Tenants taking Akelius Canada to Landlord and Tenant Board

The company has repeatedly stated that it is not attempting to force anyone out. Akelius Canada asset manager Ben Scott also told the Star in a previous interview that the decision to replace superintendents with a call centre was designed “to ensure the best quality of repairs.”

The Star left requests with Akelius Thursday for a response to the tenants’ application. Scott later emailed to say Akelius doesn’t comment on ongoing legal matters.

Nearly 40 tenants in four of Akelius’ Parkdale properties are asking the board to force the Swedish company to either reinstate live-in superintendents or reduce the rent for each tenant. They also want Akelius to compensate them for out-of-pocket expenses allegedly incurred due to the loss of the superintendents, and for the board to fine Akelius “an amount at the board’s discretion.”

In an application filed with the board, the tenants say that they all began their tenancies before Akelius purchased their buildings, and that there was a live-in superintendent who was accessible daily.

“It was therefore their reasonable expectation that part of the services for which they were contracting with the landlord included a superintendent and associated services,” reads the document.

The tenants say the superintendent would, among other things, clean common areas, collect rent and provide receipts, provide access to storage rooms, attend emergency situations such as floods and heating issues, as well as “provided a sense of security to many tenants.”

The buildings in question — 99 Tyndall Ave., 188 Jameson Ave., 77 Spencer Ave. and 95 Jameson Ave. — were purchased by Akelius between December 2012 and November 2013, and the superintendents were let go shortly thereafter and replaced with a call centre, as has been done in Akelius buildings around the city. Tenants say they rarely hear back after leaving a message with the call centre.

“I would love a rent reduction, but personally what I really want is for the super to be reinstated,” said Annie Gibson, who has been renting a one-bedroom apartment at 77 Spencer Ave. for the last six years and says she has been dealing with a leaky bathroom ceiling and radiator for several months.

“I want someone in the building who can take care of it for me. There’s a reason I rent.”

Parkdale tenants claim in their LTB application that the loss of their superintendents has led to, among other issues, pest and garbage collection issues that continue to go unaddressed and a lack of supervision over contractors, who tenants say have often entered their units illegally.

Scott of Akelius said that prior to this past May, the company’s Toronto properties were managed by a third-party property management group. Since it assumed management of its own portfolio, it has satisfied over 96 per cent of service requests from tenants, said Scott.

“When a tenant calls with a service request, we engage a qualified and licensed tradesperson with the right skills for each job,” he said.

According to its most recent quarterly report, Akelius Residential owns 42,811 apartment units in Canada, the U.K., Germany and Sweden. It owns nearly 2,000 units in Toronto, where it employs 50 staff and 30 outside contractors.

Akelius, founded in 1994, is one of the largest private landlords in Sweden — as well as the most difficult to deal with, according to the Swedish Union of Tenants, which says Canadian complaints are similar to what they have heard in Sweden.

“When you ask the company about the lack of repairs or about having no superintendents, they try to explain it away,” said Per Björklind, an analyst with the union. “To us, it just looks like it’s all about cutting costs.”