A two-month rent strike at a Chinatown rooming house has ended in victory for a group of tenants.
On Sunday, tenants of a six-bedroom rooming house at 564 Dundas St. W. said they were ending their rent strike after their landlord agreed to their demands to improve living conditions.
In December, the group announced they would not be paying rent to landlord Jenny Jiang, as a form of protest over concerns about bedbugs, rats, a broken washing machine and a lack of standard lease agreements.
On Sunday, at a party in Chinatown to celebrate their victory, tenants said those issues have now been mostly resolved and they will resume paying rent in February.
Tenant Clifford Wade told TorontoToday he was feeling relieved.
“[Its] a big weight off of my shoulders, I can [now] sleep in the night,” he said.
“We’ve all had a long journey with this. It’s been impactful on all of us.”
Bed bug problem largely solved
Tenants decided to engage in the rent strike, which community members believe to be Chinatown’s first, after sub-standard housing conditions went unaddressed by their landlord for months.
When TorontoToday visited the property in December, there were signs of an ongoing bed bug infestation.
Tenant Baoqing Han, who lives at the property with her husband, told TorontoToday in December that she was unable to sleep through the night as a result of the bed bugs, showing photos of bites on her hands, legs and torso.
On Sunday, Han said that since the rent strike began, the landlord arranged for bed bug exterminators to come to the house twice.
While the problem is still not entirely solved, she said it has improved.
“Before, I couldn’t sleep at all. Now I can sleep through the night,” she said, through a translator.
Han said she is optimistic the landlord will arrange to have the bed bug problem completely eradicated, adding that if the problem is not solved, the tenants would go on strike again.
TorontoToday contacted Jiang for a response to these allegations, but did not hear back by publication time.
Lease agreement issue resolved
Wade said he is also relieved by his landlord’s decision to provide tenants with standard lease agreements.
In December, Wade alleged that Jiang failed to provide him with a lease and with keys to his room after he moved into the property in September.
With a lack of keys, Wade said he was forced to sleep on the street one night after he was unable to reach any of the other tenants to let him in.
When reached for comment in December, Jiang alleged that Wade was not a tenant, and that her rental agreement had been with Wade’s friend who had since moved out.
Wade said this was a lie — he alleged that Jiang promised to rent to the duo long-term but had changed her mind because she wanted to turn the room into an Airbnb.
Those problems have since been resolved, according to Wade. He said on Sunday that Jiang has acknowledged he is a tenant and signed a lease agreement with him.
Jiang did not respond to requests to verify these claims by publication time.
Protest gets action?
Elaine Yu, a volunteer with the group Friends of Chinatown, said they believe a protest hosted by tenants in December prompted the landlord to take action.
“At first, she wasn’t taking the tenants seriously,” alleged Yu, whose group supported the tenants throughout the rent strike.
While the tenants had sent letters and tried to speak with Jiang, she had dismissed their concerns, Yu said.
“I think it was because of tenants’ decision to move forward with the protest … [It got] Jenny’s attention to sit down with us [and] take us seriously,” they said.
The December protest was held in front of Win’s Flowers, a flower shop also owned by Jiang. Protesters encouraged the public to boycott the shop until the tenants’ demands were met.
Jiang told TorontoToday in December that the protest hurt her business.
'Let's maintain peace'
A volunteer with Friends of Chinatown told TorontoToday on Monday that all tenants have agreed to pay January's rent. Tenants are still in discussion with their landlord about paying rent for December.
In addition to the bed bug and lease issues, tenants also alleged in December that the property had a long-term rat problem, the rooming house’s washer-dryer had been out of service for months, and that Jiang did not turn on the heating for the property until well into the winter.
When reached in December, Jiang alleged the rat issues were the result of tenants leaving food out, that the washer-dryer was not included in the rent and that the property’s furnace had been broken but had since been fixed.
On Sunday, tenants said all of these issues have now been resolved.
The washer-dryer is working, cleaners improved the rat situation and the heating is on, they said.
Wade said he is hopeful there will be peace with his landlord moving forward. “Let’s maintain peace. That’s it. That’s all,” he said.
Han said she is also glad she participated in the rent strike.
“I think it’s the unity. I think people’s hearts are connected,” she said.
“If we are paying rent, we are paying rent together. If we are rent striking, we are rent striking together. That’s why we got this victory,” she said.
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UPDATE: A previous version of this story said tenants would not be paying rent for December and January. After publishing the story, TorontoToday learned all tenants have now agreed to pay January's rent and are in discussion with their landlord about paying rent for December.
