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Stanford was one of three residents on different floors visited by Chow. Most belongings in her 11th floor apartment were in plastic bags to keep them away from rodents who invaded the unit last year, she said, and chew things, urinate and defecate despite spring traps throughout the small unit. 

“Terrible, terrible, I feel shame to bring my friends in here,” said the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ District School Board personal support worker who works with disabled children. She says her landlord has ignored pleas to help her restore the unit to its previously clean and “beautiful” state.

“My teacher, she wants to come see where I’m living — I have to lie to her, I said I’m not going home now, or give her an excuse. I can’t bring them here. It’s very terrible,” Stanford told reporters.

Chow vowed that, as other problems including mould and flooding persist despite the city issuing multiple fines against the building’s owner, who has received more than 86 violation notices since 2014, she’ll push for tougher action.

“We’re absolutely ready to do the (repair) work and charge the landlord, whether through their property taxes or another way,” the mayor said, adding that city staff are expected to inform city councillors in September how best to legally enforce so-called remedial action, where the city hires contractors to fix problems and then bills property owners to recoup the money.

While ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ has remediation powers under its property standards bylaw, officials haven’t used the tool since 2021, and used it sparingly in years prior. Chow became mayor two years ago and is expected to seek re-election in 2026.

More immediately, the mayor said she hopes that, on Thursday, a majority of city councillors will join her in supporting a motion by Councillor Josh Matlow to adopt a DineSafe-like colour-coded sign system for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ apartment buildings plagued such issues as bed bugs or neglected repairs. 

Council years ago rejected a push for the mandatory posting of red, yellow and green signs in building lobbies amid concerns they would stigmatize the residents of buildings with poor maintenance records.

Chow, who seconded Matlow’s motion, said she agrees with ACORN that the signs could pressure landlords to improve the cleanliness and safety of their buildings to avoid yellow or red signs that could scare away tenants.

Jane Mumbi Gitau, another building tenant, showed Chow stains on her bedroom wall from constant leaking that has made an electrical outlet unusable. The building manager told her the problem will go away when the roof is fixed but as far as she can tell nothing has been done, Gitau told reporters.

“I tell them every time I pay rent and they say ‘Oh, we’ll do it,’” but water pours in every rainfall, she said, noting concerns about the safety of her balcony and inadequate heating that requires her to use multiple space heaters in winter.

Randy Halford, another tenant, said the chain inside his toilet constantly breaks, one element on his stove rarely works and a hallway light outside his door hasn’t worked for years, despite his requests for repairs.

At publication time Carolyn and Harvey Krebs, who own 500 Dawes Road through Havcare Investments Ltd., had not returned the Star’s voice mails requesting reaction to Chow’s comments. A lawyer who has represented them in the past declined to comment, saying he has not talked to them for about two years.

Under the city’s , which came into effect in 2017, landlords of buildings with three or more storeys and 10 or more units have to register with the city and pay a fee. The city posts online building evaluation scores and violations detected by city bylaw inspectors.

The  — much lower than surrounding buildings with scores ranging from 62 per cent to 94 per cent. Active violations for 500 Dawes Road include inadequate responses to laundry room flooding, visible on Chow’s tour, as well as reports of pests.