Windowless Bedroom - Lease Termination

[lah08]

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
For some lunatic reason I managed to be persuaded/swindled into renting a bedroom in a condo that has no window. I have lived here since March 1st and have hated it since March 1st. Can somebody please counsel on these questions:

1. Is building code violation (including egress) grounds for early termination of lease
2. Does my bedroom setup constitute violation (as per below).

(NOTE: my lease does not state "bedroom" anywhere it merely outlines the premises as the apt address)

BEDROOM a.k.a. CAVE
Bedroom itself is quite large and amounts to about 16' x 16' with a walk-in closet 8' x 3.5' (give or take). There's no sunlight because the would-be "window" is a blocked-off solarium that is rented by somebody else. The division between the rooms is a piece of thick pink foamboard stuff with a white sheet thumbtacked over it on this side of the glass solarium sliding doors. Objective was to diminish sound I believe (although it hardly does anything). On a bright sunny day a blurry haze of daylight shines under the hallway door and faint outlines of sunshine can be seen around the edges of my pink foam bedroom wall/divider. No lights = solid darkness. (I slept for 36 hours straight when I first moved in it was so dark!)

There is one DIRECT door entrance to the bedroom from the hallway and one INDIRECT entrance to the bedroom through the walk-in closet via bathroom (although this door locks from the OUTSIDE, i.e. it's not a guaranteed exit path). From what I've read, however, the doorways would not count as a means of EGRESS in the first place because they do not lead to outside of the building or suite. Can someone please advise??

APT
1. Den bedroom - no windows
2. Solarium bedroom - opens directly onto kitchen (pretty sure this is violation too!)
3. Bathroom (adjoining my walk-in closet and hallway)
4. Master bedroom with ensuite bathroom - occupied by couple
5. Laundry/utility room
6. Small kitchen
7. Living/dining GIGANTIC space

LEASE TERMINATION
I signed a 12 month lease starting March 1st, 2008 and desperately need to get out of it. Word from my housemates is that it's going to be tough to get my landlord to consent because the condo Board is unhappy with so many people living in the apt to begin with let alone the high-turnover rate. I thus want legal threat to back me up in the event that he doesn't willingly let me terminate my lease early.

LAW
In my research of the Ontario Building Code I seem to find two clauses that make my LL renting of the room as sleeping quarters illegal: (1) all designated sleeping areas must have a window, (2) there must be a means of egress.

JUST FOR FUN:
Additional reasons for wanting to move include
(a) unsafe location around hookers and junkies that my landlord said was never a problem for him or his female housemates - I was accosted by a homeless drunk today who slapped my ass
(b) mice infestation - 6 dead and counting in 6 weeks
(c) I honestly don't remember my landlord telling me that the couple living in the master bdrm ensuite are NEWLYWEDS.
Seriously. Fact is stranger than fiction!

** Thanks for your help with this - I have more than learned my lesson in hasty desperate rentals!

[OHlandlord]

Sorry, but I don't believe this violates code. You state you have glass solarium sliding doors with a sheet thumb tacked over it on your side. I suggest you remove the sheet on your side and place privacy window film over it. (You could ask the couple on the other side to do the same to ensure both of your privacy.) This can be bought cheaply at any hardware or big box store. This would give you light and privacy at the same time. (It can be peeled off later when you leave.) The sliding door no doubt would count as a window. Additionally, there are 2 doors leading out of your unit. (Egress normally doesn't have to be to the outside, just outside of your unit. If it meant to the outside, no high rise apartment building could be built. All doors there exit to a central hallway.) You need to request a key to the other means of egress through the closet.

I don't understand your list under APT. Do you have a kitchen, or kitchen privileges? Do you have a bathroom or access to one? If they are in a separate area, you rent a sleeping room not an apartment, and are covered under those laws not residential unit laws. (It appears that most of the list pertains to someone else's unit, not yours.) You saw the unit before you rented it and the LL will say you accepted it as is.

Your lease would appear to be valid since you saw and accepted the unit as is when you signed. Your only way out would be to check with the zoning board or the HOA to see if your unit is a legal unit. If it deemed to be illegal, be prepared to move very quickly as you will not be permitted to remain. You may have only a couple days at most to be out.

As for the other issues, you need to send certified letter to your LL requesting exterminator services and a key to the other doorway (for emergencies). Send this return receipt requested and ask that he contact you to tell you when the exterminator will arrive. Keep a copy of the letter. As for the newlyweds, he is under no obligation to divulge who other tenants are. If they distrurb you, you should report it to the lL or call the police about the noise. It was your responsibility to do due diligence to research the area to be sure it was to your liking. (He cannot control crime - he's not the police. Call the police if you see a crime.) He is not responsible for the neighborhood, only his building or units. Good luck.

