A new registry of bad tenants — and some landlords too — is gaining traction in Ontario
Online database Openroom says it hosted almost 2 million searches in past year
A new registry of delinquent Ontario tenants — and some unscrupulous landlords — is gaining traction among landlords and legal experts.
Weiting Bollu founded the platform Openroom a little over a year ago after she had trouble ousting a tenant from the home she owned in Vaughan — even after the tenant stopped paying rent.
“I thought I was the only one until I met other landlords. And I said, ‘Why isn’t anyone doing more about this?” she said.
“That’s when I said ‘You know what? I build software for a living. Why don’t I go build something myself?'”
She says the online database now contains more than 10,000 documents. The vast majority are related to delinquent tenants, although Bollu says there are also some problematic landlords listed too.
The tool is taking off as some landlords flee the rental market, contributing to the province’s housing shortage, according to Boubah Bah, chair of the Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario.
“The number of landlords leaving in the GTA, we estimate, is 50 to 75 a month and climbing,” he said. …[Continue Reading]