The notorious landlord accused of preying on vulnerable tenants has finally faced accountability in court. For years, Havcare Investments has been branded a "slumlord" by many, including the mayor of Toronto.
In a recent judgment, a Toronto justice of the peace rejected a joint submission by the city's lawyers and the landlord's paralegal that would have fined the company just $300,000 for ignoring countless work orders issued in 2025.
Instead, JP John Scarfe more than tripled the fine, imposing a whopping $950,000 plus a 25% victim surcharge. This decision follows another ruling last month in provincial offences court where the director of Havcare, Carolyn Krebs, was sentenced to 15 days in custody and personally fined $120,000.
The highrise at 500 Dawes Rd. has a vulnerable population of seniors and disabled tenants who have faced years of inaction with units plagued with mold, leaks, cockroaches, mice, and balcony guard rails that have completely rusted through.
JP Scarfe warned of the significant risk to life and/or permanent injury, stating that "it is only a matter of time before someone falls off a balcony and dies." The tenants' association is optimistic that the tide is finally turning against the notorious landlord.
The joint submission had proposed fines ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 for 11 of the 13 counts, and $75,000 each for the two charges relating to ignoring orders to hire an engineer to inspect and propose steps to repair the balconies and garage.
However, Scarfe called the proposed fines for the most serious counts "so low and so unhinged from reality that they would cause any reasonable person to lose confidence in our regulatory system of justice."
To address the significant danger posed by the company's actions, Scarfe fined Havcare $400,000 for each count, stating that the principles of deterrence must be applied with sufficient force to discourage Havcare from failing to maintain basic safety standards.
The lives of the tenants, many of whom are vulnerable, cannot be placed at this level of jeopardy, Scarfe concluded. The company has pleaded guilty to 13 counts of failing to comply with city orders issued by Property Standards.
The 14-storey highrise at 500 Dawes Rd. has 282 units, 90 of which are unoccupied, and generates a yearly gross income of about $2.3 million and has an assessed value of $35 million.
Carolyn Krebs, the director of Havcare, owns at least seven buildings in Toronto, and the company has a history of repeat offenses, now totaling four times.
