In Montreal's West Island, tenants say landlord is squeezing them out
'He just wants to jack up the rent,' says tenant
For nearly half a century, Ronald has lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Montreal's West Island. It overlooks the water in a quiet neighbourhood and is close to everything he needs.
But in June, a new employee of the building known as the Marina Centre, knocked on his door and asked for $100 more than his usual rent — and another $770 in retroactive payments, despite Ronald having refused a proposed rent hike and the landlord not pursuing the matter at the provincial housing tribunal (TAL).
Ronald is on a fixed income from his pension and can't afford the increase.
"She said if I didn't pay by that Friday she would change the locks," said Ronald, who asked to have his last name omitted as he is still involved in legal proceedings at the housing tribunal.
Though he's been paying his usual rent every month, he said the building manager started refusing his cheques in July, saying the amount was short. He showed CBC cheques that were rejected by the management company.
And Ronald isn't alone.
The Marina Centre is owned by Vincenzo Barrasso — who owns at least two residential buildings in Pierrefonds, Que., — and tenants say Barrasso and his staff are intimidating them into either paying more or leaving their units.
CBC spoke with 17 tenants and two former tenants from two buildings owned by Barrasso. They all say they have experienced "harassment and threats" from Barrasso and his staff, and they believe they are being pushed out because they have lived in the building so long their rents are way below market value.
They say the landlord is threatening to take them to the tribunal, asking for illegal safety deposits, not doing necessary repairs and denying them access to amenities in the building like washing machines and pools, which are included in their leases. Some tenants say they have come home to notes from management posted on their doors.
It is, they say, a campaign that has been going on for years — one tenant has a storage bin full of documents from previous tribunal hearings.
WATCH | Tenants describe the stress of living with fear of eviction:
The tenants fear the pressure will increase or they will be evicted. Because rent prices have exploded in the last few years, they fear they wouldn't be able to find a new apartment within their budgets.
They also say they have safety concerns after a fatal fire broke out at the Marina Centre in January.
With Montreal in the midst of a housing crisis, even the suburbs are feeling the squeeze with a vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent. One-bedroom apartments in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, where Barrasso owns property, are going for an average of $1,250 per month. A recent report showed that Quebec's homeless population almost doubled in the last four years.
The tenants interviewed pay between $400 and $1,435 in rent.
Barrasso has refused to comment, preferring to be represented by his lawyer, Elia Ouba. Ouba denied most allegations and refused to comment on cases that have been referred to the housing tribunal.
"The use of rights by both tenants and landlords, including the right to submit any dispute to the court, is not harassment," said the lawyer.
Changing locks
Ronald said even though he has tried to pay his rent, the building manager is now taking him to the tribunal for non-payment of rent.
Ronald said he doesn't know where he will go if he is evicted from his apartment.
"I really don't know, that's the worrying thing. I don't know anybody," he said.
Ronald's former neighbour, Carolina Van Ryswyk, said she paid her rent every month. Nonetheless, she said she was summoned to the housing tribunal by Barrasso. But when she showed up, she was told the case had been dropped for lack of evidence.
She opted to move out of the Marina Centre at the end of September, after CBC visited her there, rather than go through the process again. Her new apartment costs twice as much but she is willing to pay for peace of mind.
"It's better than the constant stress," said Van Ryswyk, who is going through personal challenges, like recovering from cancer treatments.
"At my new place, they said everyone knows about the Marina 'dump.'"
Van Ryswyk used to pay $950 in rent, parking included. Units at the Marina Centre are now being advertised for $1,400.
"He just wants to jack up the rent," she said of Barrasso.
Lily Martin who works for a West Island tenants' association, the Comité d'action des locataires de l'Ouest-de-l'Île, has been helping the people at the Marina Centre and Oasis Complex work on their cases and complaints.
She says that though she's heard of bad landlords, the level of fear reported by the tenants is worse than any other case she's seen.
