TENANT RESTRICTIONS

City hall may further limit the number of unrelated people who are
allowed to live in an Abbotsford home, in a bid to crack down on
property owners who are manipulating their tenants.

The discussion follows a concern that the owners of some properties,
which are describing themselves as supportive recovery homes for
recovering addicts, are not providing the services they should.

However, because they contain five or less people, they are not
breaking existing city bylaws. These rules allow five unrelated
people to live in the same place, and apply to all single family
homes in Abbotsford.

The City of Abbotsford legalized 11 homes for recovering drug addicts
in June 2008, allowing up to 10 people to live under one roof.

Despite doing that, city staff report that some recovery house
operators whose applications were denied - or who did not even apply
to the city - simply reduced their number of tenants so they did not
run afoul of bylaw officers.

One man, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said
he had been living with four men in a house described as a recovery
home. He moved out a few days ago.

Not only was the house left unmanaged - a required element of the
legal city-regulated homes - but he said the furnace in the property
has not worked for four months, and the gas was cut off two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the man said the tenants were still expected to pay their
$450 monthly rental fee which supposedly included utilities.

"But the guys who live there are too scared to say anything," he
said. "If someone telephones and complains, the owner says he has
less than half an hour to get his stuff and get out."

Don Luymes, the City of Abbotsford's general manager for strategic
and community planning, said city staff have discussed reducing the
number of unrelated people who can live in a house without the owner
obtaining a business licence from the city.

A number of Metro Vancouver municipalities have a limit of two or
three tenants, he said.

But there could be some problems with changing the rules, according
to Luymes. As well as impacting poor recovery house operators, he
said it could also hit legitimate people who house groups like
exchange students. Numerous university students who live together
could also be affected, he said.