Thanks for your reply.

3 oustanding issues of concern:
1. Lease
2. Windows
3. Egress

****LEASE****
"Tenant shall give a minimum of two (2) months notice to terminate this lease."
Lease term of 12 month(s), commencing March 1, 2008.
> Does the above clause mean that I can give 2 months notice to terminate the lease before term? Or does the notice still only apply to termination of lease on March 1, 2009?


1. WINDOW
There must be a window in every room used for sleeping (separate from egress issue: doesn't have to be operable as secondary egress if there are working sprinklers in unit)

> My "window" is a wall of solarium glass including sliding doors but this is completely covered with thick pink insulation slabs (acoustic insulation?) that block ALL light and access - this insulation is additionally covered by a sheet and furthermore blocked by three standing heavy bookcases that cover the majority of the length of the wall. Using privacy window film is moot because for all intensive purposes I have not a window but a partition flanked by solarium glass.

2. EGRESS
There must be two means of egress unless the suite has working sprinklers.

> I don't believe my apartment has working sprinkers - furthermore, there are windows in all of the other rooms which are fully openable from the inside and, with the exception of the kitchen, are large enough to serve as emergency exits (3rd floor of building) in case of fire.
> 1. Main Bedroom Door (bedroom-apartment hallway) = Main Egress
> 2. Closet Door (bedroom-closet-bathroom-apartment) cannot be considered egress as it is through a bathroom which is subject to locking (it can ONLY be locked and opened from bathroom side, i.e. not via 2-way key access)
> 3. Solarium Door (bedroom-solarium-window/kitchen) cannot be considered egress as (a) solarium occupied/controled by someone else (although if we were considered a family unitl this clause might be null) (b) the sliding doors are not in use as such and are fully blocked by insulation partition and heavy bookshelves.


What do you think??



-----Supporting Legal Compliance Regulation----------------------------

WINDOWS
per Building Code Act, 1992 - O. Reg. 350/06

3.7.2. Windows
3.7.2.1. Window Areas
(1) Except as provided in Sentences (2) and (3) or otherwise permitted, every room used for sleeping in any building, and every principal room such as living room, dining room or combination of them in dwelling units shall be provided with windows having areas conforming to Part 9, except that Article 9.7.1.3 does not apply.

EGRESS
per Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour: Egress Requirements for Single Family Dwellings and other Residential Properties(Cottages, Homes, & Apartment Buildings).

In any dwelling or living unit of two rooms or more, every sleeping room and every living area shall have at least one primary means of escape, and one secondary means of escape.

The primary means of escape shall be a door stairway or ramp providing a means of unobstructed travel to the outside of the dwelling unit at street or ground level.

Secondary means of escape shall be one of the following:
1) A door, stairway, passage, or hall, providing a way of unobstructed travel to the outside of the dwelling at street or ground level, that is independent of and remote from the primary means of escape.
2) A passage through an adjacent non-lockable space independent of and remote from the primary means of escape to any approved means of escape.
3) An outside window or door operable from the inside with out the use of tools and providing a clear opening of not less than 20 inches (50.8 cm) in width, 24 inches (60.1 cm) in height, and 5.7 square feet (.53 sq metre`s) of clear opening area. The bottom of the opening shall not be more than 44 inches (112 cm) from the floor. Such means of escape shall be acceptable if:
A) The window is with in 20 feet (6.1 metres) of the grade, or
B) The window is directly accessible to the Fire Department rescue apparatus as approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
C) The window or door opens onto an exterior balcony.

EXCEPTION: A Secondary Means Of Escape Is Not Required:
1) The bedroom or living room has a door leading directly to the outside of the building at or to grade level: OR
2) If the dwelling unit is protected through out by an approved automatic sprinkler system.
No required path of travel from any room to the outside shall be through another room or apartment not under the immediate control of the occupant of the first room or through a bathroom or other space subject to locking.

----------------------------------------

Thanks for your reply.

3 oustanding issues of concern:
1. Lease
2. Windows
3. Egress

****LEASE****
"Tenant shall give a minimum of two (2) months notice to terminate this lease."
Lease term of 12 month(s), commencing March 1, 2008.
> Does the above clause mean that I can give 2 months notice to terminate the lease before term? Or does the notice still only apply to termination of lease on March 1, 2009?