"What was very disheartening to see was … how widespread the fear was, this environment of fear amongst tenants because of what they've been going through, because of how they've been treated by their landlord," said Martin.
Barrasso evicted at least 16 tenants between January 2020 and October 2023, according to TAL records, mostly for non-payment of rent. At least eight other tenants moved out before their proceedings with the tribunal ended and had to pay Barrasso missed rent payments.
At least four other files were dropped because of insufficient proof, the judge ruled in favour of the tenant or because Barrasso didn't show up to hearings.
A housing tribunal judge ruled against Barrasso when he tried to collect rent payments from a tenant he had evicted.
According to the ruling, Barrasso changed the locks without giving the tenant the keys while the latter was hospitalized for mental health problems, which "unilaterally terminated the lease." But he continued to ask for rent payments.
Martin said the tenants she worked with were not going to be able to find another apartment they can afford if they're on a fixed income, like a pension.
"There's nothing else out there in the West Island," she said.
Fatal fire at the Marina Centre
Tenants at the Marina Centre say necessary repairs are being neglected in an effort to discourage them from staying.
While visiting the building, CBC noticed a broken garbage chute that left a smell over the first floor of the building, carpeting that had been ripped out, rusted bathtubs and washing machines that run on cold water only.
Barrasso's lawyer said most issues have been resolved, but tenants say the repairs still aren't up to standards.
A 93-year-old woman died after a fire broke out at the Marina Centre last November and it took an hour for the fire department to arrive. Other tenants got the woman out of her apartment, but she died of smoke inhalation.
Ronald and Van Ryswyk were there when the fire broke out, and said the fire alarm is barely distinguishable from the sound of a pickup truck backing up. The Marina Centre is only a couple of blocks away from the fire station, though it took over an hour for firefighters to arrive.
Barrasso maintains that the smoke alarms functioned properly, and his lawyer said he took the necessary precautions following the fire.
According to a report from the fire department, the case was brought to the police, though the reason was redacted. The report says Barrasso was informed of the next steps he had to take, which included notifying the fire alarm and cleaning companies.
Barrasso also owns properties in Manitoba and Ontario. In Toronto, he was charged for infractions related to poor building maintenance for one property at least 10 times by Toronto building inspectors between 2012 and 2023. During that time, he was also issued four notices for graffiti, waste and zoning infractions for the same building, which was known as "crack tower" in the 1990s.
Barrasso's lawyer said all issues with his Toronto property have been resolved.
Tenants speak out
Over 20 tenants of the Oasis Complex — another building owned by Barrasso in Pierrefonds — have signed a petition demanding their building manager be fired.
They say management demands more money than the rent indicated on their lease, claiming that there had been an increase even if the tenants formally refused. They also say management is asking for extra money for parking, which is included in the lease. There are also locks on the taps for outdoor hoses in the parking garage.
Some tenants say their access to the building's pool was revoked because they didn't agree to 20 new rules, which include not being allowed to swim alone or to bring chairs by the pool. At the Marina Centre, the pool has been out of service for two years.
One tenant was given a rent increase and was told "next year it will be worse."
"Whenever you speak out, you get a target on your back," said tenant Florence Hallinan, a resident who has lived there for nine years and recently won a case against the Oasis Complex management at the housing tribunal.
"If I could afford to move, I would! My husband and I looked, but it's expensive."
In the tribunal decision, the judge said management had insufficient proof to evict Hallinan and her husband, and ruled in Hallinan's favour — but the couple recently received another subpoena.
George Asseraf, a building manager himself, recently moved out of the Oasis Complex to get some peace of mind. He said he was made to pay security deposits, which he did not know were illegal in Quebec as he is from Florida. He said the building manager also threatened to take him to the tribunal. Barrasso's lawyer denies that any security deposits were charged.
"Half the stuff wouldn't stand in court, but I didn't want to deal with the stress anymore," said Asseraf.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Valeria Cori-Manocchio