Contract Monitoring
Contract Monitoring Program
Each Habitat funded home is assigned a Residential Services Inspector. The Residential Services Inspector works with the boarding home owner and operator to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of the contract and that tenants are receiving the services to which they are entitled under the contract. Tenants who have complaints or questions about their entitlements may bring them to the Residential Services Inspector. The assigned Residential Services Inspector meets with the home operator regularly and attends house meetings with housing support workers from either Habitat Services or Cota.
The Residential Services Inspector also makes scheduled and unscheduled visits to the homes to inspect the building and nutritional standards as listed in the Habitat Services contract requirements. They check to see that the house is in good repair, is serving first quality food and that the tenants are receiving the supplies to which they are entitled. The Habitat Residential Services Inspector ensures that the home owners/operators address identified deficiencies and that proper pest control is in place.
Tenants have tenancy rights under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). The RTA is provincial legislation that outlines the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords. The Habitat Residential Services Inspectors monitor owners’ adherence to the RTA when dealing with tenancy issues. If there are issues of concern between the tenant and home owner/operator, then a Tenant/Operator Dispute Meeting is held. The meeting includes the owner/operator, the tenant, the Residential Services Inspector assigned to the house and the tenant’s support. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the issues and look for possible solutions in order to maintain housing. In most cases, these meetings have resulted in agreements between the home owners/operators and tenants that have avoided evictions. The Tenant/Operator Dispute Meeting process must be followed by all owners/operators.
