Rent strike leader gets eviction notice
Tenant says ‘we have done nothing wrong’ as case goes to landlord-tenant watchdog
An eviction battle between a landlord and one of the tenants who helped lead a successful rent strike at a Parkdale residential building earlier this year is headed to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Mark Farquharson has received two eviction notices in a span of four months, in which landlord Nuspor Investments accuses him of being verbally abusive to its staff and interfering with the safety of the staff or other tenants.
Farquharson, 40, denies the allegations and says he believes the eviction is a retaliatory measure for being one of the leading faces of the building’s rent strike that ended in March. The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1. “We are not going anywhere because we have done nothing wrong, and I will stand on my two feet as strong as I can,” said Farquharson, who lives at 1251 King St. W. with wife, Pratussa, and infant son.
He said the ordeal has brought a lot of stress to himself and his family.
“When it comes to my family, my kid was born seven weeks early,” he said as he started to break down on the phone.
“If these people think this is a game, this is not a game. This is life. My wife and kid don’t deserve this s--- that’s happening right now.”
Farquharson and his wife moved into a one-bedroom apartment in the building about four years ago. Earlier this year when the landlord applied for a 1.6-percent increase above the provincial guideline, Farquharson was among the leading faces of the tenant strike in opposition to the move.
In late March, Nuspor Investments withdrew the application, becoming the latest landlord to surrender to the pressure of organizing tenants in a burgeoning rental market.
But before the withdrawal, Farquharson and his then-pregnant wife had been served with an eviction notice, which requested them to move out of their unit by March 16.
In the notice, the landlord accused Farquharson and his wife of confronting, harassing and verbally assaulting an assistant superintendent in February. The notice says the staffer was intimidated and feared for her safety, and called the police.
A spokesperson from the Toronto police confirmed there was a report regarding this incident, and that the file has been closed.
The same notice also accuses Farquharson of verbally harassing the superintendent’s daughter and a few of her classmates while they were doing some school homework in the lobby.
Farquharson recounts both incidents differently.
In the first, he says a neighbour had told him about rumours accusing him of throwing garbage on the floor, and when he saw the assistant superintendent, he decided to ask her about it.
He denied cornering her in the elevator, saying he only stood between her and his wife, who was about four months pregnant at the time.
“She left, we left, and then we get the notice that she was scared and that she wasn’t able to finish her job,” he said.
As for the incident involving the superintendent’s daughter, Farquharson said he was simply curious about people he didn’t recognize setting up a table in the lobby, especially since it was during the rent strike.
He said the superintendent hired security several times during the rent strike to “harass us.” He found it unfair that the superintendent’s daughter and her classmates were allowed to use the lobby while tenants weren’t.
“We pay rent here, and we’re being pushed around with security?” he said. “I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works.”
The second eviction notice was served two months later, requesting Farquharson and his family to vacate the apartment by May 25.
In it, the landlord accuses Farquharson of being extremely rude to a female security guard who was asking him — together with a reporter and a cameraman who were there to interview people on strike — to get off the premises.
In an interview with the Star, Nuspor Investments spokesperson David Wills said those people were trespassing when they were asked to leave.
“We generally do not allow media to film or talk to residents without our permission as it interferes with other people’s privacy,” he said.
Wills said the tenant’s behaviour toward staff is “unacceptable.”
He said Nuspor Investment usually evicts tenants for economic reasons such as failure to pay rent, and that it’s uncommon for them to throw out a tenant because of their behaviour.
He insisted the decision had nothing to do with the rent strike.
Wills also confirmed the landlord has offered an unspecified amount of money as a moving allowance if Farquharson leaves without fighting the eviction before the board.
“You guys don’t like me that much that you’re going to pay me to leave? That’s a bully right there,” Farquharson said. “This is absolute retaliation. They’re going after me because of the rent strike.”
In support of Farquharson, Parkdale Organize, a residents’ association, has written a letter to building owner Michael Lax.
“We cannot tolerate you evicting our neighbours,” reads part of the letter, dated June 23.
“Pratussa was forced to deliver baby Auston seven weeks premature. Auston was then kept in the hospital for monitoring for the first three weeks of his life, during which time you filed for eviction,” it further reads. “Your actions have turned what should have been a fully joyous occasion into a period of distress and uncertainty.”
Parkdale Community Legal Services has also written a letter of support, urging the landlord to rescind its eviction notices.
“Threatening a tenant with eviction for reasonably using residence facilities is substantial interference,” reads part of the letter signed by staff lawyer Phyllis Abrahams.
Cases of landlords battling with tenants are becoming frequent in Toronto, said Geordie Dent, executive director for the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations.
Dent said he couldn’t speak to Farquharson’s case, but attributes this trend to the hot housing market and the landlords’ desire to “cash in” on newly available vacancies.
“We’re seeing more landlords breaking the law, trying to illegally stop tenants from organizing meetings and more people being threatened with eviction for just asserting their rights,” he said.