SRO residents protest suspected 'slumlord' lease exchange

Fears of a lease-exchange amongSRO owners drove residents,who have little choice of where to live andfearthe closure of buildings that house up to 500 people, onto Hastings Streetto protest on Thursday.

Protesters say any ownership or management takeover of theRegent hotel won'tfixheating, plumbing and other issues from bed bugs to broken elevators.

Reports that another SRO owner on Hastings was in negotiations to take over the lease were met with incredulity.

"News to me," said the hotel owner, directing any further calls to a lawyer.

"There are no negotiations to take over the Regent. We have enough to do taking care of our own place," said the owner of a nearby hotel, reported to be in talks to take over the lease.

Maria Wallstam of the Carnegie Community Action Project blames the City of Vancouver for not forcing fixes long overdue.

"Thebuilding is falling apart. It's not livable.Switching one slumlord to another is not going to address the desperate need this building has for renovations," said Wallstam, who is urging the city to step up and exercise its power to enforce the rules and make SRO owners fix their properties.

• Browse a list of all buildings with health or safety issues

"We see this as an attempt to try to avoid justice. The rooms are bedbug infested. The building is literally falling apart. It's an extremely stressful situation for the tenants," she said.

"Now, they are under increasing pressure. But it really shouldn't have taken this long ...These buildings are really, really old. We really worry that unless actions are taken right now to repair them that they are going to close. And if they close, we will have another 500 people on the street."

Class Action lawsuit

A class action lawsuit was launched earlier this year by Regent Hotel resident Jack Gates.

The 54-year-old has lived there since 2014.

He's longcomplained about the lack of heat and hot water in his room.

Last April, he won a Residential Tenancy Branch hearing and his multi-millionaire landlords were ordered to pay him $1,675.

He also filed a lawsuit against Parkash, Pal, Gurdyal and Kirin Sahota, along with Triville Enterprises Ltd., Yang-Myung Hotel Management Ltd., Sahotacorp and the City of Vancouver.

TrivilleEnterprises Ltd. is the registered owner of the Regentat 160 East Hastings St.

New name on lease won't matter

They are reportedly in negotiations with another hotel ownerto take over their lease.

The lawyer handling the class action said no matter who takes over the lease, the deadlines set for repairs will stand, and the lawsuit is going ahead, potentially adding any new owners or a management company to the existing lawsuit, unless they are a proven non-profit or a landlord with an excellent track record.

The Regent's owners have been asked to make ordered repairs by Nov. 24.

The City of Vancouver has also demanded certain repairs be done within 60 days from Oct. 4,or,on Dec. 3, the city will step in and do the work then charge back the owners.

"It looks like the city is finally stepping up, but the lawsuit will continue," said lawyer Jason Gratl.

"There's been an ongoing attempt to persuade the owners to do these things for a decade," he said.

He agreed many tenants fear if the fixes are not done, the building or several downtown buildings could be closed for good forcing up to 500 people who live there onto the streets.

"Those are all live fears if the building is deemed unfit for human habitation because the risk of fire, health concerns becomes too high," said Gratl.

When CBC attempted to reach Triville and members of the Sahota family, the phone was hung up.

TheSahotafamily's real estate empire, which includes otherSROslike theBalmoraland the Cobalt Hotel, is worth more than $130 million.

Protesters are urging the city to find solutions that are decent and fair.

"We can't afford to lose any more hotels," said Lama Mugabo from the Carnegie Community Action Project.

"The homeless situation is already obscene. Our community is sick of slumlords. We want the city and province to step up and do their jobs. The city could do the repairs and bill the owners and force them to hire professional, qualified, non profit management to take over these buildings and fix them up without evicting tenants.

"The province could, at a minimum, help ensure that tenants don't have to pay more than they can afford on welfare. Better yet, they could buy them and renovate them like the Maple and the Roosevelt Hotels, that are beautiful and are also on this block."