Residents of a Chatham apartment building say they have been told they need to leave because the building has asbestos and needs major renovations.
Earlier this month, residents of the Terrace Forty building on Witherspoon Street, were served an N-13 document stating they would need to vacate during eight months of upgrades.
40 residents were also provided the option of an N-11, commonly referred to as cash for keys, and offered $5,000 to end their tenancy.
Ontario rules say that if a landlord renovates a unit, it must be offered back to the same tenant at the same rent once the work is done. But in reality, many tenants don’t return because they’ve already had to find somewhere else to live while the work is happening.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Jeff Wilkins, housing stability worker, Chatham-Kent Legal Clinic, said 90 per cent of residents are seniors.
He said he has met with them to inform them of their rights in what he's calling a 'renoviction'.
"They are trying to scare these people so that they will move out of their units. That's just plain and simple. These units do not need to be renovated. They are nice units and nobody asked for the renovations," Wilkins said.
Wilkins said the rent at Terrace Forty on average is $850 a month all-inclusive, adding the landlord could raise rent as high as $2,500 on any voluntarily vacated apartments.
This strategy is not something new according to Wilkins, who said it's becoming more common for investment groups to search out low rent apartments.
"These guys that are doing this right now literally incorporated their business in September of last year, bought the building in December and now three weeks later, they're trying to evict everybody," Wilkins said.
He said serving the notices was not illegal, but called it deceptive.
"In the N-13, they don't even talk about remediating asbestos. It's just installing new kitchens, repair floors, bathrooms, plumbing and electrical systems. When we did try to reach the gentlemen, Rex Brondial, who is the director of the business, I could not get ahold of him, other people in the press could not get ahold of him. That number just doesn't go through," he said.
AM800 News could not confirm whether Rex Brondial was the director of the business. AM800 has made multiple attempts to contact a number listed for the rental property, but has not received a response.
Wilkins has met with residents twice now and said 85 per cent expressed to him they do not want to leave, including 96-year-old Vera Studnicka.
"You kind of panic a bit because at my age I don't want to move. I'm 96 so it's not easy," she said.
Studnicka has called Terrace Forty home for 31 years.
"It has its ups and downs, but, otherwise I've been very content here. It's kind of central and a very quiet building, very nice," she said.
She said she believed this could be a scare tactic and says the neighbours she's spoken with do not want to leave.
"We're all seniors in here. It isn't a seniors building but, you know, mostly my floor I'm the oldest, and I think maybe 60 is the youngest," she said.
Studnicka said the $5,000 being offered wouldn't go very far in today's market.