Global Courant 2023-04-14 14:00:18
Just three days ago, Ken Sutton wasn’t sure if he would be able to stay at his home on Primrose St. in Dartmouth, NS, or if he would have to pack up his life and look for a new place to live.
But a rental decision he received on Tuesday means his future is no longer up in the air.
Sutton’s landlord had applied to have his lease terminated for renovations, but the application was rejected due to concerns that the landlord was acting in bad faith.
Sutton said he is thrilled to be able to stay in his home, and hopes the decision sends a signal.
“You can’t do this to people,” he said. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, we’re buying this building… Here’s the plan. We’ll notify them and send them all’.”
Sutton is one of several tenants at 71 Primrose St. who received some good news this week. In January, tenants of the building’s 23 units were told to leave. They were offered compensation and six agreed to move.
The rest stayed and fought their eviction through the Residential Tenancies Program.
Decision sets a precedent
Joanne Hussey, a community legal officer with the Dalhousie Legal Aid service, said situations like this are a common symptom of Nova Scotia’s housing crisis.
“I think this is a pattern we’ve seen over and over again,” Hussey said. “If you look through the names of certain companies, this is their business model. They buy smaller buildings like this one that need some cosmetic renovations. They use that as a way to evict tenants and raise prices.”
Joanne Hussey of Dalhousie Legal Aid represented nearly all of the tenants who decided to stay in the building and challenge their evictions. (Robert Guertin/CBC)
In March 2021, the ban on renovations — evicting tenants to renovate a building and then increasing the rent charged to new tenants — was lifted as the county’s state of emergency ended. However, new tenant protections were added to the Housing Rental Act.
The protections include giving the tenant at least three months’ notice and requiring the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three months’ rent as compensation, depending on the size of the building. If the landlord does not comply with the new rules or is found to be acting in bad faith, the tenant may be awarded additional compensation.
The landlord must also demonstrate why the tenants cannot be present during the repairs.
Hussey said not many decisions have been made to test the new legislation, and that this is one of the first times a mass denunciation has been overruled.
“I hope what it says is that landlords are expected to play by the rules,” Hussey said. “They are not entitled to a rent that is three times as much, even if their rent is low, they still have to comply with the Housing Rent Act and if they don’t, they are prevented from doing those things.”
The rent would have almost tripled
The landlord, AMK Barrett Investments, owned by Adam Barrett, bought the Primrose St. building in mid-2022 and argued that it should be vacated to make repairs to kitchen cabinets, floors and bathrooms, among other things.
According to the Residential Tenancy Order, AMK Barrett Investments issued residential planning permission for the repairs, but also claimed that the building has mold and plumbing and heating issues that would make it “not possible for anyone to live in the unit while this extensive work is being performed”. being completed.”
Sutton said his apartment had just been renovated when he moved in just three years ago and had no mold or leaks.
“New bathroom, new shower, all new faucets, new toilet, everything,” he said. “There’s no reason we should leave the apartment because repairs need to be made. There are no repairs here.”
The repairs in the building are ongoing while the tenants and landlord await the decision on the rental of housing. (Robert Guertin/CBC)
Residential tenant Gerard Neal wrote in his decision that there is no evidence of water or mold problems, and many of the problems the landlord cited had been repaired in the past 10 years.
“Further investigation … indicates that there is no requirement or necessity for the landlord to terminate the lease,” Neal wrote in his decision. “I don’t believe the landlord is acting in good faith.”
Neal also noted that the landlord’s testimony showed that the post-renovations plan was to raise base rents in the building from about $600 to more than $1,500 a month.
“That’s so crazy,” Sutton said. “This apartment is like a brand new apartment and we pay $690… And I walk out the door and you walk in and they charge you $1,500.”
Response landlord
BlackBay Real Estate Group, owned by AMK Barrett Investments Inc., emailed CBC a statement saying they plan to upgrade “one of Halifax’s most dilapidated buildings.”
BlackBay’s chief operations officer, Greg Smith, said the repairs focus on energy efficiency and accessibility, and the company is committed to retaining 60 percent of the building as affordable housing.
“It is critical to ensure that our properties are not only safe and habitable, but also modern, energy efficient and environmentally friendly,” Smith wrote.
“If we become the owner of a property that is more than 50 years old and has not undergone significant renovations or upgrades during its lifetime, we are compelled to make the required and substantial renovations to meet these standards.”
Hussey said the landlord has the right to appeal the housing lease decision, but Sutton and the other tenants plan to continue fighting to stay.
