Over 100 Hamilton tenants face threat of eviction as landlord starts listing townhouses for sale

The for sale sign in front of Heather Mulryan's Hamilton townhouse is a constant source of dread. 

The 41-year-old single mom of two boys has rented her home on Hamilton's Mountain for 14 years but said she received a surprise letter from her landlord, DiCenzo Management, in April. 

The letter, delivered to all tenants, said the landlord will be selling the 36 units on Anna Capri Drive — and Mulryan's was among the first on the market.

Mulryan also learned for the first time that the townhouses, built in 1981, are actually condominiums, she said. DiCenzo Management said it's therefore allowed to sell each unit to individual buyers, rather than the complex as a whole to a landlord.

"After 40 years we have decided that the time has come to proceed with individual dwelling sales on a unit-by-unit basis," said the letter signed by president Anthony DiCenzo. 

"Rest assured that, should your unit be sold, you will receive a minimum of 60-days notice to vacate your unit."

Two days later, the for sale sign appeared on her front lawn, Mulryan said. 

Her unit is currently listed online for $584,900. 

"It's hard to cope thinking that any day I'm going to get a notice that somebody wants to buy my home and that's it, it's over for me," Mulryan said. "It's devastating."

Mulryan said she currently pays just over $1,000 a month for the three-bedroom, rent-controlled townhouse and knows that amount won't go far in the midst of today's affordable housing crisis. 

Even a one-bedroom apartment is out of her price range at $1,600 on average, according to rental listing site Zumper. 

Her neighbours, many of whom also have children, face similar financial constraints, Mulryan said. She's afraid not only her family but many of the other tenants will end up homeless. 

"The majority of us don't stay here because we love it," she said. "We stay here because it's all we can afford." 

About 100 units will be sold

DiCenzo Management, which is connected to local developer DiCenzo Homes, owns and rents out townhouses in two other surveys, on Upper Ottawa Street and Woodman Drive North. Both are also condominiums.

The landlord said in a statement to CBC Hamilton it intends to sell upwards of 100 units across the three surveys, with some starting prices below $500,000.

"In the process we hope these townhomes will make a valuable and much-needed contribution to the stock of affordable homes for sale," the statement said. 

"We hope that people who wouldn't otherwise be able to buy a house in the city will be able to afford these properties." 

The decision to sell comes as there's a "lack of demand for new home products," which DiCenzo Homes specializes in, the statement said.

So far, one unit, in the Anna Capri survey, has been sold, Anthony DiCenzo said in an email. 

Potentially risky for buyers: lawyer

Real estate lawyer Slonee Malhotra, based in Waterloo Region, says evicting tenants may not be as simple as DiCenzo Management suggests. 

If the landlord didn't inform tenants their units were condos when they signed the lease agreements, that could be a problem at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). 

While Mulryan hasn't received a formal eviction notice yet, the letter from the landlord states it intends to do so, which will prompt the process to go through the LTB.

Mulryan said she was never made aware her unit was actually a condo. And a neighbour's lease, signed two years ago and seen by CBC Hamilton, has a section where it's indicated the unit is not a condominium. 

"It could be that the landlord is entering into a lease in bad faith," Malhotra said. "The LTB looks at that and all surrounding circumstances."

In response, DiCenzo said property records indicating the townhouses are condos are publicly available and that DiCenzo Management has never been "secretive" or intentionally withheld information.

"There are almost 100 tenants within these units, some of whom have been living there for many years, if not decades," DiCenzo said. "As a result, it's impossible for us to say what conversations were had with each tenant at the time they signed their lease agreements."

There's also a requirement not noted in DiCenzo Management's letter in April, which is that tenants have the right of first refusal, Malhotra noted. That means when an offer is made on their unit, tenants must first be given the chance to buy it for the same price. 

There are other rules in the Residential Tenancies Act that the tenants could use to try to stop eviction at an LTB hearing, Malhotra said.  

Potential buyers would be taking a risk buying the units, she said. They may have to offer tenants a cash payment in exchange for possession (known as "cash for keys") or go through a lengthy hearing process at the LTB. 

DiCenzo said potential buyers are advised of "all the requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act," and purchase agreements will be conditional on the eviction process being completed.

Buyers must also sign a declaration form stating they or their immediate family members intend to live there, he said.

Mulryan and several other tenants are prepared to stay in their units unless, after a hearing, the LTB orders them out, she said. Advocacy group Hamilton ACORN, of which Mulryan is a member, is helping to organize tenants at the DiCenzo properties in order to fight the eviction. 

"In the state of the housing situation right now, it really doesn't make any sense that they're allowed to just [evict] people," Mulryan said. "I just don't see how they can be allowed to do it on such a big scale."