16-05-2025
Hamilton landlord fined $100K for not allowing tenants back after renovations
When
Darlene Wesley's landlord
told her and other tenants of their small east Hamilton building to clear out for renovations, they protested.
Those long-term residents of 309 Strathearne Ave. also told the property owner they expected to move back in at the same rent once the work was done.
Such conditions governing existing tenants' first right of refusal are enshrined in provincial legislation, but their landlord still re-rented the apartments and jacked up the rates.
'It was traumatizing for us,' Wesley, 68, told The Spectator more than two years after she was forced to leave her home of 18 years.
In a Hamilton courtroom this week, Kevin Moniz was convicted on four counts of not recognizing the four tenants' express desire to return to their homes.
Justice of the peace Linda Crawford issued Moniz, who didn't attend the provincial offences trial, a $25,000 penalty for each count, amounting to $100,000 overall.
Cornerstone Select Properties, the firm Moniz hired in January 2023 to lease the vacated units, was convicted on one count relating to Wesley's ordeal only, resulting in a $25,000 fine.
In explaining her ruling, Crawford said 'when push came to shove,' Moniz didn't afford the tenants' first of refusal, a serious matter in an increasingly
unaffordable housing market
.
Beyond the renovation plan, he decided to 'essentially flip (the apartments) and rent them out for more than double of what he had been getting before.'
The displaced tenants provided 'very moving testimony' of how this decision had affected them, Crawford said.
'Their lives have been irrevocably changed.'
Darlene Wesley, who joined Hamilton ACORN to fight to stay in her apartment of 18 years, said she and her daughter now pay more than $2,000 a month in rent.
A day earlier, Wesley broke down during testimony, explaining she'd never been late on her rent during her many years at 309 Strathearne.
'I was a good tenant and I really thought we were going to come back, but that didn't happen,' said Wesley, who paid $720 a month.
Her daughter, Candace Fusaro, 44, lived in a basement apartment at the same address.
Once forced out, Fusaro managed to temporarily rent the apartment of an acquaintance they'd met through Hamilton ACORN, which helped take up the tenants' battle to stay put.
Wesley, meanwhile, lived with her son and his family for a spell, clinging to the hope they'd return to their homes within six months once the renovations were done.
But before them, Wesley recalled, her sister spotted new drapes and shampoo bottles in the windows of her apartment before knocking on the door to find new tenants there.
Since then, life has 'been a nightmare,' said Wesley, noting when she turned 65 and received Old Age Security, a boost from her disability cheques, she'd hoped to put some money away for her grandchildren.
That's no longer possible, Wesley said, now that she and her daughter, who relies on disability payments, pay more than $2,000 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in Stoney Creek. 'It's just not fair.'
The provincial offences case issued its verdict after the tenants' battles before the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), and in the first year of a
new Hamilton bylaw
meant to crack down on bad-faith evictions known as 'renovictions.'
The program, which took effect in January, requires landlords to apply for renovation licences, pay fees, submit documentation and make arrangements for temporary accommodations for tenants who exercise their right to return without spikes in rent once work wraps up.
In Ontario, landlords are able to evict tenants for extensive renovations that require building permits, but tenant advocates have condemned underhanded pressure tactics as a
driver of displacement
motivated by profit.
Under provincial legislation, landlords can't hike fees beyond annual caps, but once units are vacated, they're able to charge new arrivals whatever the market can bear.
Moniz, according to evidence presented in the trial, had offered to pay two tenants $2,500 each if they'd 'void' their right of first refusal to return to 309 Strathearne.
One of them, Robert Jewell, told the court he'd lived at 309 Strathearne for 25 years. 'I was able to afford this unit on minimum wage.'
But since his eviction and denied return, he has couch-surfed with friends and relatives.
'It was very troubling that this happened,' said Jewell, noting he'd 'definitely felt betrayed.'
Losing a place of his own has also meant a loss of freedom, for example, to have friends over, he said.
'It really affected me,' he said. 'I'm a second-class citizen all of a sudden.'
In his testimony, Herman van der Meiden said he now lives in an apartment that costs twice as much but is twice as small. 'So I've lost that.'
Provincial prosecutor Adrian Canagasuriam made the case for the charges through the witnesses' testimony.
But Canagasuriam also presented a series of emails and text messages the tenants exchanged with Moniz during the turbulent period under examination.
Jeff Varcoe, president of Cornerstone, who represented his firm during the proceedings, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He told the court that none of the correspondence entered into evidence referenced his firm.
'Our names are not mentioned anywhere in those documents,' said Varcoe, who maintained Cornerstone didn't know about the tenants' status.
He also rejected Wesley's assertion that a Cornerstone representative had been within earshot of a conversation she had with Moniz about her intention to come back.
'We don't know who this person is that was standing in the hallway.'
Moreover, Cornerstone received 'no financial benefit' from rents and was only paid a $950 leasing fee, Varcoe emphasized.
But Crawford said she could 'not accept' that Cornerstone, whose time as property manager overlapped with Wesley but not the others, didn't know the circumstances.
After Varcoe said the $25,000 penalty would bankrupt his firm, Crawford gave him a year to pay, noting he could later apply for an extension if necessary.
Moniz, who didn't show up for the trial, by contrast has 15 days to pay his fines.
After the hearing, Wesley said she would have preferred stiffer penalties.
She and her daughter, who have relied on a paralegal, still plan to pursue compensation for being denied first right of refusal.
Wesley advises tenants caught up in similar circumstances to keep a detailed paper trail with their landlords.
'Oh yes, definitely, you have to record, record, record. You have to be your own advocate.'
