This holiday season, some north Toronto tenants long at odds with their landlord suddenly aren’t sure whose name they should put on their rent cheques. And they’re concerned that they could lose money or even get evicted if the situation isn’t clarified soon.

“We don’t know really what’s going on right now,” said Andrew Gallagher, who has lived at 2779 Yonge St. for more than three years.

“We’re just kind of in limbo.”

Gallagher and his fellow tenants say they found “notices of attornment” at their doors on Nov. 28. The notes said a representative from the Canadian Mortgage Servicing Corporation (CMSC) would be on hand to “collect the December rent” and that all future rent should be sent to the company’s Adelaide St. address.

A “notice of attornment” is a document meant to inform tenants of a mortgaged property that the mortgage is in default and that rent should now be paid to the lender instead of the landlord.

Gallagher, the head of the tenants’ association, said he immediately contacted long-time landlord Bianca Pollak. He said she told him to ignore the notices and keep paying her the rent.

Now, Gallagher and other tenants are concerned that if they pay the wrong person, they won’t see their money back, or if they wait too long without paying, they might get kicked out.

“We’ve been contacting everyone to find out what to do,” said Gallagher, adding that he wants to be sure who is entitled to his rent before he writes a cheque for $1,200.

“Whatever that legal proof is I don’t know, but it’s more than a piece of paper with a note stuck in my door, that’s for sure.”

Reached by telephone, Pollak told the Star “I cannot talk” and then hung up. She didn’t return emails or voicemails asking her to explain the situation.

Last week, Gallagher said tenants’ received an email from lawyers representing CMSC, informing them that the corporation has applied to the Ontario Superior Court to appoint a receiver and manager over Pollak’s properties, who would ensure proper maintenance of the buildings and start the process of selling them. That hearing is scheduled for Dec. 22, the CMSC’s lawyer, David Preger, confirmed Wednesday.

Dan Simon, a tenant who lives next door to Gallagher at 15 Strathgowan Ave., which is also owned by Pollak, said his building is in the same boat: they also received attornment notices, which state that the “charge and assignment of rents” have been transferred to the CMSC and that the landlord is in “default.”

The document, which Simon forwarded to the Star, states that the transfer of charge was “registered” Nov. 18, a date that matches the transfer noted for Pollak’s property in the Ontario Land Registry Office database.

Simon said that, nonetheless, “we’ve opted for the most part not to adhere to the requests,” because they feel more comfortable following their lease agreement with Pollak.

Richard Munroe, spokesperson for the CMSC, also declined to answer questions from the Star and said the company wouldn’t comment on the matter.

In a recent statement to Global News, CMSC said it has applied to the courts to appoint a receiver, who would “see to the proper management of the property” if the request is granted.

Pollak’s tenants at 2779 Yonge took her to the Landlord and Tenant Board earlier this year, after they lived for several weeks without central heat during winter. In September, they won their case and were awarded two months’ rent from Pollak, Gallagher said.

Wendy Lum, who works with the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, said notices of attornment typically indicate that the landlord fell behind on property tax or mortgage payments, and that a third party has intervened to collect money directly from tenants.

She said that in this case, because of the confusion, some tenants — such as Gallagher — have decided not to pay their rent yet, while others have decided to pay Pollak.

Lawyer Randall Friedland said the tenants should pay the mortgage servicer, adding that he has “never heard” of a fraudulent notice of attornment.

“It’s common when a landlord has gone into default,” he said. “When that happens, that would be one of the first remedies that a mortgagee or a creditor would take.”

The tenants at 2779 Yonge St. have a long history of acrimony with Pollak, who has applied to the city to tear down the three buildings she owns at the site to make way for a condo development designed by Will Alsop, the architect behind the “table top” Sharp Centre for Design at OCAD University.

Aside from the weeks without heat last winter, tenants have also complained about slow snow removal and unaddressed repairs, according to a lengthy record of bylaw inspections posted on the city’s website.

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“It comes down to a principle factor which some people may not agree with. But at some point, this is our home; there was a time when there was nothing wrong with it,” Gallagher said.

“I’m willing to hand over my money to anybody who’s willing to look after my property.”

It’s just that he’s still not sure who that person is.