Landlord removes door from Hamilton tenant’s unit

Paul Rawlins would close the door of his east Hamilton apartment unit if he had one.

On Friday, while he was out getting a bite to eat, his landlord removed it from the hinges after serving notice he'd planned to visit.

So his unit is in full view to anyone who walks down the second-floor hallway of 2322 King St. E.

It's been terrible," he said Tuesday. It's difficult to sleep, and when you do, you hear noise and it wakes you up."

The landlord's decision to remove the door follows a flood in mid-April that drenched Rawlins' apartment in the five-storey building at Parkdale Avenue South.

Landlord Beni Colalillo says the torrent of water that reached the basement has caused mould in Rawlins' unit.

There's also asbestos, Colalillo added, noting a contractor his insurer hired deemed Rawlins' unit and one below uninhabitable.

I want him out because he's going to get sick and then the liability's going to fall in my lap," said the mortgage broker, citing mould as the main concern.

Colalillo says he has urged Rawlins to leave several times, tried to help him find somewhere else to live and attempted to get connect him with social-service agencies.

He's also willing to pay Rawlins three months' worth of rent if he finds a place, he says.

But 100 per cent," he must leave to allow for the remediation work, Colalillo says.

Rawlins, 57, says he's not worried about the reported mould, but not having a door has exacerbated his existing mental-health problems. On a scale of zero to 10, this is definitely an 11."

A bylaw officer who was at the building Tuesday afternoon has made note of a violation," a city spokesperson said in an email without offering details.

A lawyer with the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic says the door removal would qualify as substantial interference with the tenant's reasonable enjoyment of the unit" and a violation of the provincial Residential Tenancies Act.

It would likely engage the tenant's privacy rights and the landlord's obligation to provide and maintain housing that is in a good state of repair and fit for habitation," Katie Remington specified in an email.

The proper way to deal with such a situation is through the Landlord and Tenant Board, she noted.

After a hearing before the provincial tribunal, if an eviction is sanctioned, the sheriff's office could enforce an order, but the landlord cannot engage in self-help eviction."

The door struggle coincides with Colalillo's effort to clear several tenants out of the building for unrelated planned renovations.

After the April flood, via a paralegal, he issued tenants in 13 units with notices to leave by Aug. 31 to allow for work estimated to take five to six months.

Landlords can issue N13 notices to vacate properties for extensive renovations that require building permits and must be empty to do the work.

There's no rent control between tenancies in Ontario. Once units are vacant, landlords can increase rents as high as they like for future residents.

Colalillo's to-do list includes new floors, light fixtures, kitchen cabinets, sinks, stainless steel appliances, windows, counters and back splashes.

Some longtime residents say they can do without that.

We don't need it. We take care of our apartments," said Connie Sinclair, who has lived in the building for 15 years and pays about $643 a month.

The 68-year-old pensioner doesn't like her chances of finding another affordable place in Hamilton's escalated rental market.

I was going to pack my stuff, my two cats and live on the sidewalk in front of the building."

Rawlins, who receives a disability pension and pays $696 a month, also doubts he'll find anything affordable.

The lowest rate he has found was $1,000, he says. And to be quite honest, I wasn't impressed."

The residents, who have reached out to Hamilton Tenants in Unity, say they'll challenge any eviction for renovations before the provincial tribunal.

All three levels of government need to do more to protect tenants from a rising tide of renovictions in Hamilton, says Mike Wood, chair of the local advocacy group. We definitely need new laws created."

Paying rent on time for years - being a good tenant" - doesn't seem to insulate people from losing their homes anymore, he adds. It's the opposite completely."

Rawlins' neighbours say they have his back amid the door crisis. You don't do that to people," Sinclair says.

Colalillo says Rawlins is a good tenant." But the situation is unique, he contends. I haven't taken the door off of any of my other tenants' units."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com