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Why doesn’t Surrey fine the landlords?

Why does Surrey have to go through the court system to get the worst owners to comply with bylaws and then even balks at doing this?

So much was said in the recent series (“Suite Stress,” which launched in The Leader May 24) about Surrey’s inability to enforce the suite bylaws and the multiple suite bylaws.

We heard from owners stuck in these neighbourhoods asking for the bylaws to be enforced as they should be since we pay the taxes and therefore the salaries of our elected officials.

The way I look at it, yes people need affordable rental housing, but the affordable housing that is provided in Surrey through illegal suites and multiple suites is at the expense of law-abiding, fair share tax-paying citizens that want to enjoy their lives and their neighbourhoods and have worked hard to do so.

They do not deserve to live in a congested mess that is caused by the city’s inability to enforce the suite bylaws.

Tell me, what is wrong with fining landlords daily as they do in Delta? Why does Surrey have to go through the court system to get the worst owners to comply and then even balks at doing this? This is ridiculous.

And if you can’t afford to live here, be it in the home you purchased (without renting suites or multiple suites) or to rent, then it may be time to move elsewhere. Common sense.

Can someone in Surrey step up and get this issue to a vote in the neighbourhoods as to whether they want to allow multiple suites? I would, but I have no idea how to get the ball rolling or who will listen.

Because as of yet, no one has.

Someone do something.

 

Crystal Litonjua