name this thread, warning long info

[madchives]

whilst living in apartment now, have an odd thing going on with management.

short version - had heat problem so heat person was to come in to fix,
instead (she) management and super did and she went right to the kitchen and took photos.
they did this at 905 am, i was asleep before letting them in,
asked what the kitchen had to do with the heat,
she then mentioned the clutter in the living room and how dangerous it could be for the fire department.
after a bit she then stated in one week someone would check
to see that it was possible to get to the heat mechanism, in another week it would be upgraded
and 2 weeks later she would check about the clutter.

a month later (no heat upgrade) she showed up, mentioned it was tidier, i had moved a few boxes
she then mentioned pizza boxes on the fridge, smoke packages on a table, and window blind boxes - huh?
apparently a fire hazard, i kid not.
of course i mentioned so was my furniture, in fact everything but the darn concrete,,,

when i questioned about the fire safety problem, she noticed the heat hadn't been dealt with,
and ,,,so then super and her discussed that. (heat had fixed it's self by now).

extra fun she did some pantomime, almost falling over the hall chair, and some
beer cases to show me how dangerous it could be for fire department personnel.
i asked what are the regulations as fire safety is, she said something about
'if you could see the photos' so i told her thanks i have enough photos,
but i'd adhere to any law obviously, but i don't know how much room is needed so
tell me.
they left with her mentioning she'll be back in a week to see if things are better.
thinking i'll move the pizza boxes to the table, and the empty
smoke boxes to the top of the fridge.

a week is tuesday feb 20, no info about laws and no photos yet.

[walkonby]

Not sure what to name your thread @madchives but I believe you may be being set up to be evicted?
Personally I have no idea what amount of paper/cardboard or other fire hazard materials are allowed in ones place??
There are smoke alarms in your apt. right?
Does management have the right to just snap photos of your place without your permission?

The walking around space that a Fireman or other official would need when coming into your apt. .....is that really an inspection that the landlord can impose on you for no real reason?

I've seen the odd episode of Hoarders where the resident has a narrow path they walk throughout their entire living space. You are not talking about THAT amount or kind of clutter is in your place are you?

Gosh, hope you find a way to get the initial problem dealt with which was your heat right?

[anisa]

contact you landloard/tenant board and ask them about this situation.

You don't have to let your landlord in without notice and reason.

Protect yourself from any funny business.

[madchives]

i know wob does seem like they want me out - oddly apartment is beside
the supers/security office and we get along quite well.
do have smoke alarm, co alarm as place does go by the rules.
seems from the 'notice of inspection' notice that '(photos may be taken)'
is a normal thingy.
stupidly i seem to either miss the right time to call for tenant info or forget,
guessing i am not really worried but just doing a mentioning it thingy.

i think management person kathleen is nuts - if this place was a hazard
something would have officially happened already = maybe she wants
a date?
worried if she tired this on others for what ever reason it could be very hard
as english would likely be a second language.

i actually suggested to a friend that the reason they are after me is because
i am too white - ie not a recent immigrant and i may have questions
that others don't - one of the supers is quite racist.

passageways would seem to be the point wob, but i know i can get cat carriers
and me out, kathleen mentions fire people with equipment,
getting in and moving around hence me asking her about the laws about this,
and of course have had no reply,
so looking forward to her showing up or not.

[anisa]

Look up the Tenancy Act for your area.
Usually they are short and easy to read. At least you will know what they can and cannot do.

The repeated inspections sound fishy.

I have been a tenant and a landlord. Landlords can't simply walk in without notice.

[madchives]

hi anisa, sorry i didn't mention - i do get a 'notice to enter' piece of paper notice
however today no such thingy
wishing i had a key for the chain on the darn door as the law seems to allow
management to enter with a notice

[avoncallingu]

Mad chives - sorry to hear you are being "hasseled."

Maybe this would be a time to comply with their request to remove some of the empty boxes into the trash so that they would back off. You don't want to find yourself evicted and looking for emergency accommodation.

Do you have a difficulty with getting rid of these things? As the expression goes, "You can't fight city hall *or in your case-the landlord )"

Please do look up your rights but don't lose sight of the fact that they probably do have the power to evict you if you don't comply. Be careful not to get caught up in the details of their right to enter while the clock ticks towards a time when they can evict you.

It might be a time to be a "model tenant " until their attention turns elsewhere.

Do you think that a neighbour may have complained about something?

We're always here to give suggestions and be s much help as we can.

[madchives]

thinking in case i seem to have trouble making sense i should mention
we are sort of on a death watch. dad has the damn cancer which has
been after him since last summer along with the damn alzheimer's.
not a fan of adding things to get a oh poor you, but i know i am distracting
myself with this bs, but then again i can't handle it/much right now,,,

was mailed a letter, (from across the street) written day after inspection so, happy valentine's day
to her too received on tuesday feb 20) - saying that 'the suite housekeeping in your unit was poor,
(seems to help in keeping the cockroaches away - of course litter boxes very tidy,
hence no mention about the 3 cats)
and that there was a large quantity of materials being stored in your apartment'.
yes there are boxes with books, records, dishes, etc. placed against a wall in living room
where one would not walk and one in spare bedroom where one would not walk
regular size boxes, mostly one or 2 tall - which could be on shelves etc but - should/does it matter?
and a few boxes here and there, not in anyone's way, but she did try to trip over a couple.

then some bull about fire safety, i can get to both doors (one to outside) from anywhere
very easily. this is one question i asked her for info about as obviously i would never
break any regulation pertaining to a safety reg. - no info back from who i now
guess is out to kick me out in order to be able to up the rent (i am now paying
more than i receive from odsp for everything, rent, food etc. - lucky me)
i do save them water money haha as one person, 3 cats in a 2 bedroom, although
i also have to pay for electricity.

extra in the letter, some more bull about 'such substantial quantities of material,,,
interferes with proper air circulation and your ability to maintain,,,thus contributing
to the formation and uncontrolled growth of potentially hazardous mould and bacteria
within your apartment', heck the only thing that has interfered with the air is all
the foam insulation my dad and his 'friend' stuck up to keep the smoke in,
asked for by the super. (you can imagine what i am thinking,,,)

so end of letter ',,our opinion you are in breach,,,material to be removed to an off site
,,, or disposed of.'
'reinspect on tuesday feb 27 and if you have failed,,, we will commence proceedings
requiring the removal,,,and/or termination of your tenancy'
advice by a nice person on 311 when i called for some contact info
was let them continue with the attempted termination as he thought
that crazy lady would just back off.

did get rid of some empty boxes, but i never intended to stay, so i have a few
(not pizza, cigarettes,) empty boxes left, yikes.
forgot something, i am one unit in a hallway of 6, super office, super apt.
nice young family, people across hall and other lady etc. hardly see anyone
except supers since the door is open. only time i made noise lately is when
darn americans got that goal in the woman's hockey game, walls are concrete
so,,

[walkonby]

any updates on your situation @madchives ?