WATCH: Landlord tells provincial board hot water could be restored as early as Wednesday, heat within 10 days. Mark Carcasole reports.
TORONTO – Six weeks, five meetings at the Landlord and Tenant Board and the threat of fines has not resulted in the heat or hot water being returned to residents at 2779 Yonge Street.
The landlord, Bianca Pollak, along with her lawyer and a group of residents were once again before an adjudicator at the Landlord and Tenant Board Tuesday afternoon.
And the adjudicator had some hard words for Pollak’s inaction.
The heat and hot water have been off at the north Toronto apartment building since mid-February when a gas leak in the furnace forced the utility to shut off service, refusing to turn it back on until the furnace was fixed.
Watch: Global News has been covering this story since February. Watch the stories below.
Some progress has been made.
On Tuesday, Pollak’s lawyer revealed a hot water boiler has been installed. She says she is waiting for Enbridge to inspect it before it can be turned back on.
Pollak’s been given numerous deadlines to have the furnace fixed but they’ve been extended each time she failed to meet them.
She had previously said she didn’t have the money to fix the furnace. On Tuesday, her lawyer suggested she had been taken advantage of by contractors who sensed her lack of knowledge.
Pollak was ordered to put some residents up in a hotel until the repairs were done. That order was extended Tuesday. If Pollak failed to pay for the rooms ahead of time, the adjudicator warned Pollak would receive a fine equal to the bill of the hotel rooms.
The tenants have also been told to withhold their April rent until the heat and hot water are back on.
Mark Carcasole was live-tweeting the meeting. Get a recap below:
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