November 18, 1998
To:Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee
From:City Clerk
Subject:Update on Eviction Prevention Strategies
The Council Strategy Committee for People without Homes at its meeting of November 16, 1998, had before it a report
dated November 12, 1998, from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services, providing an interim
report on the status of the three eviction prevention programs currently being delivered with City of Toronto funding.
The Council Strategy Committee directed that the noted report be forwarded to the Community and Neighbourhood
Services Committee for information.
City Clerk
Frank Baldassini
c:Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services
General Manager of Shelter, Housing and Support Division
Mr. Peter Zimmerman, Assistant to Councillor Layton
November 12, 1998
To:Council Strategy Committee for People Without Homes
From:Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services
Subject:Update on Eviction Prevention Strategies
Purpose:
To provide an interim report on the status of the three eviction prevention programs currently being delivered with City of
Toronto funding.
Financial Implications:
None.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that the Council Strategy Committee for People Without Homes receive this report for information.
Council Reference/Background:
A report from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services (April 9, 1998) recommended to the Budget
Committee (April 14, 1998) that funds be allocated for an amount no greater than $55,000 to support programs that deal
with eviction prevention and that staff be directed to implement a purchase of service process through which community
agencies can submit proposals for eviction prevention programs.
As indicated in the report to the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee on September 10, 1998 ("Result of
Proposal Call for Eviction Prevention programs for the City of Toronto"), a "request for proposals" process was
undertaken and parts of three proposals were accepted from the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA),
the West Toronto Community Legal Clinic (WTCL) and the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA).
As part of the agreement, each organization was asked to provide a summary interim report . A more complete report is to
be provided at the end of the programs (January 1999).
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
A number of key achievements have been reported by the three organizations to date.
1. Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation
Public Education and Outreach:
- Multi-lingual pamphlets - CERA has produced an information pamphlet on eviction and tenant rights protection
entitled " Reducing the Risk of Default and Eviction" in English and 5 other languages: Chinese, Somali,
Tagalog, Spanish, and Tamil. About 900 copies of the English copies were distributed to housing help centres,
social assistance offices and community legal clinics across the City in September (see Attachment A), and the
multi-lingual copies have recently been printed and circulated.
- Internet promotion - An Internet web page to promote CERA's eviction prevention program is being developed
under the website address: www.web.net/cera. On-line information has also been provided to those community
organizations which are on CERA's e-mail list.
- Newspaper advertising - An advertisement for CERA's early intervention program was posted in the rental
section of the Toronto Star on three Saturdays: September 5, September 19, and October 17 (see Attachment B).
Early Intervention Program:
CERA's early intervention program is intended to assist tenants who have been served with a notice of hearing of their
landlords' application for eviction. CERA has recently set up a system with senior officials of the Ontario Rental Housing
Tribunal which provides CERA with access to electronic information on the names and addresses of these tenants twice a
week. When the list is received, CERA will contact the tenants respecting the eviction process and options, and to help
them to file a written dispute, where requested, within the submission deadline to prevent a default order issued by the
Tribunal.
Investigation and Mediation:
Another component of CERA's project is to assist tenants who face discrimination in housing or who want to find more
affordable, alternative accommodation. Of the 50 cases they have investigated and mediated about human rights
complaints, 51% of the claimants either received the housing for which they had applied or could keep their current units,
while another 15% were able to find alternative accommodation. In about 16% of the cases, the tenant decided to file a
human rights complaint with CERA's assistance.
2. West Toronto Legal Clinic and Partners
WTCL and its partner organizations in the eviction prevention project (Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre, Stop 103,
and Connect Information Post) have set up an advisory committee to oversee the planning, implementation and evaluation
of the project. Together the four organizations have trained 6 volunteers as community peer advocates to undertake
outreach to tenants and landlords with the goal of resolving landlord/tenant relations issues and reducing evictions. Their
major activities involve organizing information forums for tenants and focus group discussions for landlords, and
mediating between tenants and landlords.
