After days without heat and silence from landlord, Webster Street tenants worry about winter

After more than a week of having no heat in their units, some tenants at a London, Ont., high rise apartment building worry the issue might repeat as the weather gets colder, and they say not getting any answers from property management has only made the situation worse. 

Although heating came back at 1270 Webster Street Monday morning, living in a cold apartment made it challenging for Dorothy Solomon, 73, to manage her arthritis, she said.

"Today feels like the first time it's warming up. I've had comforters and blankets all around me and sometimes I have to wear layers in my own apartment just to keep warm, she said.

Solomon, who's lived at the building for two years, didn't initially notice the heat wasn't on because of mild temperatures throughout November, but once it started getting chillier outside, she felt no warm air in her unit at all, she said.

"I thought it was just me but when I talked to other tenants they all told me they had no heat," she said. "I haven't spoken to management but several other tenants have put in requisitions complaining and there hasn't been a response."

Janet Neatby, 76, has lived at the building for 21 years and said heating issues were never a problem under previous management. Over the past month the heat has been on and off and any communication from management has been passive, she added.

"They give various evasive excuses, like the boiler is being fixed, or that they're working on it. People are using little heaters, and that's not good enough because it's very cold," said Neatby.

"It's very frustrating because they say one thing and they don't follow through on it at all. Heat was one thing I thought I can count on in this apartment because that's important."

'These are accusations' says landlord

Getting a hold of anyone on the management team has been nearly impossible since a new landlord took over 1270 and 1280 Webster Street earlier this year, Solomon said.

Property records show the buildings were bought for $2.3 million by a Toronto-based company registered as Webster Apartments Inc. Together, the two buildings have about 140 rental units. 

The company's general manager, Preet Singh, told CBC News on Thursday that the building is following bylaw's mandate of each unit having a minimum of 21 C, adding that there have been no issues with the boilers. He believes tenants are not happy with property management, he said.

"These are accusations because we have new boilers running 24/7, and they're monitored by Aeris Technologies. We recently put a new $30,000 system in each building that can be remotely monitored. If there are ever any issues with them, the company would come right away to fix it," Singh said.  

In May, tenants from both buildings held protests accusing the landlord of renovicting them, or terminating their leases under the excuse of doing renovations and upgrades to the buildings. 

Tenants suspect renovictions

Neatby was served an eviction notice at the end of October stating that she needs to leave her unit by Feb 29. She believes the landlord is renovating the buildings to get rid of older tenants so they can raise the rent. 

She's in the process of looking for other apartments, but can't find vacancies anywhere and as a senior with limited income, Neatby fears she'll have to pay rent almost double what she's paying right now, she said.

"It's an apartment that's very convenient, everything is close by. It's near the bus, my church, my doctors, and grocery stores," she said. 

"Everyone thinks they're going to get evicted eventually. In the last few months conversations have been 'Did you get an eviction letter? Are you moving?' Those are the kinds of introductory questions people ask each other."

Neatby has reached out to city staff about the heating issue, who told her on Monday evening that they'll request bylaw to inspect the building, but she and Solomon want management to be more accessible and transparent to tenants, they said. 

However Singh said the company has not received any complaints from bylaw.