Rent strikers told to pay arrears, holding out for deal
A handful of rent strikers at Stoney Creek Towers have been ordered to cough up what’s owed.
But strike captain Linda Habibi says the plan is to withhold payments again next month to coincide with a final clash with their landlord over hikes.
“We have to be strong. We need them to talk to us,” Habibi said before entering the Landlord and Tenant Board on King Street West with a throng of supporters.
The 77 Delawana Dr. resident wants property manager CLV and owner InterRent to hash out an agreement with the rent strikers rather than litigate on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
But the landlord says the proper place to resolve the case is the provincial tribunal. “The LTB oversees and arbitrates any disputes between landlords and tenants,” CLV spokesperson Roseanne MacDonald-Holtman said in an email Tuesday.
Since May, the strikers have demanded the landlord make repairs to individual units and withdraw its application for an above-the-guideline increase (AGI). They are pressuring CLV/ InterRent to back off from its proposed AGI of six per cent over two years. The hike amounts to nearly 10 per cent when combined the province’s annual guideline of 1.8 per cent.
On Tuesday, board adjudicator Sean Henry ordered a few strikers to pay unpaid rent for May and June. Counting a $190 filing fee, this amounts to about $1,700 each.
If tenants don’t comply within 11 days, the landlord could go after them through a collection process, Henry said.
Ottawa-based CLV and InterRent have applied for the AGI to cover the cost of work at
the four-building complex in Riverdale, a lower-income area with many immigrants just east of Centennial Parkway.
Provincial rules say costs must be “extraordinary” and not be for regular maintenance or cosmetic upgrades to qualify for an AGI.
MacDonald-Holtman said the
landlord has followed the rules. Recovering costs through an AGI for such things as roofs, windows and boilers is “standard industry practice.”
The tool also “encourages the long-term maintenance and preservation of Ontario’s aging rental housing stock.”
The rent strikers contend their landlord is wrongly trying to stick them with a $1.6-million tab for common area work, including interior lighting, hallway paint and lobby upgrades.
The Hamilton Tenants Solidarity Network has helped mount the campaign. Fundraising has generated more than $15,000 to support the strike and cover the $190 filing fees.
There’s still “quite a bit” left in the war chest, said Campbell Young, an organizer with the network, said Tuesday.
The November hearing to decide the AGI dispute is to be held at the Royal Canadian Legion at 435 Limeridge Rd. E.
Habibi predicted an unfavourable ruling would spell disaster. “Hamilton is going to have a tent city — a big tent city.”