Tenant Information Forums:
Four tenant information forums were planned for September, October, November and December to provide information to
different language groups about the Tenant Protection Act and tenants' rights and responsibilities. The first two forums
were held on September 30 and October 29, for Spanish and Italian speaking tenants respectively (see Attachment C for
the flyer about the October forum). Two more forums will be organized for Somali and Turkish tenants at the end of
November and mid-December. The four Councillors whose wards fall within the service areas of the four community
organizations (i.e. Davenport and Mid-Town) have been notified of the eviction prevention project and the tenant forums
and landlord focus groups.
Landlord Focus Groups:
Both large building landlords and small building landlords were invited to two separate focus group sessions on
November 4 to voice their concerns and views about resolving eviction issues (see Attachments D and E for the flyer and
letter about the landlord meetings). The landlords appeared to be open to the idea of tenant education and early mediation.
Mediation and other activities:
Some of the community peer advocates have been working with a number of tenants who are encountering problems with
their landlords through mediation or negotiation on their behalf. In order to promote public awareness of the project, the
four organizations have produced an article about the eviction prevention project in the fall edition of "Neighbours" and
"Stop 103 News" - the newsletters of the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre and Stop 103 which have a circulation
of 10,000 households (Attachments F and G).
3.Federation of Metro Toronto Tenants Associations
The primary focus of the FMTA's eviction prevention project is to manage an "eviction hotline" which answers inquiries
from tenants who were facing or at risk of evictions during weekday evening hours between 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Although the set-up of the hotline was widely advertised in the media and FMTA's newsletter, it did not appear to
generate a large number of calls to the eviction hotline. On the other hand, the regular hotline which is operated in the
daytime has received a substantial number of calls (about 120 calls per day), most of which were concerned with
evictions. Given that few tenants want to take the trouble of disputing their landlords' application for eviction or that they
misunderstand the intent of the dispute form, the eviction hotline addresses this issue by helping tenants to focus on the
objective and process of filing a dispute. A more detailed account of the type and number of calls to the hotline will be
included in the final report.
In summary, a variety of strategies for eviction prevention have been undertaken by the three organizations, including
media and electronic advertising, producing multi-lingual pamphlets, organizing information sessions for tenants and
landlords, providing help through hotlines, direct mediation between tenants and landlords, and assisting tenants in
preparing for eviction hearings. While the present project will end at the end of this year, even in this early stage, ideas are
already coming forward for eviction prevention activities which have the potential to be developed into longer term
strategies for 1999, such as:
- developing an information package for landlords to explain the real costs of eviction and to share ideas about how they
can manage their tenancies so as to avoid evictions; and
- developing a joint program with legal aid duty council working at Tribunal offices and tenant organizations to ensure
seamless and timely assistance to tenants receiving eviction notices.
Conclusion:
All three organizations have made good progress in undertaking the activities outlined in their agreements with the City,
including media and electronic advertising, publishing multi-lingual pamphlets, organizing tenant and landlord forums,
providing help through the hotline services, direct mediation, and helping tenants to prepare for eviction hearings. A final
report on the success of these programs will be provided to the Council Strategy Committee for People Without Homes at
its meeting in February 1999.
Attachments:
1. CERA's pamphlet on "Reducing the Risk of Default and Eviction"
2. CERA's advertisement in the Toronto Star
3.WTCL's flyer about the October tenant forum
4. WTCL's letter about the focus group session for large landlords
5. WTCL's flyer about the focus group session for small landlords
6. WTCL 's article in the "Neighbours" newsletter
7. WTCL's article in the "Stop 103 News"
Contact Name:
Joanne Campbell
Phone: 392-7885
Fax: 392-0548
Joanne Campbell
General Manager, Shelter, Housing and Support
Shirley Hoy
Commissioner, Community & Neighbourhood Services
