Tenants’ group frustrated as ‘toothless’ renoviction by law moves ahead

London tenants are a key step closer to getting more protection from renovictions under a bylaw approved by a city council committee Monday.

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But that step doesn’t go far enough for many tenants and advocates, who argue that without requiring landlords to find accommodations or top-up rent for tenants evicted during renovations, people will be forced into homelessness.

“A toothless byaw is not going to solve the problem,” Claire Wittnebel, a member of ACORN holding advocacy group, told committee members. “It’s not going to help the city budget when it comes to homelessness. It won’t help people stay off the streets.”

Provincial rules giving only three months rent to tenants displaced by renovations hardly provides the money to find a new place, said Michelle Jollymore, who faces eviction in October from 1280 Webster St., the site of several battles over alleged renovictions.

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“We do not have money for first and last month’s rent. Nor can we afford any of the rents being advertised,” Jollymore said.

Their pleas resonated with two councillors, Ward 1’s Hadleigh McAlister and Ward 6’s Sam Trosow, who pushed politicians to delay a decision until city staff come back with more information about the top-ups and accommodations.

“These are tools that we absolutely need to look at,” McAlister said. “This is real teeth behind this. This is necessary to keep people housed.”

But the majority of committee spoke out against delays or adding in the two measures, saying delays could jeopardize the bylaw being approved in time for funding from the multi-year budget, coming in late October.

Under provincial law, tenants have the right to return to their unit at the original rent if a landlord makes renovations that force them to live elsewhere.

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But in Ontario’s tight rental market, unscrupulous landlords have used what’s called N13 notices to force out long-term tenants, and when the tenant is forced to find somewhere to live, re-list a unit for a much higher rent.

“I feel we have to tighten the noose on N13s. We need to get ahead of the game,” committee chair and Ward 13 Coun. David Ferreira said.

London’s new bylaw will require landlords to obtain a license for an N13 at a cost of $600.

Tenants will receive an information package, prepared by the city, that includes details about their rights to return to the renovated units with the same rents they were paying. The process for claiming those rights can be confusing for tenants, a city staff report noted.

The landlord must also provide an affidavit from a qualified professional that the work being done is necessary and requires vacancy.

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Landlords would face penalties if they don’t follow the steps, such as $1,000 for failing to give a tenant the N13 information package with the notice and $2,500 for advertising the renovated unit in an attempt to get a new tenant.

The City of Hamilton is including top-ups and finding accommodations as part of its new bylaw, coming into effect next year.

But London staff argued against the extra costs of hiring staff to handle the expected large number of landlords seeking exemptions from finding temporary accommodations.

With an apartment vacancy rate in the city of 1.7 per cent, “it would be hard to prove that there were adequate opportunities for temporarily housing displaced tenants,” city staff said in a report.

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That’s the point, and why accommodations and top-ups must be part of a bylaw, said ACORN’s Robin Slade.

“If a landlord who makes thousands if not millions in income a month from their property is not able to find a vacant unit for their displaced tenant, how can you expect low-income tenants to find a vacant unit they can afford?” she told committee members.

We have 5 to 0 votes, the committee voted to send the proposed bylaw to city council for a Sept. 24 meeting.

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