Packed rental home operated for years after missing deadline to get license

The first warning about the unlicensed rental home came from London city hall nearly five years ago.

The next didn’t arrive until after a near-deadly blaze ripped through the overcrowded bungalow packed with students this winter, The Free Press has learned.

Both came with a deadline to license the property, under the threat of legal action. Neither was met.

How was the ball dropped, allowing more than a dozen people to rent space in a house without any regulation or inspection, before the February fire?

City hall won’t say.

“The most important thing for me is that we continue to provide safe communities for every Londoner,” said Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih, whose northeast ward includes the property at 1281 Hillcrest Ave.

But when presented with the warning letters and other documents unearthed in a Free Press freedom-of-information request, Salih remained tight-lipped.

Salih said city bylaws should continually be reviewed, but he stopped well short of assigning blame for the violations on Hillcrest.

“I’m not able to comment on this specific situation, but there’s always opportunities to enhance our bylaws and make our city safer for everyone,” he said.

The question remains: Why was the house allowed to continue operating as an unlicensed rental – in violation of city bylaws, despite warnings and the threat of legal action – and bypassing steps such as a fire safety check ordinarily conducted for homes rented to tenants?

“I certainly would be concerned the municipality is leaving itself exposed,” Valerie M’Garry, a lawyer and certified specialist in municipal law, said of possible legal implications.

It may not be an isolated incident, she said, given the strain on municipal bylaw departments.

“It probably happens a lot more commonly than people would think,” M’Garry said. “It tends to, in my experience, simply be a function of there simply aren’t enough bodies to go around, to do what ought to be done, to inspect and enforce all the municipal bylaws.”

Three women were pulled out of the burning house through a basement window around 3 am on Feb. 1, saved by two quick-witted strangers walking nearby.

Twelve other people escaped on their own. Yuvi Saini, 23, and Avi Verma, 28, were honored by city hall and the London fire department for the rescue.

“If these guys had taken longer, even two or three minutes. . . I don’t know if I would be alive,” one woman, a student from India who did not want to be identified, told The Free Press after the harrowing escape.

During the ceremony to recognize Saini and Verma, deputy fire chief Richard Hayes said “the actions of these two gentlemen that we’re here today to recognize have prevented three more (deaths) and we’re sure of that.”

Neighbors had raised the alarm about 1281 Hillcrest Ave. – including complaints filed with city hall in 2017 and again in 2021 – several times. Their concerns included overcrowding, and later, garbage and debris strewn across the property.

When asked why there was no follow-up for nearly five years – until the rescue triggered a complaint from firefighters about overcrowding – and whether any other action was taken to keep tabs on the unlicensed unit, city hall officials said little.

“For reasons of privacy, we will not be providing information related to past actions or complaints related to this property,” a city spokesperson wrote in response to Free Press questions.

The house was split into eight bedrooms and had 14 beds inside, a provincial fire investigator said in February.

No residential rental unit license – required for any house with tenants – was ever issued at 1281 Hillcrest Ave., city hall confirmed in the same statement.

An order to make the building safe was issued on Feb. 8, city hall said. That means the house cannot be inhabited without repair work to bring it up to code.

The Toronto owner, Qasim Qasim, reached by phone, refused to answer questions before hanging up Tuesday. An email with additional questions was not returned.

Property records show the house was sold to Qasim and Huma Ahmad for $522,717 in January 2021.

The house remains in disrepair, more than three months after the fire, and is still under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Windows are boarded up, and debris – including shards of glass – appears untouched around the property.

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