Looks like things are heating up in the political Toronto Bed Bugs spectrum - Could be expensive for tenants in the end.
Bed Bugs Toronto Apartments
Bed Bugs Toronto Apartments
Bed bugs in Toronto have been making headlines lately with the latest coming from Cheri DiNovo (NDP Parkdale - High Park) who very recently proposed a Private Member's Bill calling for Toronto landlords to be 'licensed'.
DiNovo proposes that, among other things, landlords should have to qualify for and obtain a license to rent apartment units to their tenants.
One requirment for license renewal - according to DiNovo, should be that a unit be declared "Bed bug free". A lofty and righteous goal. However, declaring any space 'bed bug free' is harder to do than one would initially think it to be.
There are a number of ways that one can go about bed bug detection. K-9 bed bug scent detection better known as bed bug detection dogs, high tech devices that mimic a sleeping human by emitting special CO2 and synthetic human pheramones along with heat such as can be found at http://www.bedbugstoronto.net/bedbugstoronto.html , to simply sending in a licensed and experienced technician to do a thorough visual inspection of the usual hiding places to look for evidence of activity.
Each method above can be very successful - or not, depending on how the method was used and by whom. Any true professional bed bug exterminator will tell you that no matter what method of bed bug detection is used, none of them are 100% accurate. Even if it could be certified 100% that there were no bed bugs in a particular unit prior to someone renting it, the new renter could bring the problem in the very next day - or, an existing problem in an adjacent unit could very easily spread to the 'new' one just as easily. There is simply no way (at this time) to 'declare' anything 100%.
This brings us to the next perplexing problem:
Should Toronto bed bug legislation be passed that would require landlords to "Certify a unit bed bug free" - an almost impossible thing to do - a litany of litigation is sure to follow. Tenants will sue landlords, landlords will sue pest control companies, insurance companies will charge more to insure pest control companies against the onslaught of law suits that are sure to follow and they in turn will rightfully pass along that extra cost to the landlords who will ultimately demand that their extra cost of running the building be built into the next rent increase. In the end, it is the tenant that may ultimately pay for this legislation unless the politicians recognize this potential and come up with a way that will thwart it before it manifests itself against the bottom line of every renter in the Toronto area.
Did you ask DiNovo what her response to this objection would be?
ReplyDeleteLet's say it's a regulated, tested, expert PCO. The deal is that he's going to do is very best and if bed bugs show up anyway there is no legal recourse for tenants just like I can't sue my landlord for having bedbugs and ruining my stuff now. Think about how crazy what you're saying really is! No one would ever make legislation that stupid!
That means all of the pressure and lobbying has to go to properly trained PCO's with the best possible equipment. Who can argue with that?
Her idea is the best, better than Colle's... you're all out of touch with the reality of what happens when you move into a house!
Could be... it will be interesting to see how this plays out here...
ReplyDeleteAnyone know if this is being considered anywhere else and if it's working?