City can provide environmental education assistants (EEAs) to work with property managers and their residents to provide on-site outreach, onboarding, and education about organics recycling. By arrangement with managers, the EEAs can conduct meetings in
lobbies, combining that with one-on-one greetings and orientation as residents go in and out.
The EEAs can also do door-to-door outreach to tenants, including distribution of the kitchen catchers. All the EEAs’ work makes it clear the call to separate organic waste is coming from the City, rather than as a new demand initiated by the landlord. The EEAs also bring language capabilities, videos in multiple languages, and printed material with clear visuals, minimizing the language issues faced in rental housing.
Natalia recommends a plan be made to:
• Decide on the green bin locations and do any work needed (such as building cubbies and creating signage)
• Decide on timing
• Educate residents through lobby meetings
• Have all the liners and cleaning supplies on hand
• Do any door-to-door outreach, and distribute the kitchen catchers
• Install the green bins.
The plan can include a countdown to the “launch day” with posters announcing the launch.
Other resources and issues
EOLO is pleased with the work of the EEAs, and supports more City staf fng to expand that work. Besides the EEAs, the City has other staff who can assist with issues at properties. They include solid waste inspectors and others who can provide suggestions about green bin placement.
At the EOLO event, an EOLO member asked about a problem of residents dropping non-organic garbage into the green bin since it was the closest to the door. The panelists agreed that in that case, the green bin had to be removed (temporarily, to be reintroduced later). They emphasized the value of checking the bins often to catch issues early.
Another EOLO member volunteered they have a security camera in the garbage room, and make phone calls to residents who are caught on camera disposing of their waste incorrectly. The manager has not reached the stage of issuing warning letters or N5s yet because the phone calls seem to correct the problem.
In the expansion of the green bin program, we must remember the implementation is not “once and done.” Success for the program requires work at implementation, follow-up work to remind tenants what they need to do, and educating new tenants. Subject to the City’s resource limitations within the Solid Waste charges, the City will make EEAs available for follow-up work.
If there is a demand, EOLO plans to offer one or more tours of buildings with green bin setups, and/or a special EOLO education session on options and best practices. If you want such programing, please email events@eolo.ca to express your interest.
See EOLO.ca for more information about those and other resources.
EOLO’s Ottawa rental market panel
Besides the presentation and panel on the green bin program, EOLO’s Fall Education Event included a panel of EOLO directors speaking about the current and projected state of the Ottawa rental market. EOLO thanks Geoff Younghusband of Osgoode Properties, Dan Dixon of Minto REIT, and Ken Halef of District Realty.
Thanks to the broad geographic distribution of the portfolios of the three rental providers, and the differences between the buildings they own and manage, the panelists provided a comprehensive picture of rental demand across the whole spectrum of Ottawa's purpose-built rental market.
BECOME AN EOLO MEMBER NOW!
EOLO invites Ottawa area landlords to join the organization. Have your interests and concerns heard, and benefit from EOLO’s support. As an EOLO member, you will be able to:
• Receive prompt emails of relevant City rule changes
• Attend two networking receptions a year
• Attend two free education events a year
• Receive all 6 annual issues of RHB Magazine with current developments, City and provincial funding programs, and landlord-tenant laws.
To apply for membership, go to www.eolo.ca, download the membership application form and send it to us at the contact info on that website.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
London passes renoviction bylaw
LPMA’s fall meeting brought members up to date on a new bylaw aimed at protecting tenants from bad-faith renovictions. City Hall’s Ethan Ling said landlords will need to pay $600 for a rental unit repair licence when they issue an N13 notice of termination for repairs/ renovations of a rental unit so extensive that tenants will be required to move out. Lawyer Kristin Ley described the process of recovering vacant possession of rental units. She also outlined pending changes once Bill 97 is fully proclaimed. The bylaw was passed in September and will take effect on March 1, 2025.
The PM 101 seminar series will be held on November 5 and November 19. Topics will include screening prospective tenants, understanding lease documentation, landlords’ obligations for maintenance and repair, and much more. Finally, I would like to thank members who raised $10,000 for St. Joseph’s Hospice of London at our annual golf tournament. It was great to see our members support this much-needed facility.
Warm regards,
- Richie Anand, President, LPMA
SMALL LANDLORDS HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE BY FOREGOING RENT INCREASES
Increasing the rent annually by the guideline amount is one of the few ways landlords can offset their expenses. For some landlords, though, a rent increase isn’t worth the risk since many fear they could lose good residents and end up replacing them with less than stellar ones.
London lawyer Joe Hoffer says landlords who forgo rent increases are not that unusual.
“It’s always small landlords typically and they’ve got a good tenant who looks after the place well and they don’t have any problems with them.”
