A group of west-end tenants who banded together against what they feared could turn into a “renoviction” are experiencing temporary relief after the Landlord and Tenant Board ruled they cannot be forced from their apartments at 394 Dovercourt Rd. — at least, for now.

“I think the group is feeling glass half-full, glass half-empty, depending on who you talk to,” longtime tenant Robert Gill said Tuesday. “We have essentially proven to the landlord that we are a bunch of people that aren’t moving.”

Gill and his neighbours had been fighting an attempt by their landlord to temporarily evict them during renovations.

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The tenants feared if they moved out of their apartments, despite the law stating they are entitled to return, they would be replaced by people paying far higher rents once the renovations were done. A previous case before the board showed that should that happen, due to a loophole in rental law, evicted tenants have no recourse to regain their units.

At Dovercourt, the landlord had argued the units needed to be empty in order to replace knob-and-tube wiring throughout the building.

In her June 10 decision, adjudicator Ibi Olabode wrote that while that type of electrical work does not require a building permit, the law governing evictions does.

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‘Renovictions’ loophole keeps tenants on edge

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The law “expressly says” that, in order for tenants to be forced to leave, renovations must be extensive enough that a building permit is required, Olabode wrote. If the “legislature intended that a landlord be able to terminate a tenancy and evict” for work that did not require a building permit, the law would have been written differently, she wrote.

“Furthermore, I am not satisfied that the Landlord has established that it is necessary to have vacant possessions to undertake the removal and replacement of knob and tube wiring,” Olabode wrote.

David Ciobotaru, a paralegal representing the landlord, named as AIPL Canada Inc. and Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc. in board documents, told the tribunal that efforts to obtain building permits from the city were “refused” because they are not “generally issued for electrical work,” according to the decision.

Ciobotaru did not respond to a request for comment from the Star or say if the owner intends to appeal. Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc. also did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the decision, the building’s general contractor testified that while the original work didn’t require a building permit, one could still be required on the advice of an architect.

Lawyer Kevin Laforest, who represented tenants from 14 units facing eviction, said decisions like Olabode’s, which he called “well-reasoned and grounded in law,” are critically important as more cases like these are expected to go before the board.

“This decision will help all tenants in Ontario, not just these ones,” he said.

Robert Gill and his neighbours on a low-rise building at 394 Dovercourt Rd. have been fighting their landlord’s attempt to evict them during renovations to their apartments. (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star file photo)

The Dovercourt Rd. building is home to an eclectic group of largely precarious workers who count artists, actors, tree planters and teachers among their neighbours and who otherwise might not be able to afford living in Canada’s largest city.

In October 2017, the building was sold for $3.15 million to AIPL Canada Inc., a company incorporated in B.C. with mailing and delivery addresses in Vancouver, and a commercial property named The Masterpiece in India.

Shortly after the sale, tenants were told in writing that all the wiring had to be replaced, and they were offered money to leave. Some took the offer. Those who remained were sent N13 notices — a form explaining that their landlord needs them out during extensive renovations and could take them to a hearing before the board.

“We have been advised by our building insurance and electrical engineers that this wiring is problematic and dangerous and needs to be replaced,” the notice read.

The same form comes with a written promise that, under the law, any tenants who want back in after work is done will be allowed to return and pay roughly the same amount of rent.

Fearing that wouldn’t happen and that they’d be priced out of Toronto, the tenants decided to stay put, brush up on rental housing law and wait for a board hearing.

In February, the board fined the landlord of nearby 795 College St. $75,000 after ordering out tenants for renovations and then ignoring their requests to return and replacing them with new tenants paying three times the rent, in a move board adjudicator Dale Whitmore called a “blatant disregard” for the law. It was penalized a second time in May, with an Ontario Court of Justice ordering 795 College Inc. to pay $48,000, plus a $12,000 victim surcharge, for violating the Residential Tenancies Act by ignoring the tenants’ requests to return. The money does not go to the former tenants and there was no legal route for them to take repossession of their units.

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The Star first reported on the story of 394 Dovercourt Rd. in February. At that time, Briarlane did not respond to multiple requests for comment or requests to be connected to the property owners.

After the Star emailed Advanced India Projects Ltd. in Haryana, India, and called Toronto-based numbers for the landlord’s representatives that were listed in a notice to tenants and left messages, a Gmail message was received from AIPL Canada Inc. that said the property owner “will continue to respect the rights of all tenants” and any “comment, suggestion or insinuation to the contrary is simply untrue.”

There was “absolutely no attempt” to abuse the law, the Star was told in a later email.

Tenant Gill said they were aided in their fight through “invaluable” support from Parkdale Community Legal Services, a clinic dedicated to protecting the rights of lower-income Torontonians and pushing for systemic change. “I don’t think we could have done it without them,” Gill said.

Clinic staff learned last week that the decision by Premier Doug Ford’s government to slash Legal Aid Ontario’s budget by 30 per cent means the legal clinic will lose $1 million in funding. Multiple specialty clinics had funding cut and are expected to have a direct and negative impact on vulnerable people.