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THE CASE OF LANDLORD VS TENANT Living-Room, Library and Sleeping Apartment All Complete â€" The above room, together with the kitclien and "semi-finished upper" floor, c onstitute the whole of the rented space in ques- tion. The floor is of cement, resting directly o n the ground as there is no cellar underneath. Kitclien and garage â€" the latter used by the L andlord â€" are separated by a layer of corrugated tin and a layer of summer shutters. Tenant claims that $40 per month is too much for this accommodation in wintry weather. Pity Poor Rentals Control People! by Fergus Neall On this page we tell, in picture and story, of one of the many disputes continually arising between Landlords and Tenants over a piece of rented property, as illustrative of the sort of case on which our Rentals Control Administration has to arbitrate. Below follow some of the statements made by this particular Landlord, each followed by the Tenant's comment regarding same. Personally, we're only glad that we don't have to decide between the two. Landlord's Claim. It is a story- and-a-half brick-clad building 17' by 50" with one room 17' by 17' feet reserved for the owner's car. Tenant's Comment. He doesn't. tell abou' kaviiig tliose big double garage doors wide open even in sub zero weather â€" or of the icy breezes tliat seep through the se- condhand corrupatcd iron parti- tion, to say nothing of those health- ftil gas and oil fumes from his car. » « * Landlord; The trp fhor is only *emi-£inished. Tenant; If "scnu" means "half" that's about a 00% ovei statement. See the picture of this "scmifin- ished upper door" â€" I mean garret â€" which doesn't, however, show the dtylight that comes through the roof in several spots. * * * Landlord; These living quarters w.^re formerly occupied by a gard- ner. Tenant; From the look* of the place that gardener's name nuist have been Adam after he got chas- •d out of Eden. There appeared to be the dirt of at least several cen- turies, and the whole place, except- ing for the living room had appar- ently been used as a catchall for the whole neighborhood's junk. 41 * * Landlord; There Is no plumbing. Tenant : I'll say there isn't. I had to partition off a corner of the I'itchen to make a bathroom, where I installed a chemical toiletâ€" which 1 had to purchase. t» * « * Landlord; Drinking water has to be carried from the main dwelling â€" the tenant of his own volition has recently been having water trans- ported. Tenant; During the Summer I had the privilege of using an outside tap sticking through the wall of the landlord's house; but when the danger of freezing came along, this wag shut off without notice. Rather than dig a well on another man's property I bought two 850-gallon tanks, had them put in the living room, and have water hauled at a cost of 15.00 per month. * « * Landlord; In addition, hydro has been supplied from the main house. This, however, may have to be dii- continued as the load at times it too heavy for existing equipment. Tenant; Three 80-watt light bulbs Semi-Finished Upper Floor or Unfinished Ctarret?â€" In telHng his side of the slory to thi Rentals Control people the Landlord described the above as a "semi-finished upper floor' The tenant claims that this is a gross exaggcr;i<ion of the actual condition. What is your opinion? This picture, like all the others, is from an actual photograph of the dwelling in volved in the case. and the radio represent all the elec- tricity we use, having even spent $100 for an ice box rather than use our frigidaire and so put extra load on the very old wiring. However, in November, the landlord put about 100 chickens in a small build- in< not far from o^rs, and lias more chickens in still anotlier near- by outbuilding â€" and has placed electric lights in both, with elec- trieity supplied from an outlet on the rear of our "house". But maybe, at the present price of poultry, chickens arc more important than humans. * * « Landlord ; The tenant has the right to free use of the fruit and to the use of any desired land for a gard en. The tenant has further been given use of free wood, of which then: is considerable . along the fences. Tenant; In May we were told that if we wanted apples we should just help ourselves. But when he apples did appear I was told to see that my family touched ni'thing but windfalls. There is much wood, semi-decayed and otherwise, lying around. I was told at one time to •help myself, but declined with thanks because coal is the only thing I can burn in either the stove oi the fireplace ba«ket. As for the garden, 1 was originally offered r plot which I couldn't find time to useâ€" and in the Fall it was turned into a chicken-run for the land- lord's chickens. • • • Landlord; It was understood when the tenant took over the premises he would make certain improve- ments and in consideration would receive greatly reduced rental dar- ing the winter months. .These im- provements were not made, but in- stead the tenant has, in a measure denioli-hed the premises. 'I v-nant ; .A few of my "demoli- tions". Kitchen and garage are separated by one layer of corrug- ated tin and unc layer of summer sliiuters na'led together to make n wall. 1 plastered the shutter side, wliica is toward the garage, with asbc?tos fibre and cement ji an ef- f( rt to eliminate gas and oil fumes, â- tlso chilly breezes later on. The east wall of the kitchen, whicn is t'ornied by an unused garage door, I insulated with asbestos fibre. 1 painted the concrete floor of the kitchen with plastic paint. 