On Thursday, an adjudicator decided that Nadine Lewis will get to remain in the two-bedroom apartment where she’s raised her three children.
The decision was handed down by an adjudicator at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) tribunal who dismissed a temporary eviction application brought by Lewis’ landlord — a company associated with Michael Klein, who tenant advocates allege is one of Ontario’s most prolific “renovictors.”
Lewis took the day off on Thursday to watch the tribunal. Listening to the adjudicator’s decision from her home, she said she was speechless.
“I was so happy, I didn’t know what to do.”
The Toronto mom is one of more than two dozen tenants facing what they say is a "renoviction" at 80 Guestville Avenue, a mid-rise residential building in the city’s Mount Dennis neighborhood
In October, Lewis said she received a letter from Guestville Apartments Inc., informing her of substantial renovations to be done in her apartment which required the termination of her lease. Having lived in the building for more than 16 years, she said she had no desire to vacate.
Her home means “everything,” she said in an interview in December.
The letter offered a sum for Lewis to vacate the apartment, referencing an N13 application, which allows a landlord to evict a tenant in order to complete a renovation. Tenants evicted through an N13 have the right to return to their unit, paying the same price as before, but the letter did not specify this.
Reached on Friday, Klein told TorontoToday he had “no comment” on the adjudicator’s decision. In a December interview, he said all tenants who vacate for a renovation will have the right to return.
The building in Mount Dennis where Lewis lives is one of more than 20 across Ontario owned by businesses affiliated with Klein, according to tenant advocacy group ACORN.
In an October report, the group alleged the affiliated businesses systematically purchase properties that offer reasonably-priced rent, subsequently mass-evict tenants, and then charge new residents much higher prices.
In December, Klein denied the allegations and said everything his affiliated companies do is legal and according to provincial law — noting that, in legal terms, there is “no such thing as a renoviction.”
Klein said his affiliated companies are pursuing renovations to update old kitchens, bathrooms and flooring — not to evict tenants.
Adjudicator did not give rationale for decision
At the tribunal on Thursday, the adjudicator did not provide his rationale for dismissing the N13 brought by Lewis’ landlord.
York South-Weston Tenant Union organizer Chiara Padovani, said that the decision came after Lewis’ lawyer presented evidence that the landlord did not have the necessary building permits for the planned construction in the tenant’s unit.
Padovani said the lawyer argued that the temporary eviction order should be dismissed, because a permit is required to grant such an order.
During the hearing, Lewis was not called to provide evidence.
“It just goes to show that these eviction applications are just an attempt to kick people out of their homes to make more money,” Padovani said.
In December, Klein denied that there was an ulterior motive behind the renovations.
Other tenants fighting N13s at Klein-affiliated buildings
Provincewide, dozens of tenants in Klein-affiliated properties are fighting or planning to fight their N13s, according to ACORN.
At Thursday’s hearing, the adjudicator dismissed both Lewis’ application and an identical one brought against one of her neighbours.
In late February, three more of Lewis’ neighbours have hearing dates scheduled with the tribunal to dispute their temporary eviction notices. Padovani said tenants will petition the tribunal to combine their cases so they can present evidence they believe shows the N13s are “in bad faith.”
In December, Klein said his businesses have never faced any penalties at the LTB.
However, the businessman’s affiliated companies have had other N13 applications rejected.
In November, one of these companies was denied an N13 application, partly based on evidence it may have negotiated with a separate tenant to withdraw their N13 in exchange for a rent increase.
The tribunal also denied the N13 because the proposed renovations — which mirror those planned for Lewis’ unit — “contain[ed] few valid grounds for the request for vacant possession.”
In December, Klein told TorontoToday the situation was complex, that hearsay evidence had been introduced, and that there are two sides to every story.
He said the November tribunal’s decision will be appealed.
Lewis hopeful for her neighbours
On a break from work on Friday, Lewis said she was feeling “very happy.”
She said she believes the adjudicator’s decision shows her landlord was not pursuing the N13 based on a desire to spruce up the property.
“I hope my other neighbours get the same outcomes,” she said. “We are here to stay and we shouldn’t be treated this way.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said a judge had ruled on the LTB application. The current version has been updated to correctly identify the person ruling on the application as an ‘adjudicator.’
