Complaint Review: 191 Craven Road Toronto / Brenda Ladowski - Toronto Ontario

On 6 December 2009 at about 2pm my wife Kristina and I moved into apartment

#2 (upper floor) of 191 Craven Road, Toronto, Ontario.

The landlord, Brenda Ladowski was peculiarly encouraging us to use the electric heater to warm the place. She did not disclose to us that the furnace was broken. We gave her first and last months rent for a total of $1467. (see attached receipt).

When she (the landlord) left we plugged in the electric heater she had provided as the apartment was extremely cold. After one or two minutes of operation, the electric heater stopped. It had caused the circuit breaker in the basement to blow. To reset the circuit breaker we had to disturb the tenants below us. The woman who answered the door mentioned this was not convenient for her as there is no light in the basement. We had to ask these tenants several times to reset the circuit breaker over the course of our stay.

On the morning of 7 December I called Brenda the landlord to ask whats up with the furnace. She said that a part was broken and that it would have to be replaced but that she could not get anyone to look at it at the moment. She also said she may have to replace the furnace over the course of the next several weeks. Were we expected to freeze during this waiting period?

Her excuse was that she had provided us with an electric heater to heat the whole apartment two rooms plus a kitchen.

Also during our stay we took our own initiative by turning the oven on and opening the oven door. This helped a bit to heat the kitchen though it was a fire hazard.

The other major problem with the apartment is the terrible chemical odor which fills the apartment. On one occasion the landlord told us that the cleaning lady had sprayed a chemical on the stove to clean the stove and that this was the reason we were experiencing the odor in the apartment but that we should take soap and water to rinse the stove. My wife did that and no improvement. The odor is not coming from the stove but from within the walls of the apartment. Brenda told us that shes had a problem with mice in the apartment in the past. This chemical smell literally fills the whole apartment and the downstairs corridor as you enter the house.

We spent the nights of 6 December and 8 December. On the morning of 7 December I addressed my concerns to Brenda. She assured me that the problems with the apartment would be fixed but that she could find no one to do repairs as everyone was busy. I also addressed the problem of the smell which she responded it was the oven cleaner that merely needed to be wiped away. My wife wiped the stove with much effort to no avail. The smell remained through the whole of the apartment. We returned to the apartment on 8 December once again to notice the horrible smell (as we entered the entrance of the house and the apartment itself.) We spent one more night there on 8 December. On the morning of the 9th we woke up and my lungs were literally throbbing from the chemicals in the air. My skin and scalp was also very irritated. I was sitting at my desk working on my laptop when I almost vomited from the chemicals in the air. It was at that point we decided we could no longer live here. The environment is far too toxic to spend one more night let alone a month.

Here is a recap of all the problems:

The place is a complete and utter hole and should be condemned by the city of Toronto. We spent two days there and had to flee due to health concerns.

- she rented us this place without disclosing that the furnace was not working. We nearly froze the two nights we spent there.

- she made no attempts to repair the furnace but made up excuses like it needed a new part and that she might need to replace the furnace over the next several weeks (we would have to freeze during this waiting process).

- there are chemical smells everywhere in every room of this apartment. She told us that she had a problem with mice in the past which means she has fumigated the apartment. The toxic smells of chemicals throughout the apartment makes the environment unlivable and even dangerous to one's health. After living two days in this hole my lungs were literally throbbing from the chemicals in the air. My skin also became incredibly irritated due to the chemicals in the air. We both became physically ill and I almost vomited on several occasions.

- any time you plug in an appliance such as a heater this causes the circuit breaker to blow and you have to disturb the tenants downstairs to reset.

- there are small bugs flying around the apartment. There are distasteful smells everywhere especially inside the refrigerator (remnants of previous tenants which did not clean.) My wife also noticed a urine smell in the kitchen.

- there is no door to the living room or the kitchen. There is a detached door to the front room which she promised to repair. She never did.

- there is also trash (old tv sets, furniture, rubbish) lying in front of the house which has never been cleaned

- we are out $1467 (first and last). This place is a living hell. We had to flee after two days. We can not put a price on our health so we could not spend any more time there.

We are now in contact with the city of Toronto to see about getting this place condemned. She lives in a big upscale home in the city of North York. This is one of Toronto's worst slumlords.