East Hamilton tenants want to be home for holidays

Steve Taylor has fought $20-a-load laundry at his east Hamilton apartment building and won.

Now he's fighting to stay home for the holidays.

His landlord at 285 Melvin Ave. has issued him a notice to vacate by Dec. 31 to make way for renovations.

Taylor has been through this before and plans to stay put once again.

I'm still here and trying to stand my ground," he said.

The National Steel Car employee has lived in the nine-storey building for more than 13 years.

It's close to his work and that of his partner, he said.

My heart's here. It's my home."

In January, they'll pay just over $700 in rent - which is far less than the going rates.

The average rent of a one-bedrom apartment in Hamilton is $1,482 a month, according to Rentals.ca's latest report.

North York-based Family Properties had initially issued notices to vacate by the end of March to tenants in roughly 60 units.

The work has involved tearing down walls between kitchens and living rooms to make the units open-concept.

Tenants have been told the renovations, which also include electrical and plumbing work, would take seven to 10 months.

Family Properties has not responded to The Spectator's requests for comment.

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

Because there's no rent control between tenancies, once the units are vacant, landlords can increase rents as high as they like.

That initial N13 lapsed because the landlord didn't apply for a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board within 30 days of the move-out date.

On its website, Family Properties advertises one-bedroom units start at $1,450 a month.

This comes with all the features you would expect in a modern condo-style building, including stainless-steel appliances ... granite countertops. On-site laundry!"

Some tenants at 285 Melvin have taken buyouts, but Taylor and others have resisted.

Then, in May, the rates in the basement laundry room were suddenly jacked to $10 per wash and $10 per dry.

Taylor and other tenants raised a fuss, and about a week later, the rates were back to normal: $2.75 per wash and $2 per dry.

But now Taylor and others have the fresh notices to vacate by Dec. 31.

Mike Wood figures about 20 tenants affiliated with his advocacy group are left at 285 Melvin.

Wages and social-assistance rates aren't keeping up pace with the escalating rental market, says Wood, who leads Hamilton Tenants in Unity.

Everybody knows that once they are forced out of that situation, the rents are just too high for people to be able to survive."

In mid-December, council directed staff to hire a consultant to find the ways and means" of creating an anti-renovictions bylaw akin to one in New Westminster, B.C.

Among its policies, the licensing-based system obliges landlords to arrange for accommodation for tenants they displace while work is carried out.

But Wood, who has called for stronger anti-renoviction policies for years, called progress toward a potential Hamilton bylaw very slow."

Dawn Hoad, who lives above Taylor, also faces that looming Dec. 31 deadline.

But I'm not moving. I have no place to go," Hoad said.

At $700 a month, her rent is what she can afford on her disability pension.

Under Ontario law, Hoad has a right to return to her unit at the same rate after the renos are done.

But without family to turn to, she doesn't know where she'd live in the meantime.

Moreover, Hoad says the landlord hasn't granted her the option of moving into a renovated unit while hers is worked on.

It looks like it's going to end up being a shelter or a tent."

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com