New Enforcement Strategy for Problem Properties

The City of St. John’s will enhance its efforts to address landlords and property owners who have a history of non-compliance with City laws and regulations, particular those with tenants living in substandard conditions.
 
“Property owners with a history of non-compliance - in addition to allowing unsafe or substandard conditions - are a drain on the system and a drain on public resources,” said Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth. “Our new enforcement strategy will improve our ability to manage these challenging and often complex cases more collaboratively and efficiently.”
 
The Department of Planning, Development and Engineering and the Office of the city Solicitor have developed and will now begin to implement an enforcement strategy that has four main elements:
Experienced Inspector teams to manage challenging files
Prioritized ticketing for problematic properties
Grouping legal referrals to more aggressively prosecute repeat offenders
Liaising with outside agencies to address systemic problems 
“Ultimately, we want to have greater compliance from all property owners, but we are particularly interested in increasing compliance from chronic offenders,” said the Deputy Mayor Ellsworth. “Our goal here is to mitigate the impact that repeated building deficiencies have on tenants, particularly those who have life skill challenges and complex needs.”
 
A select group of experienced inspectors have been chosen to manage these challenging files, and consistent non-compliance will result in more frequent ticketing. Although City staff always have worked collaboratively, this new team approach ensures that all inspectors are sharing information and identifying issues earlier, as part of the new management process. The goal is to not only to take a hard line on chronic offenders, but most importantly to add better protections for the public.
 
“Where life safety is a factor, our teams will work swiftly to have individuals vacate these properties, always being sensitive to individual needs and concerns,” explained Ellsworth.
 
One of the challenges with managing these cases is that often issues are not reported as quickly as possible to the City. Members of the public and tenants are encouraged to report their concerns about properties “We rely on tenants and neighbours to bring concerns to our attention, and we promise to address issues of non-compliance with our utmost attention,” said Ellsworth.
 
Media Contact:
Kelly Maguire
Media Relations,
City of St. John's
Phone: 709-576-8491
Email: kmaguire@stjohns.ca