The City of Sarnia is trying to address and prevent instances of "renovictions" in the community.
They're working to develop a potential Rental Renovation By-Law.
The city said renovictions are when a landlord evicts a tenant in bad faith under the guise of completing renovations, and then re-rents the unit to another tenant at a higher rate, without meeting their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Assistant City Solicitor Randi Kalar said the by-law would require landlords to get a licence before starting any repair or renovation work that requires a building permit and requires a tenant to move out while the repairs or renovations are completed.
She said a survey has been launched to gauge public feedback, and a public input session is planned.
“We’re looking to community members, including stakeholders such as tenants and landlords, for their experiences and input to inform the creation of a draft by-law,” said Kalar.
The public input session is taking place at Pat Stapleton Arena from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on May 13.
The survey can be filled out on the Speak Up Sarnia website until 4 p.m. on May 22.
Tenants, landlords and other members of the public are invited to share data related to current housing stocks, renovation requirements, experience with renovictions, and related inputs.
