One complaint from Aylmer

City compiles rental housing complaints

 

The City of Gatineau presented its first annual report on rental housing cleanliness and maintenance.

The compilation, presented by the Planning and Sustainable Development Service (PSDS), is the result of Regulation 508-2007.

This regulation grants the municipality the power to “require that an owner or a tenant undertake rehabilitation, repair or maintenance work which could ultimately be done by the City, but billed to the owner.” The regulation also includes the possibility of fines in case of non-compliance.

The PSDS has classified interventions in three levels. The first concerns priority situations such as a blocked exit, presence of vermin, and absence of heat. The second level concerns humidity and excessive mold, and the third level concerns excessive humidity.

For this compilation, public servants analyzed complaints between June 1, 2014, and May 31, 2015 – 450 complaints for levels 1, 2 and 3 were lodged of which 119 were of level 1. Most complaints, 69%, came from the Hull sector.

“Considering the seriousness of the level 1 complaints and the complexity of intervention, the report focused only on the handling of the files. The 2016 report will examine the three levels of complaints,” explained Catherine Marchand of the PSDS.

In Aylmer, only one complaint was filed. That number could increase in the next report, noted Ms Marchand.

“This is a harmonizing problem; there were identification and recognition problems as to what was a level 1 complaint. So, for Aylmer, we have complaints classified as levels 2 or 3 that should have been level 1 complaints. This will be corrected. Thus, in the next report, there will be more level 1 complaints in Aylmer”, said Ms Marchand.

For Aylmer’s single complaint, it took 136 days before it was processed and the file closed. A file is closed once all the elements have been dealt with. The first verbal contact with the Aylmer complainant was done within one day.

Again according to Ms Marchand, “this first report has highlighted where improvement is needed within the work organization and the processes.”

For the future, the PSDS plans on improving the databases in order to facilitate data compilation, setting up a register for problematic cases to prevent slums and to identify prevention measures that could be in place in 2017. The PSDS also plans to produce an annual report for the period of January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.
(LRC / CB)