Organizers say 100 tenants holding in east Hamilton rent strike
Residents of Stoney Creek Towers facing eviction for withholding rent during an ongoing strike have settled some cases before the provincial tribunal that handles tenant-landlord disputes.
On Tuesday, 11 tenants with notices from landlord InterRent and property manager CLV were accompanied by a roomful of supporters at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Most of the residents had been issued L1 forms, applications to evict for not paying rent and collect amounts owing, and L9s, which are only to collect rent.
“They took a few tenants off strike and wiped out a certain amount of our strike fund,” said Campbell Young, an organizer with the Hamilton Tenants’ Solidarity Network.
The network has been collecting donations to cover the cost of $190 filing fees tenants must pay when appearing before the tribunal.
Participating has fluctuated but Young said about 100 households remain on strike. “We’ve got really solid numbers this month.”
The tenants started the rent strike May 1 to stave off the landlord’s proposed above-guideline increases (AGIs) of nearly 10 per cent and demand repairs to individual units.
Many are immigrants, who in some cases struggle with English, and older residents on fixed incomes.
The tenants maintain the increases aren’t justified, an argument the landlord rejects, saying it’s following the province’s rules for AGIs.
InterRent bought Stoney Creek Towers, near Eastgate Square, in late 2015 for $51 million from DiCenzo Management.
An InterRent/CLV spokesperson initially acknowledged a request for comment Wednesday but by early evening hadn’t yet responded with any statements. However, the affiliated firms have previously pointed to the condition of the east Hamilton buildings at the time of purchase.
“Since then we have been investing in essential and much-needed repairs to the properties. To date these investments have exceeded $17 million, as the building had not been properly maintained for many years previously,” spokesperson Roseanne MacDonald-Holtman said in a recent email.
“The work that we have done helped bring the buildings up to a basic standard of living and without these investments, it is likely the properties would not be sustainable in the long term.”
CLV has been renovating units as tenants leave and charging considerably higher rates to newcomers. In Ontario, there is no rent control between tenants.
Some at Stoney Creek Towers have accepted cash incentives to leave, but the rent strikers have stayed put, preferring to remain in their homes and not struggling to find a new place in a sharply escalating market.
In documents online, Ottawa-based InterRent makes note of its “ongoing effort to drive rents,” its “repositioning” program” and “marketing geared to the right tenant profile.”