Among remnants of signs from a recent Parkdale rent strike — including a meeting notice that proclaims “we will not be pushed out” — is a new, bright yellow flyer with repeated images of a man’s face, claiming he is #TheManWhoSoldParkdale.

The flyer on a pole at King St. W. and Tyndall Ave. is one of dozens around Parkdale that bears the face of realtor Nick Brewerton.

The Toronto realtor has become the target of an anonymous campaign in the neighbourhood, which advocates say is rapidly gentrifying and leaving low-income tenants struggling with rising rents. The Man Who Sold Parkdale campaign says it’s taking a stand against “displacement realty,” which it defines as selling affordable homes at inflated prices, where new landlords force the old tenants out to increase rents.

“Nick Brewerton is far from the only force at work in making Parkdale unaffordable, but he is a significant player who is profiting more than most from the displacement of low-income communities in the neighbourhood,” the campaign’s website reads.

Brewerton confirmed in an email to the Star that he has seen posters and postcards distributed across Parkdale. He said he supports affordable housing and, as a realtor, has “no role or ability to intervene in any situation of tenants who are being displaced, as this would be a matter between the landlord and the tenants.”

As a realtor, Brewerton said he assists sellers, buyers and investors. He compared his role as to that of a lawyer, adding that prices are negotiated between buyers and sellers. “No one has contacted me with any concerns or information regarding any of the properties I have sold, which have involved many different sellers and buyers,” he said.

Brewerton said he’s sympathetic to tenants having to move and look for a new apartment, and people paying low and affordable rents who are “unfairly” being forced out by landlords.

“I am also aware of concerns generally about landlords who don’t respect tenants or their rights, or who don’t follow the rules,” Brewerton said.

He added he’d be “glad to help in any way that” he can, but that it would be more appropriate to contact the property owners with concerns about their properties.

The Man Who Sold Parkdale campaign declined an interview with the Star when reached through the email address provided on its website. They say they are remaining anonymous due to privacy and safety concerns.

“We have experienced the realities of living with both old-school slumlords and new investor owners and their property managers,” the campaign said on its website. “We have felt the impacts of speaking up, raising awareness and getting organized. ... In order to protect ourselves, we have chosen to remain anonymous.”

The campaign is distributing “Nick-Free Zone” signs and have compiled a list of a dozen properties they say Brewerton sold or is in the process of selling. The Man Who Sold Parkdale signs are plastered to the back of stop signs, electricity and mail boxes and parking meters throughout the neighbourhood.

The campaign’s goals, according to their website, are threefold.

They’re seeking an end to displacement reality, want Brewerton to take his business out of Parkdale and are asking the municipal and provincial governments to “institute rent control on vacant apartments, preventing landlords from charging whatever they want once a unit is empty, removing the financial incentive to push poor people out of their homes.”

“Stopping Nick Brewerton from selling rooming houses will not stop gentrification in Parkdale, but if we can make him take his business out of Parkdale, we can send a strong message to others that are trying to make money by pushing us out, that we will not let them do so,” the website says.

The campaign comes as no surprise to Parkdale residents and community advocates.

Sandy Gray, a Parkdale resident, lives in a residence recently sold by Brewerton. Gray, who has lived in a two-bedroom for 12 years, said he was “intrigued” by the Man Who Sold Parkdale campaign.

“I definitely understand the intent behind it,” Gray said. He added he had a somewhat mixed reaction to the campaign.

“I understand free market and I don’t think people should not be allowed to sell their property,” Gray said. “And obviously, if they’re selling their property after 30 years, they should be making a profit.”

But he said there’s “something wrong” when new owners force tenants out of a residence and increase rent.

Glenn Aubrey, who lives in a 35-unit Parkdale residence that was recently sold by Brewerton, said the neighbourhood is gentrifying and he fears for the future.

“Where do you go?” Aubrey asked. “Where am I ever going to find $657 rent in the GTA again? It’ll never happen.”

Cole Webber of Parkdale Community Legal Services said in an email that landlords have a financial incentive to push tenants out so they can raise rents without limit on vacant units. “They’ll use all manner of tactics: harassment and intimidation, neglect of repairs, rent increases, and buyout offers,” Webber said.

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“Look for tenants in Parkdale rooming houses and smaller buildings to begin developing their own strategies to organize against displacement and real-estate predation.”

The Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust’s 2017 study found that there were 198 rooming houses in the neighbourhood, amounting to about 2,715 dwelling rooms. In its report, the organization identified an “escalating crisis” of the loss of rooming houses, which they call “a critical source of accessible and affordable housing” in Parkdale.

“Continued loss of rooming houses in Parkdale will be catastrophic to the lives of hundreds of mostly low- income, vulnerable residents who depend on Parkdale’s social and community supports and are at risk of eviction, displacement, and homelessness,” the Trust’s executive summary said.