Backlog of rundown rental complaints in Windsor nearly eliminated

Tammy Williams and more than a dozen other tenants were forced out of their homes in December, when the city shuttered a downtown apartment because it was unsafe.

The property at 444 Park Street has long been a source of complaints from residents who often went without hot water or heat.

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Shutting the building down was part of the city's latest crackdown on outstanding complaints from tenants living in rundown rental properties, according to officials from Windsor's building department. 

"We could only take what we could carry," said Williams, one of the tenants who fought the Park Street property owners to repair the building. "After that, we've had to make arrangements with the manager to pack up the rest of our belongings."

City building inspectors have long been overwhelmed with the rising number of complaints from renters living with housing issues, including sewage backups and leaky ceilings.

The number of outstanding complaints reached 1,228 in September last year, but a concerted effort to target the problem with three new building bylaw inspectors has nearly eliminated the backlog in less than five months.

The department has 80 building condition complaints as of this week. The experiment of having dedicated inspectors has made a significant improvement, said Dan Lunardi, the city's manager of inspections.

"It may not solve all the problems we have in terms of getting to [calls] as quickly as we can, but it's certainly much, much better," he said. "We're well on our way to improving our service to the community."

Tammy Williams supports the city's crackdown on outstanding building complaints. She hopes inspectors will force landlords to improve conditions of rundown buildings. 

"I just wish we would have been able to have more notice, so we could find a place," she said.

Backlog grew over several years

The backlog of complaints over building conditions continued to grow as the city saw an increase in new construction. 

Building inspectors are mandated by provincial legislation to prioritize new building inspections, meaning complaints about housing conditions came second for many years in Windsor.

"We were overwhelmed with building condition complaints and that was a direct result of the construction boom we're experiencing," Lunardi said.

Severe health and safety complaints were always addressed immediately explained Lunardi, which is why the Park Street apartment was shut down. 

Inspectors discovered the heat was not working, forcing tenants to use a large number of space heaters to keep their units warm. They also found several illegal suites in the basement. 

"When the hydro's off, the fire alarm doesn't work, the exit lights don't work," Lunardi said. "It's unsafe — nobody should live there."

Williams continues to look for a new place, but packing up her belongings has been difficult after thieves broke into the building and ransacked the apartments. As of Thursday, she said she had nowhere to go.

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