Notices of deterioration issued by the City were requesting that the owner of two buildings corrects a significant amount of non-compliances (243 correctives requested in one building; and 150, in the other). The owner was arguing that these notices were abusive.
Notices of deterioration are relatively new. Their purpose is to bring recalcitrant owners to carry out the required repairs, when the health or safety of tenants can be compromised. Because the Notices of deterioration are registered with the Land Register, they can make it difficult to sell a building, to get insurance coverage or to get financing approved. Given these major impacts, the OdM submitted that this last resort approach should be used with wisdom and restraint, and only when serious situations justify it. The Direction de l’habitation welcomed our comments.
During our intervention, the Notices of deterioration under investigation were reviewed. Only 18 of the required correctives remained in the first notice, and 13 in the second one. Unfortunately, the owner did not rectify all of the remaining non-compliances that were likely to impair the health or safety of tenants. Our file was closed. The owner plans to resort to the regular courts.
