Tenants fight eviction from Halifax apartment building

First, Floyd Poulain's landlord said he was evicting him to make room for his brother-in-law. Then he said it was because of bad behaviour. But in the end he ensured that Poulain couldn't stay by throwing out his possessions and starting renovations to his unit.

The landlord said Poulain abandoned his Halifax apartment — a one-bedroom in an 11-unit building in the Fairview neighbourhood — but Poulain, 74, said he was forced out.

Sydnee Blum, a legal aid adviser working with Poulain, calls it an illegal renoviction and says the case is an "extreme" example of the lengths to which landlords will go to get tenants to leave.

Renovictions — when landlords evict tenants for the express purpose of making significant renovations — are controversial, but legal in Nova Scotia.

There is, however, a process that must be followed. In this case, it was not. The landlord would have had to give Poulain three months' notice and three months' rent as compensation.

Instead, the landlord and tenant have now spent nearly three months in conflict, and Poulain said it's not over. He said he intends to seek damages for the possessions he lost.

Rent refused

Neyaz Saberi took ownership of 171 Main Ave. in September. He told CBC News in a brief interview that Poulain never paid rent. Saberi later declined to answer further questions and deferred to his lawyer, who gave no comment.

Poulain said he didn't want to authorize automatic withdrawals from his bank account — a method he had never used for paying rent — but he did provide bank drafts. Saberi refused to accept that form of payment.

Poulain received an eviction notice on Sept. 26, as did some of his neighbours. They were issued DR2 forms, which indicate a new owner or a member of their family wants to move in.

Poulain was given two months to move out. He said he didn't know what to do.

"My foundation and my stability for the whole winter is being jeopardized," he recalled thinking.

That's when he got in touch with Blum, who informed him that the DR2 was invalid. The form can only be used for buildings with four units or less, and it has to be issued before the change in ownership is finalized. 

Poulain fought the eviction through residential tenancies, the quasi-judicial body that rules on disputes between landlords and tenants.

A decision from a residential tenancies officer shows that Saberi withdrew the DR2, but said he still wanted Poulain out because of unpaid rent and "behaviour issues." 

Eviction disallowed

The residential tenancies officer said there was "confusion" over how the rent was to be paid, and insufficient evidence to prove any bad behaviour. They said the eviction order was not allowed.

But at that point, it was too late. Saberi had already started clearing out Poulain's apartment and renovating. He'd been renovating other apartments in the building for months.

Poulain said when renovations began in units beside and below him in the fall, it was so disruptive that he started spending more and more time away from his apartment — eating out, driving around, and sometimes crashing with friends.

He said he'd been away from his apartment for a few days when he got a call from a neighbour that their landlord was removing Poulain's possessions.

He said he lost a bedroom suite, mattress, kitchen set and personal items, including cherished photos. He said none of it will be easily replaced.

"It's thousands of dollars and everything is very expensive. You shop around and get your sales and gather up your things over the last couple years and all of a sudden it's gone at the whim of a landlord. That's very sad."

Poulain is now renting a room in a house nearby, but he said it's not a permanent arrangement.

Rent doubles

Blum said she's working with multiple other tenants from the same apartment building who are fighting Saberi's eviction orders. None of them wanted to speak publicly.

Meanwhile, Saberi has started listing renovated units for rent. He's asking $1,495 for a bachelor apartment — more than twice the $737 Poulain was paying for his one-bedroom.

"This is an extreme example, but we know that this is happening frequently all over the province," said Blum.

She said without an enforcement unit for residential tenancies, there is little recourse for tenants who, like Poulain, want to fight.