Rexdale renters urge city to crack down on poor conditions at apartment complex

Greg Desgroseilliers has dealt with repeat flooding inside his Toronto apartment, but he doesn't live in a flood plain nor is it the result of thunderous rain storms.

His place floods when his neighbours use the shared laundry room.

He said dirty laundry water repeatedly flooded the 21 Bergamot Ave. townhouse he moved into in 2008, wrecking its parquet flooring so many times Desgroseilliers has now just painted the concrete subfloor and gotten used to mopping it up. 

He's also stopped calling his landlord, Pinedale Properties Ltd., who he said previously just did cosmetic fixes and put down a replacement floor that felt like "Jenga" underfoot.

"I just felt like it's a losing battle," Desgroseilliers told CBC Toronto as he provided our reporter a tour of his place.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was also at the apartment complex on Saturday. She was invited by tenants who are pressing the city to bolster its RentSafeTO program, which is designed to ensure landlords meet maintenance standards.

Chow's council has sought to improve RentSafeTO enforcement in recent years, but renters in various parts of the city have said it still lacks teeth.

Chow said she can see why. The Bergamot buildings' rankings on RentSafe's website are between 89 and 91 per cent.

"It does not look like a 90 per cent building for me," Chow said.

"It's not a good quality of life when you cannot use your laundry. It's not a good quality of life when your floor gets flooded. And it's terrible quality of life when there is an entrance where there's no ramp and if you're in a wheelchair you can't get in. That's hard."

Chow promised tenants that the building inspections carried out by bylaw officers would improve.

"It has not been perfect, but it will improve. OK, you have my word, it will improve," Chow said.

Pinedale Properties Ltd., which manages both rental buildings and commercial sites while also serving as a developer, runs the buildings.

CBC Toronto has sought comment from the company for this story but hasn't heard back as of 7 p.m. Saturday. This story will be updated if Pinedale responds. 

Tenants asked to pay for upgrades that landlord keeps: ACORN

Saturday's tour was organized by ACORN Toronto, a civic group focused on improving the lives of low-and-moderate-income people in the city that also helps tenants organize. 

The organization has publicly called Pinedale a "slumlord" and posted a list of complaints from the tenants on its website.

Those issues include everything from pest infestations to poor security to tenants being asked to pay to upgrade appliances, which Pinedale is then allowed to keep when they move out.

ACORN provided paperwork that showed a tenant was asked in September of 2024 to spend $398.33 to upgrade a fridge, and that fridge would "remain the property of Pinedale Properties Ltd."

Monique Gordon, who works with ACORN and has lived at the complex for 13 years, said she has faced harassment from the landlord for speaking out about poor conditions including poor plumbing, lack of temperature control and more. 

Gordon said she's been given an eviction for mid-July, though she's vowing to fight it, and has heard several other renters are in the same situation. 

City staff were present at that March meeting, and ACORN said it won a commitment from those workers to investigate potential violations at the building. 

Coun. Vincent Crisanti, who represents the area where the buildings are located, also attended Saturday's event and encouraged tenants to remain unified and keep speaking up. He said his office is engaged with the work of seeking improvements. 

For her part, Chow once again said if the company doesn't make improvements the city will step in to do the work, and then send the company the bill.