1 never |/U' a wood floor in this section, due to 'he fact that the cost li putting the building in any rea- sonable condition was pioliibitive unless a r.'asonable rental was of- fered for at least five years â€" which was the original understanding when 1 took the place. In the kitchen I built a 12' drainbuard complete with sink â€" supplied by ni>self and dug a pit some 15' out- side the plaee to which I ran a dis- posal line. But what'r the use â€" I spent approximately $400 of my own money in improvements, and now am told I ruined the t<lace. Great interest has been aroused throughout Canada by the an- nouncement from Ottawa thr.t Rent Controls on residential properties are likely to be continued indcfin- itelj. Only naturally, perhaps, many o\.ners of such properties are more or less up in arms. ''Why should we be singled out?" they ask. "Why not let the Law of Supply and De- mand bring things to their pro- per level, the same as they are doing with food and clotliint;.'' On this page we illustrate an ex- ample of why it is probably best for such restrictions to be contin- ued, at least until the Housing Shortage is less acute. This is an actual case which recently came 'l our notice, and interesting too as showing the sort of problem our Rentals Control Administration is constantly forced to try and straigh- ten out. Worried Veteran Early this January a young vet- eran of our acquaintance came to us asking for advice. "For a while, after I came back from overseas, my wife, my 8-year- old boy and myself lived in a couple of rooms in a city rooming- house," he said. "But we wanted a place of our own; and in answer to an advertisement rented a place 01. the outskirts of the Village of BLANK. (Ed. NOTE; As settle- ment of the case is still pending, any names used are fictitious.) "The rent was to be $40 a month, with the distinct understanding that if. by any chance, we stayed on for the Winter there was to be a sub stantial reduction. The landlord failed to keep any of the promises he made. I spent hundreds of dol- lars of my own trying to make the place at least liveable; and I'd spend even more if I wasn't afraid of getting thrown out on my earâ€" which might happen at any time, as the landlord wants to sell the property and-as 1 haven't any lease, I understand that a new owner could'turn me out. Now, we're into the Winter. My request for rent reduction has ^een absolutely- re- fused; and although I've searched for forty miles each way from the city where my job is, 1 can't find any place to move into. "So now, what should 1 do? Shoot the landlord â€" or just sit still and think what a sucker I am?" Good Advice As is always our custom in sueh c-i;.es, we advised him to take the matter to the proper authorities â€" to the Rentals Administration >n the city where he worked. At first he scoffed at the idea. "I know those Government Departments" he said. "I'll get a letter saying that the matter has been carefully filed, and they'll probably get around to attending to iN some time in 1953 or thereabouts." We persuaded him, however, to do as we advised; and the sceptical young veteran was astonished â€" pleasantlyâ€" at the speed with which things started moving. Within a matter of days he had been asked to write stating his case fully and freely. The tndlord had been ordered to tell his side of it; and at the present tin>e of writing there promises to be a prompt settlement of the matter â€" pos.sibly before this little tale sees the light of print. When that settlement does come, we shall report what it was. In the meantime, some of the land- lord's claimsâ€" with the tenant's comnjents on Same appended â€" may be of Interest as illustrating how widely two different viewpoints of an identical matter may vary. As the old saying put it, "It all dc pends on where yon sit." But, as stated earlier, oni pi in I pal object in commenting on suci a typical case at such length is thi> â€"to try and show that if more p-'ople, instead of indulging in use less complaints and empty wailings against the "Powers That Be' would really make use of those I'owers, the better it would be for t'lem. 4» "Everything's Up-To-Date in Kansas City"â€" or Kitchen, Bed- room and Batii all in one. With no plumbing or running water available, tiie tenant had to instal a chemical toilet in one corner of the kitchen, which is also used as sleeping quarters by the 8-year-old boy. BELOW, an outside view of what the landlord describes as a storey-and-a-half detached brick-clad building. The garage door shown is commonly left open, even in zero weather. Rentals Offices For the information of any of our readers who may be interested, Offi- ces of the Rentals Ad- ministration are main- tained in the . following Ontario centres : Barrie Brantford Cornwall Hamilton Kingston Kirkland Lake Kitchener London < North Bay Ottawa Owen Sound Peterborough St. Catharines Sault Ste. Marie Sudbury Timmins Toronto Windsor Others will be opened siiortly in Belleville and Brockville. Information i\': f rding problems of ei- ilier Landlords or Ten- iints may be had by ad- dressing any of the above, or by writing to Room 421, 73 Adelaide St West, Toronto. Vou tVUI enJo.t ^tn.vlns at The St. Begis Hotel rURONTO tier] Kooin tVitb Tub Bstb. Sbowcr anil Trlrpban* 9 Sinclc, SS.BO and opâ€" ^ Double, 14.50 op % «oofl FomI lllnini and Uaarlai Mrhtlj Sherliuurnr al L'urltOD TrI BA. 41SS ROOMS BEAUTIFULLY FURNISHED $1.50 up HOTEL METROPOLE N1AG*B.« F4LX.S Ol'P. - r.N.R 8T4TI0M •J Coughing WHEN M COlO Stuffs up the noscL causes mouth breathing, throat tickle and night coughing, use this thne-tested Vlcks treatment that goes to wotk Instantly . . . 1 way* at one«l At bedthne rub good old Vlcka VapoRub on throat, chest and back. Then watch its penetratmq- STIMULATING action bring reliet from distress. It PENETRATES to upper breath- ing passages with soothing . medicinal vapors. It STtMUUIB chest and back surfaces Ilka a warmuig, comforting poultice . . . and it keeps on working for hotirs, •von whila you tiaep â€" to ease coughing spasms, relieve muscu- lar soreness and tightnessâ€" uid bring grand comfort! Try it to- night . . . Vlcks VapoRub. « -a * «> #