I have been dealing with a humming noise in my building, a Toronto community housing downtown unit, since mid of Aug 2009.
The noise was always heard during midnight and early morning. As a result, I woke up and could not sleep. I suffered most during the weekend, as it was the time when the noises were heard much louder and more frequently.
At the beginning as I could not identify where the noise came from, I called emergency line twice on two different weekends, the emergency operator confirmed that someone would come to my building to look at the problem within 6-7 hours. The truth of the matter is that no one showed up in either night and the noises were still there.
The second step was that I was calling the building superintendent, who acted quicker than others, after I contacted him second time. He showed up at my apartment and identified that the noise came from the elevators. He contacted the elevator company right way and the work they did if they really did as super said made the situation worse. Whenever the elevators were being used, they produced big noises.
I tried different ways to cope with it, starting from using earplugs to putting pillows on my head and I even turned my living room into my bedroom. During the day times especially on weekends, the noises distracted me so much that I could not concentrate so I was forced to go to the public places to read; it also gave me headaches, heartaches, and to some point drove me crazy. I even slept at my friend’s place one night to get a sound sleep in order to prevent my breakdown. I am EXHAUSTED and literally have not slept well for months. And of course everyone went through this would break down, and I got sick. What a pity! I even could not go to work and ended up in the coffee shop to take a nap while the building was repairing the balcony.
They are just unfortunate facts; it just upsets me more when I tried to contact the office to have an appointment to see how they would resolve this matter. After unsuccessful attempts of calls and emails to supervisor and the operating manager, I have showed up at the office three times, which is located at 15 Scadding Ave, to ask them to take care of this unbearable noise issue. All the methods seemed in vain.
When you are a consumer in a retail setting, the activities are being monitored and reviewed on a continuous basis (i.e. consumer ministry/consumer protection laws). How much right do I have as a tenant of Toronto community housing towards this particular landlord which runs under the system of total monopoly? I don’t know who can really monitor them.
As a model tenant who always pays the rent on time, I deserve to ask for a quiet place to sleep. Can I stop paying rent if this issue not is being resolved? Or I just should look for some other places no matter how much more rent I need to pay? Where can I go for some fairness?
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.