Excess clutter can be a fire hazard and grounds for eviction of tenant

Q: For the last few years my parents rented a townhouse. Then nine months ago my mother died, and my father kept the townhouse. I didn’t visit Dad for several months because of COVID -19, but when I went there last week, I noticed he is keeping all sorts of paper in the house. Books and newspapers cover the whole of the ground floor, to the point that it is hard to move around. I’m worried about fire safety in the unit. This week the landlord delivered a notice of termination for impairing safety by the clutter. What should I do?

A: It is important that the situation be resolved as quickly as possible to address this dangerous condition. Hoarding can cause a number of risks to the tenant living in the home, as well as the occupants of the other townhouses. Paper can easily catch fire when it is exposed to heat. Not being able to move well within the unit can result in a person being trapped in a fire. As well, hoarding is hazardous to first responders, who can find their access and emergency exits cut off.

The Ontario Fire Code requires that there be free routes into and out of the unit and between rooms. It also prohibits combustible waste materials, such as old newspapers, from accumulating in quantities or locations that will constitute a fire hazard, including being left around heat and ignition sources such as stoves and baseboard heaters.

If a fire inspector finds these violations, he or she can issue an order against the tenant who has caused the violation, or against the landlord (for allowing the violation). If a landlord has done everything they can reasonably do to enforce the Fire Code (and can prove that), then the landlord is not likely to be found liable. Failure to take appropriate steps could also jeopardize a landlord’s fire insurance coverage.

Hoarding also often leads to pests, and interferes with pest control treatments. When learning of a hoarding situation, a landlord will typically try to obtain a commitment from the tenant to declutter the unit and eliminate the fire hazard. Family members can be very helpful in making the decluttering happen, and often help with communications with the landlord.

Hopefully, the notice of termination and a discussion can make it clear to your father that the issue is very serious, and he will comply with requests to declutter.

The high priorities are making sure the smoke detectors are functioning, and decluttering in key areas:

• to have free routes in and out of the residence

• to have entrance and exits from each room

• around heat and ignition sources, i.e., furnaces, stoves, portable heaters, baseboard heaters, water heaters and uncovered light bulbs.

Searching “hoarding self-help” will take you to tips that you can apply and gradually introduce to your father. There are also various services in Ottawa that can help with decluttering. You can find them by searching “Ottawa decluttering”. Prices vary. You may want to check with several services to find one that seems like it will work well for you and your dad.

We can all feel sorry for your dad and his loss, but he needs to keep his rental unit safe, and you can help make that happen.