Proposed 10% rent hikes alarm tenants
Summerset Court owners want to implement same increase following year
Some senior tenants of a Niagara Falls apartment building are bracing for a fight as their building owner seeks a rent increase of 10 per cent — nearly five times the legal limit in Ontario.
Even worse, they say, is that he intends to raise it another 10 per cent the year after. And possibly the year after that.
According to a letter given to tenants Wednesday, if the rent increase is opposed and denied by the courts, “we will change the apartment building into condominiums.”
It has left residents of Summerset Court on Ethel Street angry and concerned about the battle ahead.
“All the tenants here are very loyal people,” said Terry Bedell, who has lived in the building for 18 years. “They pay their rent. He’s doing this to people who don’t deserve this.”
The letter stated due to “poor management” over the years, the units have become financially unstable.
“The buildings have seen huge increases in taxes, insurance, water and maintenance,” it said. “We need to increase rents to a reasonable level, still below average rents in the industry.”
It proposes rents gradually increase to $1,100 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,300 per month for two bedrooms and $1,500 per month for three bedrooms.
To achieve that level, “we propose an increase of 10 per cent starting April 1, 2021, and continue at 10 per cent each April of the following years to reach the level indicated.
“We hope we can count on your co-operation in this undertaking.”
Tenants were stunned by the letter, considering the legal limit landlords can increase rent in Ontario this year is 2.2 per cent. Many who gathered outside the front doors for an interview Thursday said the building has fallen into disrepair and they’re appalled at the letter’s threatening tone. Four-year tenant Donna Charron said she and her husband John have put $10,000 of their own money into their apartment over the years. Steven Heinrich, a tenant for 27 years, said he was told he’d need to pay half the bill for new carpeting in his unit.
Heinrich said between 1993 to 2000 there was no rent increase for his apartment. Since 2000, it has gone up by the legal limit each year.
Now, facing increases of more than $100 a month, he said many tenants have no choice but to fight back.
“It’s a very threatening letter, and it’s very insensitive at this time with the COVID-19 pandemic going on,” said Bedell. “For what it would take me 15 years to get to, he wants to get to in four years.”
Building co-owner Tony Di Giachomo, who built the units in 1989, said while new tenants are paying market value for their apartments, longtime renters need to pay more to offset costs.
The legal rent increase of 2.2 per cent is not enough, he stressed.
“This building makes very little money compared to the costs,” he said, adding that if tenants object, he will seek approval from the province’s Landlord and Tenant Board.
“They may say ‘No way,’ and then I say ‘OK, I’ll take it to court,’ ” he said. “If they say ‘No way,’ then I’m going to turn this place into condominiums. That’s their choice … they can buy the condominium, or I give them 60 days to vacate so I can sell it.”
He said expenses such as insurance and taxes have risen to unmanageable levels for the building. While he acknowledged it is a stressful time for tenants, it is also “a scary time for the owners.”
When shown the letter given to tenants, Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates said it was “unacceptable treatment” and residents should be given an apology.
“The idea that any landlord would impose a 10 per cent rent increase overnight and then again after that is shocking, but the fact that this landlord of Summerset Court Apartments demanded this in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is downright despicable,” he said.
“Our community has come together like never before during this pandemic, we’ve cared for each other and showed compassion. The actions of the owners of the Summerset Court Apartments are appalling and they should be ashamed of their actions.”