There can be plenty of challenges when renting to vulnerable populations, but there are also many benefits.
That was the message Wednesday during a housing and landlord town hall hosted by the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH) and Lakehead University.
The panel discussion at the Orillia Public Library was attended by representatives of various sectors and agencies, including Orillia OPP, the City of Orillia, Orillia Fire Department, the County of Simcoe and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
Mike Preston, of Lakeview Property Management, was one of the few landlords who took part. He said about 25 per cent of the renters in his 180 units are low income.
“We want to continue to offer that service, but it’s the most expensive part,” he said, but added, “there are lots of people in that 25 per cent who we don’t have any issues with.”
Some landlords won’t rent to people who are on Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program, Preston noted, but he does. As long as the tenants pay their rent and the landlord breaks even, it shouldn’t be an issue.
During the discussion, the question of landlord rights came up, particularly as they apply to bedbugs. If bedbugs are found, it’s the landlord’s responsibility to pay for the unit to be sprayed.
One landlord suggested it wasn’t fair that she would have to pay for that if the tenants are the ones who brought the bedbugs into the apartment. If a landlord can prove that was the case, the Landlord and Tenant Board could make the tenant pay.
“But they’re the vulnerable population. They don’t have the money,” Preston said.
Issues can arise, particularly with tenants who struggle with substance abuse and/or mental illness, but it’s important for landlords to be aware of the supports that are available to them and their tenants and to be open to renting to them, said Carrie Nixon, who works with the Housing First program at Empower Simcoe.
“You’re helping the community eradicate homelessness,” she said. “All it takes is one landlord willing to take someone in.”
“The biggest benefit is that people that have happy homes are less likely to be committing property crimes and other things in the community,” Orillia OPP Const. Ted Dongelmans added.
SCATEH co-chair Linda Goodall, who is also executive director of the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter, said Wednesday’s meeting was a way to bring everyone together with the goal of helping vulnerable people and, ultimately, getting and keeping people off the street.
“It not only helps the one person. It helps the whole community and the economy. If they’re on the street, it costs everyone,” she said. “One of the only things to end homelessness is housing.”
Goodall said the information gathered at the event will be taken back to SCATEH for discussion, and there could be more, similar gatherings in the future.
SCATEH reached out to Lakehead’s social work department for assistance with Wednesday’s event. Three fourth-year students — Nicole Welch, Amanda Drake and Jordan Bolzon — took it on as a project. They will be writing a report and making a presentation to their class.
