Last 2 tenants in a gutted Hamilton apartment building are left without heat
City ordered owners to fix heat by Dec. 1
Jennifer McGrath says she just wants a nice Christmas.
Her cozy apartment in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood is decorated for the holiday with stockings, lights and a tree. But step outside McGrath's unit and the rest of the low-rise building she lives in is decidedly less festive.
Windows are boarded up. The front door doesn't lock. And Canada Post stopped delivering mail in August.
In the dank hallways McGrath sees exposed concrete, brick and plumbing, some of which leaks into puddles.
Other than McGrath and her neighbour, Rick MacMillan, the building on Duke Street is empty. Other tenants left gradually over the last two years, they say, and now their landlord wants them gone, too. But they're staying to fight the eviction.
"If you want to fix my floors, put in new cupboards, put in new appliances, redo my bathroom, that's fine with me," McGrath said. "As long as I stay here at the same rate."
Tenants can challenge N13 notices
The landlord, Oakville-based 20 DS Inc., gave tenants an N13 notice in July, McGrath said. CBC Hamilton obtained a copy of the notice. Such notices declare a property owner wants to end a tenancy to demolish, repair, or convert a rental unit to another use. This practice is often called renoviction.
CBC Hamilton repeatedly contacted the property manager and a person listed on property records as 20 DS Inc.'s director without success.
For a building like the one McGrath lives in that has more than five units, Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act states the owner issuing an N13 must compensate a tenant in an amount equal to three months rent or offer them another rental unit the tenant finds acceptable.
Tenants do not have to leave however, unless ordered by the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB), the body before which MacMillan and McGrath are challenging the N13 — with the help of tenants' group ACORN Hamilton and the city's Tenant Defence Fund. The fund provides legal support from the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic.
If tenants do vacate their units, they have the right to move back at the same rent, provided they notify the landlord in writing of their intention.
Deadline for order to fix heat was Dec. 1
Though it's their right, staying has been uncomfortable for MacMillan and McGrath. Water has been spotty, they say, sometimes cold and sometimes not running at all.
They said that in the late spring, the building's heat came on, raising the temperature inside their units to over 30 C. But since the cold weather came, tenants say the heat hasn't been on at all. For warmth, the two use space heaters building management provided.
Workers have gutted all the other units, removing doors, drywall and flooring. The halls and entrance way are dirty, and the mailboxes appear broken.
Janick Cormier, a spokesperson for Canada Post, told CBC Hamilton in an email that the corporation notified residents it would be suspending mail delivery in August after finding the mail compartments "unsecured."
"Attempts were made to contact the owner of the building to correct the situation but were unsuccessful," Cormier wrote.
McGrath said that when she calls the property manager to get things fixed, the work is delayed, or does not occur. "What they're doing right now is disrespectful."
In early December, water leaking from above drained through McGrath's ceiling, she said, causing a mess she had to clean up. She said that in the summer, she posted signs advocating for tenants in her front window and soon after, someone threw a rock through the glass. For months, it was covered with cardboard reading slogans including "tenants count" and "we have the right to stay." The property owner had it fixed this month after McGrath spoke to CBC Hamilton.
The city had a property standards order against the landlord for the broken window, but according to Monica Ciriello, director of Hamilton's Licensing and Bylaw Services, the order has concluded since it has been replaced.
The city has an order against the landlord to fix the heat too, and the deadline was Dec. 1. Building operators are supposed to maintain a minimum temperature of 20 C in residences.
On Friday, the city said an officer "is currently working on this active file with the contractors to carry out the work required" under the order. They did not give an exact date when the work would be done, however.
A city inspector has also issued an order against the landlord for allegedly contravening the building act by beginning construction and interior demolition while tenants were still living there.
A spokesperson for building services said the office is "currently in legal proceedings with the owners of the property and not at liberty to provide detailed comments on the issues," but confirmed they "are actively pursuing all violations under the Ontario Building Code and Building Code Act."
'I've had my dignity stripped from me': tenant
McGrath said she feels the building's owners are intentionally keeping the building in disrepair and trying to "freeze us out."
MacMillan said it became apparent to him and other tenants that a renoviction was underway when outgoing tenants stopped being replaced and maintenance stopped. Garbage piled up in the halls and nobody cleaned the floors.
"We knew that the place was bought with an agenda at that point — that they were trying to empty this place out, making people unhappy, uncomfortable, inconvenienced and embarrassed to walk through the doors," he said.
MacMillan, 60, has lived in the building for just over 25 years and pays $522 per month in rent. He works for an events company that raises money for children's charities. "I love this area," MacMillan said. He likes that so many things are within walking distance. And he said historically, the property was well kept and renovated without displacing tenants.
Living through this has been stressful and his mental health has suffered, MacMillan said. So has his breathing due to the cold damp air in his unit.
"It's been embarrassing. I've had my dignity stripped from me. I used to feel important in this building as a tenant," he said.
When asked why he decided to stay and fight the N13, MacMillan answered without hesitation: "Because this is my home."
McGrath, 51, has lived in the building for 24 years. She currently pays $661 per month for rent.
On Nov. 30, she and MacMillan said they were offered buy-out cheques for three-months of rent, totalling around $2,000. Given the cost of rent in Hamilton, that "is not enough" to make McGrath consider leaving, she said.
According to listing website Rentals.ca, the average asking price for a one-bedroom apartment or condo in Hamilton was $1,846 in December.
The LTB has yet to set a hearing date for the tenants' appeal, but the pair hopes to stay in the building until the board makes a decision.
"A win looks like me staying here and maybe [they] fix up the place a bit," McGrath said. "If we have to go temporarily … put us up in a hotel for a few months or something like that."
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