Beverly Hoadley never thought she’d have to move out of her Hamilton apartment of over 50 years.
But now facing a possible eviction, the 87-year-old says she’s afraid she’ll soon have no choice but to leave her beloved home.
“It’s pretty awful,” Hoadley told CBC Hamilton a week before Christmas. “I’m not sleeping at night. It’s torture.”
She was sitting in her armchair by the window, magazines and files neatly stacked within reach and the walls painted a light mint green — exactly the colour she’d requested when her one-bedroom unit was repainted, and equipped with new appliances, in recent years.
She and her husband signed the lease in 1970 for $137 a month. Her rent has slowly increased to account for inflation to $820, but she said it remains affordable even on a fixed senior’s pension.
“I thought I was going to be here until I died,” Hoadley said.
That sense of security changed after the building at 103 Emerald St. S. was sold in September, said Hoadley’s neighbour Amanda Dick, 42.
Soon after, the new landlord Endless Property Holdings sent tenants in all 29 units N13 eviction notices. London, Ont., real estate agent Jon Pilon is listed as the corporation’s only director.
He did not respond to a request for comment through his paralegal.
He requested tenants move out by the end of January so he could begin renovations including creating four units in the basement, which is currently unoccupied, as well as painting, installing new floors and replacing windows, doors, counters and appliances in all units. CBC has viewed a copy of the notice, where the plans were detailed.
“I feel terrible,” Dick said, who relies on disability support payments. “I have nowhere to go.”
She and Hoadley said they don’t understand why they need to leave the building if their units are on the fourth floor and are in good condition.
New bylaw won’t apply to case but may help others
The city is rolling out added layers of protection for tenants starting Jan. 1 in the form of the renovation licence and relocation bylaw in an attempt to stop bad-faith renovictions.
Those occur when landlords claim tenants have to leave for renovations, but then rent out their units to new tenants at higher rates — ignoring provincial legislation that mandates they must let the original tenants move back in.
Hamilton’s new bylaw won’t apply to the Emerald Street tenants who received N13s before Jan. 1, but their situation demonstrates how new municipal rules could help protect other tenants in the future.
The Emerald Street tenants, with support from tenant advocacy group ACORN, are prepared to fight the eviction at an upcoming hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board, said Dick.
“It’s all or nothing for me,” she said.
If the board rules in the landlord’s favour — that the building does have to be vacant for renovations — Pilon will be required to pay each tenant three months worth of rent.
The tenants will also have the right to move back in afterwards at the same rent rate. However, Dick and Hoadley fear those agreements won’t be honoured.
Their landlord has also proposed cash-for-keys agreements.
Dick, for example, was offered $7,000 to voluntarily leave her $850-a-month apartment. She said she declined knowing it wouldn’t go far in a city where the average one-bedroom costs double what she currently pays.
The tenants have also told their landlord they’re willing to move furniture, accommodate tradespeople and get water delivered during any potential shutoffs if it means they can stay in their homes, Dick said.
“Because we’re such a tight knit community, we are all completely willing to help each other,” she said. “None of us want to be displaced or see any of our neighbours be displaced. We made that very clear to [Pilon] and he was just like, ‘No.'”
The city’s new licence and bylaw — the first of its kind in Ontario — will add layers of accountability to the renoviction process, said Monica Ciriello, director of licensing and bylaw.
“The City of Hamilton has been committed to addressing bad-faith evictions across the city and it has been a priority of this term of council,” Ciriello said in an interview.
“So what we brought forward is something that the city is very much proud of.”
How new program will work
Beginning Jan. 1, a landlord will have one week after giving tenants N13 notices to apply to the city for a licence that costs $750, said Ciriello.
She advised tenants to contact the city when they receive the N13.
The landlord will be required to provide documentation, such as a building permit and engineering report, that says the units must be vacant for the work to be done and will be reviewed be city staff.
Once licensed, the landlord will be required to relocate tenants who plan to move back in after renovations to similar units — ideally in the same building, Ciriello said.
If a unit of a similar size, location and cost can’t be found, the landlord must provide tenants with “rent gap payments” — the cost difference between their current rent and average market rent — for as many months as they’re displaced, said Ciriello.
They’ll also need to adhere to decisions made at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
If the landlord doesn’t comply with the city’s rules, it can issue fines ranging from $400 to up to $10,000 for an individual landlord and up to $50,000 for a corporation depending on the severity or if there’s repeat offences, said Ciriello.
Depending on the type of violation, the fines may be per unit, or per building, said the city.
Hoadley and Dick said if the bylaw applied to their situation, it would be more manageable.
“It would be a struggle but it would be much easier than it is right now, and much more fair,” she said.