Getting Contact Information For Landlords On My Street

After getting a response from the office of the Honorable Gord Macintosh letting me know that I do have rights as a neighbour of a problem house, I thought I would get contact information for the landlords of problem houses on my street.
And especially after reading an article in the Free Press today by Gabriella Giroday entitled "Authorities find new ways to close problem properties", I got all motivated and fired off an email.
I sent an email to the Residential Tenancies Branch at rtb@gov.mb.ca. I gave a brief description of the issues that have been occuring at specific locations and asked if I could get the contact information on the landords. I sent the email at 12:19pm today and had an answer by 12:36pm.
The Residential Tenancies Branch provided me the name and phone number of the landlord for one of the houses, after checking with the landlord of course. I was very pleased with the information and proceeded to call the landlord and inform them of the incident that took place with their tenant. They were thankful for my information and said they would send a letter out to the tenants right away regarding the complaint. I could not be more pleased with the outcome of that. And I entered that information in a log I started on their property.
The second residence which I complained about did not go in the same direction. I was told by the Residential Tenancies Branch that they do not have a listing for that address and I would have to contact the Land Titles people to get the information. Doesn't a search cost money? Well, I am not ready to spend money on a search just yet. So I sent an email to 311 to ask them about the property, again explaining that there have been problems at the residence and I would like the contact information for the landlord so I can contact them. I sent that email at 1:41pm today and received my response at 1:50pm. Again, I was given a very quick response. And again I was told to go to the Land Title office.

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your email. You may find out this information by requesting the title of the home through Manitoba Land Titles. There is a $10 charge and this document will show the registered owner of the home. Manitoba Land Titles is located at 276 Portage Avenue.

Thank you for contacting Winnipeg 311.

Sincerely,

311 wasn't much help. I will have to stop the property manager the next time I see him and ask for contact information. We need a better system, though, to get information on these landlords that are allowing their tenants to cause such problems for the neighbourhood. And why would the Residential Tenancies Branch not have information on landlords? Or how do they get information on landlords? Or should they have information on landlords?
As I was typing this blog entry the property manager for said residence showed up to do some work on the house. I sent my husband out to ask for his contact information and got it. Great, thats one more house on my street where I can call the landlord directly and let them know what is going on. I will still be calling the police to log the complaint and get an incident number. But now I can also call the landlord and ensure they are aware of the issues at their rental property.

The Residential Tenancies Act for Manitoba and Us

I found a copy of the Residential Tenancies Act for Manitoba on the provincial website at

http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/r119e.php

Its a good read, if you have the time. I copied a few choice sections at the bottom of this blog entry for your convenience. Items of interest, so to speak.
It seems that the Landlord is obligated to investigate complaints about their tenant(s). They must "make a reasonable effort to remedy the situation". Thats a very subjective statement in a legal tenancy act. What is considered a reasonable effort? Who determines that a reasonable effort was made? How reasonable was the effort? How accountable is the landlord to prove that it was a reasonable effort? What if the neighbours do not agree in the reasonableness of the effort? Do we make another complaint? Do we wait and see how reasonable the next effort is to remedy the situation? Is there a limit to the number of reasonable efforts the landlord can and should make to remedy the situation? Who counts the number of efforts the landlord makes in trying to remedy the situation? Then there is the clause that states a landlord cannot evict if there is a school age child attending school currently.
I just want to sleep at night. I just don't want to hear loud swearing and threats all night. I just want a back yard that is not so full of wasps from the apples down the lane that I can actually stay outside for any period of time. I just want to get rid of the mice in my house now that the landlord did house cleaning at the party house. I just want to be included somewhere in the Residential Tenancies Act with some sort of rights.".

Landlord to investigate complaints

67          If a person informs the landlord that a contravention of an obligation imposed by section 73 (tenant's duty not to disturb others) or 74 (tenant's duty not to impair others' safety) has occurred or is likely to occur, the landlord shall without delay enquire into the complaint and make a reasonable effort to remedy the situation.

Obligation to keep unit clean

70          A tenant shall maintain ordinary health, cleanliness and sanitation standards in the rental unit and the residential complex.

Duty not to disturb others

73          A tenant shall not unreasonably disturb, or allow another person the tenant permits in the residential complex to unreasonably disturb,

(a) the enjoyment for all usual purposes of the residential complex or any other rental unit by the landlord, another tenant or occupant of the residential complex, or a person permitted in the residential complex by any of those persons;

(b) the enjoyment of adjacent property for all usual purposes by occupants of that property.

Impairment of safety by tenant

74          A tenant or a person the tenant permits in the residential complex shall not by act or omission impair the safety or other lawful right or interest of the landlord, another tenant or occupant of the residential complex, or a person permitted in the residential complex by any of those persons.

No termination when school age child

94(1)       When a tenant resides with a child in a rental unit that is conveniently accessible to a school, the landlord shall not terminate the tenancy during the school year unless the child is no longer attending a school to which the rental unit is conveniently accessible.

Termination for causes other than failure to pay

96(1)       A landlord may give the tenant a notice of termination if

(a) the tenant contravenes or fails to comply with any of the following provisions of this Act:

(i) repealed, S.M. 1993, c. 45, s. 27,

(ii) subsection 53(2) (change of locks or doors:  rental unit),

(iii) subsection 53(3) (change of locks or doors:  residential complex),

(iv) section 70 (obligation to keep unit clean),

(v) subsection 72(1) (obligation to take care and repair damage),

(vi) section 73 (duty not to disturb others),

(vii) section 74 (impairment of safety by tenant),

(viii) section 76 (overcrowding),

(ix) section 78 (no misrepresentation of premises), or

(x) subsection 42(1) (assign or sublet without consent),

and the tenant fails to remedy the contravention within a reasonable time after receiving written notice to do so by the landlord;

(b) the tenant breaches a material term of the tenancy agreement and fails to remedy the breach within a reasonable time after receiving written notice to do so by the landlord; or

(c) the tenant,

(i) other than a tenant referred to in subclause (ii), fails to comply, within a reasonable time after having received written notice to do so from the landlord, with a rule as required by subsection 11(2) and the observance of the rule is essential to the reasonable operation of the residential complex, or

(ii) who is a tenant in a unit under The Condominium Act, fails to comply, within a reasonable time after having received written notice to do so from the landlord, with the declaration, by-laws or rules under The Condominium Act.