Mr. Y and Mr. Z had a garbage compactor at the back of their apartment units. They were no longer using the compactor, but were being charged extra fees for it. They called Solid Waste to complain about the extra fees and were told to weld the compactor shut, making it inoperable. Mr. Y and Mr. Z did this, but kept receiving bills.
Ms. C’s basement had been flooding for more than three years. As she did not use the basement, she had not noticed the extent of the problem until she saw sludge backing up into the plumbing on the upper floors. Ms. C approached Toronto Water.
We received a call from Mr. N, who was in a City of Toronto social services office in a state of crisis. He told us that he had lost his wallet, so had no money and no ID after losing his wallet. He was diabetic and had not had insulin in two days, but City staff at the social services office had told Mr. N that they could not help him without identification.
Mr. E has a Norway maple in front of his home, more than half of which is on City property. In April 2009, a storm broke a limb on the tree and it was hanging dangerously. In the past, the City has pruned the tree under the boundary line street tree policy, so Mr. E phoned the City for assistance. He was told, however, that the tree was privately owned and therefore his responsibility.
Ms. M is a single mother and full-time student who receives monthly support cheques from the City. Ms. M, who was upset because the City mistakenly deducted too much money from her benefit cheques and the decline in income had a serious effect, tried many times to get the City to correct the deduction.
In 2009, Ms. P arrived home to see a fire hydrant in the middle of her lawn. She contacted the City, wanting to know why she had not been informed ahead of time, and whether the City could move the hydrant to a less prominent position.
In mid-March 2009, Mr. L phoned our office about a parking ticket dispute with the City. Mr. L received a parking ticket dated December 31, 2007, a day neither he nor his car were in Toronto. He called the City early in 2008 and was told the error would be corrected. However, in March 2008, he received a notice of conviction.
We were contacted by Toronto Legal Clinics Housing Committee, who made a complaint on behalf of a number of Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) tenants. The complaints stated that TCHC’s rent calculations had a high error rate and it was difficult for tenants to figure out the correct calculation due to a lack of information.
Ms. B was referred to our office by her Councillor after contacting them regarding an issue with Toronto Water. The City had a program that replaced the service from the water main up to the homeowner’s property line at no charge if the lead concentration is more than 10 parts per billion. Ms. B contacted Toronto Water in December 2007 to have her water tested and was told that she did not qualify for the upgrade.