A tenant of a mouldy trailer with broken windows and a hole in the floor is wondering why it appears there is no enforceable law in the Yukon which would require her landlord to fix things.

The landlord of the trailer says he can't understand why there's no help for landlords to collect unpaid rent from delinquent tenants who damage their property.

Takhini Trailer Court resident Marie-Sue LaBelle says she has repeatedly asked her landlord, Hans Affolter, to properly deal with mould, a broken wood stove, a hole in her bathroom floor (since fixed), broken and improperly sealed windows, and heating problems in her trailer but that little has been done about the problems.

She says after going to the authorities she was shocked and surprised to learn nothing short of a territorial court judge could require Affolter to fix them either.

'There's the smell of mould in one of the rooms (and) I've been breathing in mould from under the floor,' she says.

LaBelle received a drug prescription from a local doctor for an allergic reaction. The prescription states the reaction 'may be due to mould.'

LaBelle also says she realized the floor in her bathroom was unstable when her friend's foot went through it, creating a hole.

'My friend went through the bathroom floor.'

'The toilet has actually sunk about an inch,' she says.

Her trailer's furnace has also been experiencing problems and the wood stove had cracks, and has emitted smoke the length of her home, she points out.

'There's no help for people who don't have any money.

'I think it's outrageous that there are literally no rights in the Yukon for tenants.'

LaBelle says she is being evicted from her $750-a-month trailer following problems with a non-paying roommate and a mix-up with her social assistance cheques in which her landlord claims not to have received the full amount of rent subsidy from the Department of Health and Social Services.

Fellow Takhini Trailer Court resident Robin Quash, who also rents a trailer from Affolter for $700-a-month, says he has also experienced problems.

'When I moved in I told him my water wasn't working. He said he was too old to fix it,' Quash says, explaining he had to fix his own plumbing.

Quash says when his front bay window was smashed by an unknown person recently, Affolter refused to fix it.

'The landlord said I would have to fix it. It's going to cost me something like $300.

'I know it's a bad place, but I had no other place to stay. It's tough finding a place in Whitehorse.'

Other tenants of Affolter, who spoke to the Star on a condition of anonymity, says the approximately $800-a-month trailer they rent also has numerous problems with appliances, windows, the furnace, structural damage, a leaky roof and mould problems.

'Our utility bills are going through the roof, and there's no heat in one of (the) bedrooms,' they said. 'The floor is also very cold.'

They say they have fixed many of the problems after Affolter refused to do so.

'We've done a lot in this place ... and he hasn't done anything.'

The tenants say they are not sure what their rights are or what they can do to correct the issue.

In an interview this morning, Affolter said while some of the 40 rental units he has in the city do have damage, that damage was caused by tenants, many of whom had not paid their rent.

He says he was familiar with problems in LaBelle's and Quash's trailers, but they too were behind in their rent by about $500 and $1,400 respectively.

Affolter says while he did receive some money from social services officials, he hadn't received LaBelle's portion of the rent and that's why he evicted her.

'She thinks she's only responsible for half the rent. I don't deal with two or three people, I only collect from one person. I'm not chasing after two or three people.'

He says while Quash was also behind in his rent, he wasn't evicting him because he had children.

Problems he's experienced with damaged trailers and rental units weren't limited to Quash and LaBelle, he notes.

About 60 per cent of his tenants are on social assistance, 50 per cent of his tenants don't pay their full rent and about 75 per cent of his properties experience damage after tenants leave that he's had to pay for, he says.

'Social assistance pays about two-thirds of their rent, but tenants don't pay their share,' he says, explaining the rent he receives from the government, which does not include a damage deposit, was often just enough to pay for his operating expenses.

'How are you supposed to pay for these things when you haven't been able to collect rent money? It comes out of my pocket.

'I'm carrying the government. I'm paying money out of my pocket to subsidize the government.'

He thinks it is also unfair to be expected to pay taxes on uncollected rent.

'I'm not paying that. They can come and audit my books if they want to, but I'm not paying.'

Affolter believes it is time for the government to increase the level of social assistance payments in the territory and to revise landlord/tenant legislation.

'They don't give these people enough to live on. Social assistance payments have not been looked at in years.'

Under the current landlord tenant laws, the only way he could try to collect unpaid rent was to take his delinquent tenants to court.

'Even if the judge rules in my favour, you can't get blood from a stone,' he says.

'There's no laws to protect landlords, absolutely nothing.'

Responding to questions from the Star Thursday, Fiona Charbonneau, the manager of the Department of Community Services consumer services branch, said there was no way the government could force a landlord to fix problems in their rental units.

'We're responsible for the residential portion of the landlord/tenant act. We're here to provide information to landlords and tenants on their rights and responsibilities under the act.'

Charbonneau says while there are requirements under the Yukon Landlord and Tenant Act for landlords to fix and maintain the properties they are renting to other people, she wasn't aware of any maintenance, safety or occupancy standards in the territory that could be enforced.

'I don't have any knowledge that there have been any (standards) established in any other areas and certainly the landlord and tenant act doesn't have any.

'There are no enforcement provisions in terms of forcing a landlord to comply with health, safety and maintenance standards or laws that might be out there established by law.'

Charbonneau says her department has the power to provide mediation and arbitration services but those services have to be requested in writing by both the landlord and the tenant.

'The preference has been to seek a judge and go to court,' she said.

Charbonneau feels it is important for both tenants and landlords to understand they are entering a business arrangement and information on renting a property is available at her office on the third floor of the territorial courthouse on Second Avenue

Interested people can also review information available on her department's website or by calling 667-5111.

There are also cross-departmental discussions with other offices such as the environmental health services branch of the Department of Health and Social Services.

Lynn Richards, the manager of environmental health, says there is very little her department can do about forcing a landlord to deal with issues such as mould, broken glass or holes in the floor either.

'The people over in consumer services, they quite commonly, when they hear of health issues, send the people our way to talk. We do often get results from the courtesy call.

'Under the public health regulations, which outline regulations for dwellings, it is clear that it is for unsanitary conditions and doesn't address broken glass, holes in the floor (or) safety issues,' she says.

'Public health inspectors were once sanitary inspectors. So, we're looking at sewage, garbage, refuse things that would create communicable disease.

'With dwellings, this is legislation that was enacted in 1958.'

Richards says while the legislation directing her department does not allow it to deal with many of the problems in a rental unit in a legal sense, environmental health officers try their best to give both landlords and tenants as much information as they can.

In terms of municipal bylaws, Whitehorse city manager Dennis Shewfelt says there isn't much the city can do with regards to landlord and tenant situations either.

'No, there are none,' Shewfelt states when asked if the city has any standards it can use to force landlords to fix up their rental units.

'There's nothing anywhere that I can think of.'

Shewfelt says while building inspectors go into residential dwellings when a building is being constructed or renovated, they can only go into homes on other occasions if they are invited by the building owners in the case of homes or by the landlords in the case of rental units.

Building inspectors, Shewfelt adds, cannot enter rental units at the request of tenants.

Shewfelt says the only department in the city which can enter a building without the consent of a landlord is the fire department.

Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks says his department is also limited in what it can do.

'In the case of mould, broken windows etc., no, we wouldn't go in,' he says.

'We can be invited into places by the occupant of a building for things related to fire. For things related to safety such as holes in the floor, there is nothing we can do.'