1. WINDOW
There must be a window in every room used for sleeping (separate from egress issue: doesn't have to be operable as secondary egress if there are working sprinklers in unit)

> My "window" is a wall of solarium glass including sliding doors but this is completely covered with thick pink insulation slabs (acoustic insulation?) that block ALL light and access - this insulation is additionally covered by a sheet and furthermore blocked by three standing heavy bookcases that cover the majority of the length of the wall. Using privacy window film is moot because for all intensive purposes I have not a window but a partition flanked by solarium glass.

2. EGRESS
There must be two means of egress unless the suite has working sprinklers.

> I don't believe my apartment has working sprinkers - furthermore, there are windows in all of the other rooms which are fully openable from the inside and, with the exception of the kitchen, are large enough to serve as emergency exits (3rd floor of building) in case of fire.
> 1. Main Bedroom Door (bedroom-apartment hallway) = Main Egress
> 2. Closet Door (bedroom-closet-bathroom-apartment) cannot be considered egress as it is through a bathroom which is subject to locking (it can ONLY be locked and opened from bathroom side, i.e. not via 2-way key access)
> 3. Solarium Door (bedroom-solarium-window/kitchen) cannot be considered egress as (a) solarium occupied/controled by someone else (although if we were considered a family unitl this clause might be null) (b) the sliding doors are not in use as such and are fully blocked by insulation partition and heavy bookshelves.


What do you think??



-----Supporting Legal Compliance Regulation----------------------------

WINDOWS
(per building code act)

3.7.2. Windows
3.7.2.1. Window Areas
(1) Except as provided in Sentences (2) and (3) or otherwise permitted, every room used for sleeping in any building, and every principal room such as living room, dining room or combination of them in dwelling units shall be provided with windows having areas conforming to Part 9, except that Article 9.7.1.3 does not apply.

EGRESS
(per code summary)

In any dwelling or living unit of two rooms or more, every sleeping room and every living area shall have at least one primary means of escape, and one secondary means of escape.

The primary means of escape shall be a door stairway or ramp providing a means of unobstructed travel to the outside of the dwelling unit at street or ground level.

Secondary means of escape shall be one of the following:
1) A door, stairway, passage, or hall, providing a way of unobstructed travel to the outside of the dwelling at street or ground level, that is independent of and remote from the primary means of escape.
2) A passage through an adjacent non-lockable space independent of and remote from the primary means of escape to any approved means of escape.
3) An outside window or door operable from the inside with out the use of tools and providing a clear opening of not less than 20 inches (50.8 cm) in width, 24 inches (60.1 cm) in height, and 5.7 square feet (.53 sq metre`s) of clear opening area. The bottom of the opening shall not be more than 44 inches (112 cm) from the floor. Such means of escape shall be acceptable if:
A) The window is with in 20 feet (6.1 metres) of the grade, or
B) The window is directly accessible to the Fire Department rescue apparatus as approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
C) The window or door opens onto an exterior balcony.

EXCEPTION: A Secondary Means Of Escape Is Not Required:
1) The bedroom or living room has a door leading directly to the outside of the building at or to grade level: OR
2) If the dwelling unit is protected through out by an approved automatic sprinkler system.
No required path of travel from any room to the outside shall be through another room or apartment not under the immediate control of the occupant of the first room or through a bathroom or other space subject to locking.

----------------------------------------

[OHlandlord]

The first clause means you must give 2 months of notice prior to leaving at the expiration of the lease. So if you will leave on March 1, you need to give notice by Jan. 1st. After that, the lease will either convert to a month to month (and you still need to give 2 months notice prior to moving out), or it renew automatically for the same term as the original (one year). Read through the lease and see which it will do. If nothing is noted, it normally converts to a month to month.

If the insulation cannot be removed from the sliding door or you cannot move the bookshelf in front, you can contact code enforcement and request the LL be cited for this. Have you attempted to address this with the LL first, and suggest that he just use privacy film so some light an enter your room? Only if he does not comply with code enforcement can you terminate (and if that happens, code enforcement will probably terminate it for you by insisting you move immediately.)

The bathroom door can be converted to allow it to be a form of egress by simply changing the lock to a deadbolt (keyed on your side, turn knob on the other side) or a entry lock (keyed your side, push button their side). If you had control of the lock (just as you have control of the lock on your primary door) this could be a way to escape in an emergency. Why not suggest this to the LL? It is a simple and cheap solution to this.

I really think the best thing you can do it to politely approach your LL for solutions to these problems. You cannot simply terminate for them. You can get the building inspector/code enforcement to make him fix these things easily enough. But he may be unaware of the problems. Why not just approach him and ask if you two could work out a solution. Other than the lack of light and the easily fixed bathroom door, does the unit suit your needs? (NO, you can't do anything about the neighbors, no matter where you live.)