For Sebastienne Incorvaia, what she pays for rent could mean the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry.
“It is hard, you know, the difference is do I buy all the food I need or do I eat cheese and toast for a lot of days?” says Incorvaia, 63, who has lived at 87 Jameson Ave. for five years and like other residents of the Parkdale building is facing a hefty rent increase.
Incorvaia and a group of fellow tenants are pushing back at efforts to make them pay more to live in a building they say is in disrepair, with water, heating, bug and maintenance problems and inaccessible to people with mobility issues.
On Wednesday, they took their grievances to the sidewalk outside the offices of the Landlord and Tenant Board to formally oppose an application by building manager MetCap Living Management Inc. to raise the rent 3 per cent above provincial guidelines, each year for three years, to cover the costs of renovations made to the 91-unit building.
While such increases are legal, they must be approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board. Tenant advocates say they are sometimes used to push out low-income tenants so landlords can renovate and jack up the rent.
Simon Wallace, with McCarten Wallace Litigation, represented the tenants at the hearing.
“The tenants know that a rent increase of this size is an eviction by another name, especially for people with fixed incomes and so they are prepared to vigorously protect their housing,” he said.
Brent Merrill, president of MetCap, said renovations and repairs to the balconies and the garage, a condensation unit, boilers and a fire retrofit, were needed to keep the 65-year-old building in safe and working order. The change to balcony railings, he said, was ordered by the city and current building codes meant additional renovations were required. The work happened in 2014 and cost more than $1 million, according to tribunal documents.
“In regards to the 3 per cent increase, I am entitled to it under the law, and they are entitled to go and make their arguments,” said Merrill.
Both sides agreed to mediation, but an agreement could not be reached and a hearing is expected to be scheduled. “Maybe with a breather a fair deal can be worked out. We are still hopeful,” Merrill said, via email.
Meanwhile, some of the tenants say they are not paying rent until their demands are met.
For Incorvaia, the proposed rent hike, on top of the 1.5 per cent already approved by the province for 2017, means a serious strain on her budget. She says she already stretched to the limit on her $1,100 disability pension, and, even at her current rent of $915, she’s had to borrow from friends and family to make ends meet.
Merrill said he visited the building on Tuesday and there were four outstanding work orders and a tenant hotline has recorded 11 complaints, since June 2016.
He also sent the Star a copy of a maintenance form recently distributed to tenants, encouraging them to report issues. “We are willing to fix anything in any apartment. No item too small or too big. We just need to be informed,” he said.
Among the tenant complaints is that people must hike steep stairs to get into the building, or hoist themselves up a small incline, when a ramp is needed. Merrill told the Star they are working with an architect to find solutions to that issue.
The building is partially owned by the Alberta Investment Management Corp. A company spokesperson said in an email they employ the “expertise and local knowledge of top-tier property managers that operate using best in class processes” to manage buildings on their behalf and “are pleased with the quality of management provided by MetCap.”
Tenant Diane Ragaram, 63, a personal support worker, said she has lived in the building since 1977 and has watched her rent rise to $1,000 from $150.
She said the heat fluctuates and is sometimes so “low we have to call the city. Every couple of days we don’t get water, we don’t get heat,” she said. Merrill sent the Star inspection records from Feb. 1, showing the temperature in all accessible units was at about 24C, or above.
Incorvaia showed the Star 16 notices informing tenants water would be shut down, from just the last two years. “You can’t shower, you can’t clean, you can’t cook,” she said. “If you get up late in the morning you can’t even have a cup of coffee.”
Merrill said three of the notices were to install four new boilers in 2016, something he doesn’t consider unusual for an old building.
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