'There’s nowhere to go': Kitchener tenants say they’re being forced to move due to renovations

Tenants in a Kitchener complex on Blucher Street are being told to move out by the end of April after they say a new mysterious landlord took possession of their building.

A letter was given to tenants in November from the new landlord’s paralegal stating that the existing units will be demolished and renovated to become condominiums.

“It makes me sad. We’ve been here for seven years,” said Kristina Jackman, who said she and her six kids will have to find a new place to call home.

She said she’s not sure where she’s going to go next as she scrambles to find something within her budget.

“I have a special needs son who I don’t think is going do well with the move as he’s happy in school and we’ve been here for seven years. He doesn’t adjust easy to changes,” Jackman worried.

Janey Douglas has lived at the 14-unit complex for four years.

“I was devastated. I always say it’s a fine line between us and the people in tent city and now it’s my reality because there’s nowhere to go,” Douglas said.

Moving to a new place would be life-changing for some residents as they currently pay well below market price. They are worried they won’t be able to find a new place within their budget.

“Especially in an environment that’s already pretty messy these days with all sorts of stuff: price increases, recessions, all the likes. So I mean adding onto that is quite shocking, it’s traumatic to say,” said resident Iman Kanji. “We’re getting to the point where we are going to the board. Those next steps have been taken so far and so it’s getting extremely stressful more than it already was.”

MYSTERY LANDLORD

The tenants told CTV News they don’t know who this landlord is.

CTV reached out to the property owner, listed online as Berkley Property Management Inc., but we did not get a response by Thursday evening.

CTV also reached out to the paralegal representing the landlord, but they said they were unavailable for comment.

In December, tenants told CTV News that they received a notice to end tenancy for demolition.

“They’re saying they’re going to spend $100,000 on each unit according to the permits,” said resident James Clarke. “I can’t see them spending $100,000 on each unit here.”

There’s a building permit from the City of Kitchener on the door of the building. It reads that the construction value is $100,000 per dwelling unit on the property.

A paper posted on the door of the Blucher Street building.

NEXT STEPS

An eviction prevention peer worker at the Social Development Centre is lending a hand to help.

“I can gently encourage them to advocate for their own rights and to challenge the eviction because if the landlord doesn’t have the permits by when the hearing comes, then the landlord is probably going to lose,” said Jenaya Nixon.

Moving forward, Nixon is calling on municipalities to provide more support and protection to tenants.