New city bylaw should result in fewer pest infestations

WHO PRACTICE LANDLORD/TENANT LAW AND OTHER AREAS OF LAW

Q: I read a news report that Ottawa City Council is considering new pest control rules. I hope the new rules will get rid of the bed bugs in my building. Just because I live in subsidized housing doesn’t mean I should have to live with bugs. Ottawa Community Housing will do a set of treatments and then six months later there is another infestation and they have to treat lots of units again. I would really like that cycle to stop. What is going to change? Will it work?

A: The new Rental Housing Property Management Bylaw should help with your problem. The proposed bylaw was adopted at the Community and Protective Services Committee on Thursday, Aug. 20. It will be considered at City Council on Wednesday, Aug. 26, where it is virtually assured to be adopted.

The new bylaw imposes new obligations on landlords and tenants. Landlords will be required to adopt an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. Basically, that means they have to seek to prevent pest infestation, as well as treating them. IPM also includes educating tenants about how pests are brought into buildings, and what has to be done to reduce or eliminate them.

Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) already does a great deal of pest education, prevention and treatment. However, like private sector landlords, they are sometimes stymied by tenant behaviour.

Some tenants do not realize that bed bugs, cockroaches and other pests can be largely kept out of buildings if enough care is taken. The new bylaw will make it an offence for tenants to fail to report pest infestations. Tenants will also be required to prepare their rental units for pest treatments.

Tenants have those obligations now, but enforcing them is a long, cumbersome process at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

That causes problems for the neighbouring units. Under the new bylaw, bylaw enforcement officers can tell tenants that if they do not meet their obligations to help control pests, they can be fined.

Landlords are already required to treat pest infestations, but the new bylaw goes further. When it comes into force next summer, landlords will need to develop an IPM plan to prevent pest infestations, to inspect properties for pests proactively, to treat pest infestations and to evaluate the need for further steps. Greater emphasis will be put on tenant education.

OCH already uses an IPM approach, but it struggles to ensure that unit preparation is done properly, and that pests are not brought into buildings accidentally. No tenant wants to bring pests into a building, but some tenants do not realize the risk involved in bringing in used furniture or bulk food products, or failing to keep their unit clean.

Most private landlords have few large-scale pest problems. Some private landlords already have IPM plans. They often find evidence of a low level of various pests, and are able to treat those problems in the units involved without having to treat the units around the focal point. However, landlords will treat units around the focal point if that is needed. The new bylaw will require all landlords to have IPM plans.

As a result, the obligations on tenants and landlords from this new bylaw should help Ottawa move to a lower level of pest infestations.