The city has begun $120,000 in repairs at 500 Dawes Road, and is making the landlord pay for it
Tenants have complained for years about serious problems at the East York apartment building
Following Mayor Olivia Chow’s “Cracking Down on Bad Landlords” motion back in March, repairs have begun at 500 Dawes Road, an East York residential building where tenants have long-reported mould, bedbugs, mice and dangerous structural problems. (It was so bad that earlier this year, Canada Post paused mail delivery to the building.)
Chow’s motion allows the city to pursue remedial action. Contractors have now been hired to complete $120,000 worth of urgent repairs, per the Toronto Star, with costs being added to landlord Carolyn Krebs’ property taxes.
“For years, we have been begging, but all we get is punishment,” said one resident who spoke to the Star about the 14-storey, 332-unit building’s disrepair. “It was torture, but finally we’re getting somewhere.”
Krebs did not respond to the Star’s request for comment, but the outlet noted that she has also received a $200,000 fine for non-compliance with Municipal Licensing and Standards instructions.
Related: A veteran realtor dishes on how landlords get away with mistreating tenants and skirting the law
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
