After the city issued an order requiring an SRO landlord to fix fire safety problems, tenants got a notice telling them the entire building has been “decommissioned.” That notice is not legal, says the city.
Many of the tenants say they weren’t told where to send their rent after the building sold to new owners in 2021. That includes Sherry MacDonald, who has lived at the building for over 20 years.
Landlords have incentive to empty buildings like this one, says Jess Gut, a tenant organizer who has been helping the residents protest their eviction, “given the building is in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood and the city is already losing SRO units at a rapid rate due to neglect and fires.”
By Jen St. Denis who is a reporter with The Tyee covering civic issues. Find her on Twitter @JenStDen.
Link to the story published on April 5th, 2023:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/04/05/Inside-SRO-Eviction-Attempt/
