Human Trafficking in Rental Properties

Last newsletter, you told me:

You told me you wanted to hear directly from an Adjudicator when I asked you “who should we bring in next time?” Let’s make it happen.

👩🏻 Top insight to share with you, Co-Founder Weiting

There was an article shared by the Rental Housing Business (RHB) magazine late 2024 that caught my attention.

It was about Human Trafficking.

It’s relevant to all of us because it’s happening in rental homes. I’ve seen court orders cross my desk that speak to human trafficking.

Per Public Safety Canada:

“Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is often described as a modern-day form of slavery.

It involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour.

Human trafficking is a heinous crime that exploits the most vulnerable.

The victims, who are mostly women and children, are deprived of their normal lives and compelled to provide labour or sexual services, through a variety of coercive practices, often for the direct profit of their perpetrators.”

The hard truth is that this is only a partial picture due to the hidden and underreported nature of the crime. Factors such as victims' reluctance to come forward and difficulties in identifying victims contribute to this underreporting.

How can you help?

Human trafficking is not just a criminal issue - it’s a community issue. For us in Canada, housing providers, landlords, and renters are on the frontlines to help. Understanding the signs and creating safe, stable housing environments can help prevent exploitation and support survivors.

For housing providers, when you’re conducting tenant screening processes, make sure you are doing background checks such as but not limited to: criminal records (where/if allowed in your Province), verifying rental history (e.g. check for factual sources of rent history reporting), verification of income (e.g. pull credit report through SingleKey), and identity verification (e.g. Drivers license check in Ontario).

Be on high alert if someone shows up with 6 months rent in advance, paid in cash, and a high end car.

For neighbours or renters, some warning signs of trafficking in a building shared by the RHB are:

• Unusual occupancy patterns, such as too many people living in a unit or high numbers of visitors at odd times

• Very few personal belongings within the unit, indicating it is not being treated as a home

• School-aged children not attending school during regular hours

• Significant age differences between the people in the unit

• Changes made to the unit (e.g., interior locks on doors or windows) that suggest someone is being confined

• Someone other than tenant making rent payments in cash or with prepaid credit cards

Pages 14-22 of the RHB shares a whole lot more on all of this.

Support for Victims and Survivors

There is support for victims and survivors.

For example: the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT), a non-government organization, launched the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline that operates 24/7, 365 days a year. It connects victims and survivors of human trafficking to law enforcement, emergency shelters, transition housing, long-term supports, counselors, and a range of other trauma-informed services. Services are offered in more than 200 languages and are accessible to the deaf, hard-of-hearing and non-verbal.

What happens if you notice something unusual?

When the community wants to anonymously report a case of human trafficking, the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association National Tipline can be reached at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477).

Per RHB, information that is helpful for law enforcement is a summary of the situation, date/time/location of the event, photo/video or description of people involved (e.g. height, weight, age, hair colour, clothing), spoken names or nicknames, description and license plates of vehicles.

📊 Community Polling

If you’re curious, this is the current outlook across Canada on rental prices report by Rentals.ca!

I hope I get to meet you one day.

Co-Founder Vishal and I love meeting Openroom fans in person and/or virtually. Thank you to those who came out to the panel discussion this past week organized by the Hamilton & District Apartments Association (HDAA).

That’s it for now - cheers to a future of a transparent and connected rental ecosystem.

Weiting Bollu
Mom, Rental Housing Provider, Rental Housing Advocate, Educator, and Openroom Co-Founder & CEO