In developments with single-family homes, a landlord may strike a deal with a tenant to rent a home reasonably. The landlord promises not to increase the rent in exchange for the tenant agreeing to take care of maintenance and repairs. Ten or 15 years later, the tenant wants the landlord to pay for a capital cost, such as a new roof, and the landlord balks, creating an impasse.
Other landlords are content not to make rent increases because the rent they charge covers the carrying costs for their building.
That was the case for a couple who bought a 17unit apartment building with friends in Kitchener in 1982. They rented out units to tenants who couldn’t otherwise have afforded an apartment and they decided not to increase the rents regularly. That decision also made it diffcult to charge market rents on turnover because residents didn’t move due to the building’s affordability.
Now in their 80s, the owners are ready to sell the building. However, they can’t derive the return they expected because the affordable rents have resulted in the market value being very low compared to other similar buildings. Although the owners are asking the tenants to leave, the residents realize it would cost them a great deal more to live elsewhere. They now appear to be waiting until the owners are desperate enough to pay them to leave.
Andrew Macallum, a sales representative with Royal LePage Commercial in Kitchener, says small owners often harm themselves by not increasing the rent. Even a $30 increase per month translates into thousands of dollars over many years.
“When it comes time to sell, the value of the property is much different because of that. I would call it (foregoing a rent increase) a mistake,” Macallum says.
Small landlords sometimes feel guilty about increasing the rent and think they should discuss it with tenants beforehand. That isn’t the case.
“It’s a fnancial interaction and that’s the way it has to be treated or else a property owner is putting themselves at risk of losing value on that place eventually,” Macallum observes.
There is no remedy in these types of situations, according to Hoffer. He recommends that landlords increase the rent while they still own the building. Unfortunately, there is no provision that allows them to catch up after many years of charging low rents.
“It’s a common problem. With landlords, no good deed goes unpunished and that’s how they get punished because they haven’t increased the rent and there’s no provision that allows them to catch up after so many years, so they’re stuck. They’re rent controlled at what the original rent was,” Hoffer says.
If an owner decides to sell, prospective purchasers will base their decision to buy on the building’s structure and revenue from rents. Purchasers will expect the owner to lower the purchase price if the revenue isn’t enough to support the mortgage payments.
“That really kills the equity and the return that the landlord expected to get,” Hoffer says.
To make matters worse, the owner can’t guarantee a prospective buyer vacant possession. The tenants might verbally agree to vacate, but then renege once they realize how much more it will cost them to rent elsewhere.
“Unless they have a proper agreement to terminate with the tenant, or it’s a proper notice of termination because the purchaser intends to live in that unit, that tenant doesn’t have to leave. As long as they keep paying the rent and behave themselves, they can stay as long as they like,” Hoffer says.
Having a tenant who refuses to leave will quash the sale. And because the property is worth much more with the unit vacant than it is with the tenant paying a low rent, that provides small landlords with an incentive to vacate the unit. As a result, many illegitimately evict a tenant by alleging that they are undertaking repairs or renovations. Their aim is to skirt the security of tenure provisions that are in place under the RTA, Hoffer says.
“It happens mainly with small landlords who either don’t know the law or they don’t care what the law is. They’re desperate to get a return on the investment.”
If purchasers intend to buy a single-family home, they should be aware that it will include the tenant if the tenant refuses to vacate. It can take at least f ve months before a landlord has a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board and, even then, there are defences that will allow the tenant to stay.
“If it’s a purchaser, I would say make sure the deal is dead unless there’s vacant possession,” Hoffer says.
There needs to be a provision in the agreement of purchase and sale outlining what will happen if the tenant refuses to move. In many cases, the seller agrees to issue a notice to the tenant to vacate on the buyer’s behalf, but the tenant is still in the unit the day after the sale closes; the buyer is usually staying in a motel waiting for the tenant to be evicted.
"This happens all the time,” Hoffer says. “A tenant who knows what they’re doing can stay there for
over a year. And there are lots of instances of that out there.”
While the deal can close, it will be up to the buyer to decide what they intend to do with the property. For example, if the buyer’s own house is sold, the buyer will need to rent an apartment to avoid the high costs of staying in a motel waiting for the tenant to be evicted. If the buyer decides to sell, the Board will throw out a pending application for eviction because that individual no longer needs the rental unit for their own possession.
Other dilemmas may arise depending on the situation, Hoffer says. The deal may be deferred pending closing, in which case the seller usually covers the cost of deferral and the buyer covers their own cost of residing elsewhere. If the Board refuses eviction, however, the deal may never close. The building status is “frozen” until the Board deals with it, Hoffer notes.
Macallum says one of the frst questions buyers ask is whether a building is vacant and, if not, whether the seller will ensure that it’s vacant once it has been sold. Even when landlords pay tenants a large fnancial incentive, a signed agreement doesn’t always ensure that tenants will leave. The only guarantee is to vacate the property frst and then begin the process of selling it.
Macallum recommends that sellers state in the schedule of the agreement of purchase and sale
