Angry tenants will hold rally to protest living conditions at Mississauga complex

Residents of a central Mississauga townhouse complex they claim is in a state of disrepair will hold a rally on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 13) in attempts to have the landlord and City of Mississauga address the matter.

Tenants and members of Peel ACORN, an independent social and economic justice organization comprised in part of low- and moderate-income Mississauga residents, will gather at the residential complex at 425 Rathburn Rd. E. at 4:30 p.m.

A short time later, the group will march to nearby City Hall to continue the protest.

Organizers say they’re looking to hold both the landlord and City accountable for what they describe as unacceptable living conditions.

“Tenants…are fed up with their landlord not doing basic repair and maintenance. Tenants are dealing with pests, garbage piling up, no security, no parks for children and more,” Peel ACORN members said in a news release today (Dec. 9).

One tenant of the complex said the living conditions are unhealthy.

“We have mice, cockroaches everywhere. Mould in the walls. Water is always leaking from the ceiling, especially when it rains. Squirrels outside also keep on destroying air conditioners. Washrooms have not been repaired since last year,” said the resident.

Peel ACORN said some tenants don’t even know who the landlord is, noting that one resident’s experience dealing with property management suggested even they don’t know the landlord.

ACORN representatives also charge that a number of landlords aren’t complying with the new Mississauga Apartment Rental Compliance (MARC) pilot program that took effect in July.

It seeks to ensure apartments and other rental units across the city are properly maintained and under the five-year program landlords/owners can be fined as much as $100,000 if they fail to comply.

The MARC program will cost the City $3.7 million over five years and is similar to Toronto’s Rent Safe program. 

Peel ACORN, an independent social and economic justice group that helps renters across Mississauga and Brampton push rental management groups to provide acceptable and appropriate living conditions, said last December that it’s been lobbying for such a proactive program for years.