Tenants opposing rent increase accuse building staff of harassment, obstruction

Tenants at aDundasStreet West apartment complex are accusing building management of using intimidation tactics, including calling in the police, to shut downtheirattempts to organize againsta proposed rent hike.

Residents of The Crossways, located at2350-2360Dundas St. W. near BloorStreet West,are facing a possible2.3 per cent increase.

"It's scary and intimidating when all of a sudden copsshow up,"tenant Stephanie Iring told CBCToronto.

The proposedhikeexceeds provincial guidelines and tenants say it's more than somecan afford.

"A lot of people won't be able to stay. They can hardly make rent as it is. It's wrong. It's cruel,"tenant Paula Gurneysaid.

Tenants filed an objection against the increase to the Landlord and Tenant Boardlast month.

But they are alsofiling a complaint with the board against building management, allegingpolice were called by building staff to disrupt tenants' meetings on two separate occasions. Police were not able to confirm toCBCToronto whenthey were called to the building, or why.

Building manager Luigi DiGesodenies that building staff have harassed or intimidated any residents, adding that he does not oppose tenants organizing.He says the only time police were calledwas because tenants were violating fire safety regulations by gathering in the complex.

Kevin Laforest, the lawyer representing Crossways tenants, disagrees.

"I would say in my experience, we haven't seen things like this," he said.

"This kind of reluctance to let tenants organize within their rights to do so both within the Residential Tenancies Act and the Charter I think it's appalling that they're trying to subdue this or make it go away by intimidation and harassment."

Coun. GordPerks 'shocked and quite angry' at owners'behaviour

Tenants are also accusingstaff of preventing them from spreading information.

Crossways resident Cynthia Stark believes security hampered her attempts to post notices in the building.

"The notices were taken down the same day we assumed by security because we're kind of used to that," she said.

The tenants' complaint also alleges that another tenant washarassed bysecurity as he attempted to hand out flyers.

DiGesodenies any harassmentand saysflyers were taken away becausethey were causing a mess, not because of their content.

Coun. Gord Perks, who represents Ward 14, Parkdale-HighPark, where Crossways is located,says the tenants' attempts to organizeare entirely within the law.

Perksalso sits on the city's affordable housing and tenant issues committees.

"If [tenants] want to put up a notice or hang a sign out their window or knock on their neighbour's door, they absolutely have a right to do that and I am shocked and quite angry at the behaviour of the owners here," he told CBC Toronto.

'Extraordinary' rise in property taxes

The proposedincrease is 0.5 per cent more than is generally allowed by the province.

Landlords can legally raise rents above provincial guidelines if they are able to prove to the Landlord and Tenant Board it is with good reason.

The complex's landlord, Creccal Investments Ltd., filed an application for the increase in April due to what it callsan "extraordinary" rise in municipal property taxes.

Property tax costs are determined by the tax rates set by the city and the valuation of the propertyby the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

CBC Toronto has confirmed that MPAC'svaluation of The Crossways complex has increased in recent years.

However, Perks says the rise in property value means long-term profit for the landlord and is not a sufficient reason to raise rents.

"If they're saying that they need an increase in rent because the value of that building has gone up, that's pretty shady grounds in my view," he said.

"It really stretches credulity to suggest that because someone has an asset that's worth more, that low-income people who are renting from them have to pay more."

DiGesoargues that a 2.3 per cent rent hikewill not result in a significant increase in tenants' costs, adding thatmost tenants do not oppose the increase and that the protests are being led by a small group of "instigators."

But tenant Carmelo Mangionesaysmany tenants areafraid to speak out.

"A lot of people here are from other countries that have different laws and have experienced harsher treatment," he said.

Mangionesays English is not the first language for a lot of the tenants and "it's easy for management to take advantage of that."

'These are people's homesand they're being chased out of them'

Laforest says Crossways management is not alone in raising rents beyond what their current tenants can afford. It is part of a larger pattern of mass displacement by landlords to bring in higher profits, he said.

"What we're seeing is this kind of wholesale displacement of people in Toronto, particularly of long-term renters. These are people who are paying well-below market rent because of the protections that rent control affords," Laforest said.

Laforest says many Crossways tenants' incomes are low and they can't afford rent increases.

"These are people's homesand they're being chased out of them."