Bell Fibe installation feels like an intrusion for apartment tenants
Telecom giant seeks to enter homes without residents present at 185 Cosburn Ave. building, initiative has the ‘support’ of building owner
How would you like to be told by Bell that it will enter your apartment to install cable for its Fibe Internet and TV service, even if you don’t want it and aren’t home? That’s what happened to residents at 185 Cosburn Ave., who found notices taped to their doors by Bell that said it is coming in, one way or another.
The notice said Bell technicians “will require access to certain areas of your building, including all apartment units,” for four consecutive days, starting Aug. 8, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“They will be installing new inside fibre wiring in each unit to ensure its compatibility with our new fibre technology and will be accompanied by a representative appointed by your building’s property management team if your unit is unoccupied when we arrive.
“This initiative is supported by the owner of your building.”
One resident at first refused to let Bell in and said she relented because she felt sorry for the sub-contractor.
She said he told her he needed to get into her place to hook up the apartments above it.
And if he didn’t, it would cost him $200 in lost pay.
There seems to be no clear answer on the legality of such entries.
We were told by the Ministry of Housing that under the Residential Tenancies Act, “a landlord may enter a rental unit in accordance with written notice given to the tenant at least 24 hours before the time of entry to carry out a repair or replacement or do work.”
We asked for clarification on the entry of third parties such as Bell to install cable for a service that a tenant doesn’t want or need and didn’t ask for, even if accompanied by someone from building management.
Ministry spokesperson Conrad Spezowka replied that, “generally speaking,” a landlord “does not require a tenant’s
“(Bell technicians) will be accompanied by a representative appointed by your building’s property management team if your unit is unoccupied when we arrive.” LETTER FROM BELL TO TENANTS
permission to undertake work to a rental complex or a rental unit.”
Bell is investing $1.14 billion over several years to develop Gigabit Fibe service in Toronto, which it says will improve Internet service speed for customers.
A news release says the project is its “single largest infrastructure buildout,” and that by 2020, Fibe will be available to 1.1 million homes and businesses in Toronto.
The news release also says it “will advise residents in advance if Bell crews may need access to their property.”
A resident of 185 Cosburn Ave. who asked not to be named said she was startled to find a note on her door from Bell, saying that at some point over a four-day period, it would be entering her home to install Fibe wiring.
She objected, not only because she isn’t a Bell customer and doesn’t want the service, but on grounds of insufficient notice. She said she was told by the Landlord Tenant Board that a “specific day and a three- to four-hour window must be specified for each apartment in buildings where an activity is happening in every apartment.”
She immediately emailed Bell and sent a letter to building management to say that 24 hours’ notice and a four-hour window is required, but didn’t get a response.
At 9:30 a.m. the following Monday, a Bell subcontractor named Bernie and a building superintendent arrived unannounced at her door and demanded entry to install the wiring.
She refused, saying she wanted 24 hours’ notice and a four-hour window.
“Poor Bernie looked very uncomfortable, while the superintendent berated me for not allowing access,” she said in an email to Bell. “I was embarrassed, too. I should have never been in this position in the first place.”
She said she finally agreed to let them in the next day, after Bernie told her he is paid $40 per unit for installations, and that if he couldn’t get into her place, he couldn’t wire up the ones above it.
“The last thing I want is to cause a hard-working person to suffer loss of income,” she told Bell in her email. “Especially loss of income from a situation that they did not create and do not have any control over.”
The building is managed by Rolin Realty. We called Rolin, which doesn’t have a website, many times since early August and as recently as Monday. Nobody ever picked up, and our voice-mail messages were not returned.
We also spoke to accountant Leonard Zuk, one of the few names on Rolin’s articles of incorporation, and told him we wanted to talk to someone about 185 Cosburn Ave. Zuk said he’d pass along our message, but no one called back.
In an emailed response to our questions, Bell said its “technicians connect communication infrastructure in the building to Bell’s fibre network and may need access to individual units to complete the work, even in cases where service may not be immediately required.
We want to know if other apartment dwellers have faced similar requests for access to hook up their units for Fibe, and how it was handled. If that sounds like you, let us know. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer or call us at 416-869-4823, email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.