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CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘It's a plague': Advocates renew calls for renoviction bylaw in Kitchener
Local advocates are renewing their calls for a bylaw that would prevent renters from losing their homes and protect them from bad landlords. Known as a 'renoviction,' the term refers to the practice of forcing a tenant out of a building, citing the need for extensive renovations or repairs in the unit. On Monday, more than a dozen people took their fight to Kitchener City Hall, hoping to grab the attention of councillors and city staff. 'People need a renoviction bylaw passed,' said Ryan Murdock, secretary of the Waterloo chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). 'They need it passed now. They needed it passed yesterday.' Linda Vos is one of several tenants at 250 Frederick St., who received a renoviction notice earlier this year. While her case was dismissed by the Landlord Tenant Board last week, she said other people in her building aren't as lucky. ACORN RALLY Local housing advocates are renewing their calls for a bylaw in Kitchener that would prevent renters from losing their homes and protect them from bad landlords. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News) '(The landlords) seem to be targeting the individuals that have lower rents, that have been living in my building for decades,' said Vos. To put the problem into perspective, ACORN said it surveyed 160 tenants in Waterloo Region, with 28 per cent saying they received one or more eviction notices in the last five years. Of those, 54 per cent were notices to vacate for renovations or demolition. 'It's a plague that's really going across the country,' said Murdock. 'And that's why you see other municipalities, other regions stepping up and protecting their citizens, protecting their tenants, and that's what we need Kitchener to do here.' Back in February, city staff told council they needed time to review how similar bylaws worked in other jurisdictions like Hamilton, London and Toronto. They're expected to share their findings in a report at a committee meeting on June 16. 'There's no reason that Kitchener can't do it,' said ACORN's Ken Vogelpohl. 'All we've been hearing is excuses. What we want is some action.' But according to one city councillor, action requires resources – something the city doesn't have. 'The province hasn't provided the tools to us to do that,' said Ward 9 Councillor Debbie Chapman in an interview with CTV News. 'But the fact that these other cities are doing it, I'd love to see Kitchener follow suit.' It's still not clear when a renoviction bylaw could come into force, but advocates say they're not going anywhere until something is done. 'It's time to actually do something,' said Vogepohl. 'We're going to be here. We're going to be at the mics. We're going to be putting more pressure on council to make sure that this happens.'
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Montreal's Housing Hotline fundraising to keep decades-old service running
Arnold Bennett wants to be there for tenants in trouble and is fundraising to keep the Montreal Housing Hotline connected. Moving day is just a month away for Quebecers, and Arnold Bennett wants to be there for tenants in trouble. He's been running the Montreal Housing Hotline since the 1970s. 'People call with all kinds of questions. We can do advocacy in the sense of steering them in the right direction and proposing strategies and referring them to lawyers and other things that the rental board will not do,' said Bennett. He says he about 30 calls per day, and the hotline is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. All expenses are paid out of his own pocket, and now he's asking the community for help. Earlier this week, Bennett set up a GoFundMe hoping it will help cover some of the costs – which include phone and internet bills, electricity, technical support and a few staff members. It's also one of the few resources for anglophones in Quebec. The province is in the throes of a housing crunch, and Bennett is no stranger to housing policy. He says legislation has had some major improvements since the he started a housing clinic in the '80s. He was among those who fought for bans on condo conversions and pushed back against renovictions. Bennett Arnold Bennett wants to be there for tenants in trouble and is fundraising to keep the Montreal Housing Hotline connected. (Swidda Rassy/CTV) He remembers when rent increases between 12 and 30 per cent were allowed, 'and it had extremely serious effects on people.' Now he says politicians are rolling protections back. 'The right of tenants to be able to transfer or sign a lease was undermined by the current government, causing a serious problem in terms of being able to avoid discrimination in housing,' he said. 'The last three years got very bad, and that's combined with another cyclical problem, a housing shortage. And that housing shortage means that the door is open to gouging and units aren't available.' The problem isn't just hitting low-income families – it's extended well into the middle class. 'Everybody's having problems,' said Bennett. 'There's never enough services … Everybody's short-staffed and there's time constraints.' And Bennett isn't just getting calls from Montrealers. He says people from Laval, Quebec City and the townships reach out because 'there was nothing where they were, especially if they were anglophones or allophones.' Bob Jones Bob Jones was one of Arnold Bennett's first hires for his housing hotline. He calls Bennett a 'guiding light' for tenants. (Swidda Rassy/CTV) Bob Jones remembers when he first started volunteering with Bennett in the late '80s. A friend of his needed help with a repossession case, but Bennett was seeing hundreds of people every week. So, Jones decided to volunteer. Three months later he was one of Bennett's first hires. He remembers visiting tenants who had issues with their landlords who cut off their electricity and calling the police. 'We'd say, there's a theft of services here. Sometimes, we'd have to explain the process to the police, because they weren't that knowledgeable in rental law, and we tried to get the problem solved,' Jones told CTV News. 'Sometimes it involved sitting down, writing a letter. Sometimes it involved calling the landlord and seeing if they could fix it.' He says Bennett's dedication is needed. Even on weekends, Bennett will sometimes keep the phone line open. Jones calls him a 'guiding light' at a time where rents are skyrocketing, and people are facing evictions and false repossessions. 'If something doesn't happen soon, there'll be more people homeless on the streets than able to live in their apartments,' said Jones. 'Because right now for NDG, the average rent for three and a half is $1,300 that is unaffordable for most people working minimum wage or even two jobs at minimum wage … and some tenants don't know their rights.' Though he's hoping the community will have his back, Bennett says he's prepared to keep going 'hand to mouth.' Nothing will stop him from being there for tenants. 'Retire? You mean, when they carry me out on a stretcher. It'll have to be involuntary,' he said. With files from CTV News Montreal's Swidda Rassy
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Founder of Montreal's Housing Hotline seeks help to keep decades-long service running
Social Sharing Reminiscing with a chuckle, Arnold Bennett describes his younger self as "one of those student radicals back in the day." Bennett first wrote an article about tenants' rights in 1969 for the McGill Daily, one of the university's campus newspapers. Within a few years, he had established himself as a go-to resource on the issue of renters' rights in Quebec, going door-to-door and encouraging tenants to get together and speak up against housing injustices. In 1974, he launched the Housing Hotline — a phone service that helps frustrated tenants, and some landlords — navigate disputes. Decades later, however, Bennett is seeking help to avoid shutting it down. There were much fewer housing advocacy groups then there are now and services in English were limited, Bennett recalls, but he's adamant that his hotline still helps address a major need. Fighting for your rights, he says, involves more than just knowing the law. "People still need interpretation. They need to be pointed strategically in certain directions. It's not just a matter of knowing what the rules are," Bennett said. "You have to know what's the best approach that you should use in dealing with a certain landlord or a certain problem, how to organize with your neighbours, how to use the city inspectors." WATCH | Here are your options if your landlord raises your rent: Landlord raising your rent? Here are your rights in Quebec 55 years ago Duration 2:18 For much of the last 50 years or so, Bennett has funded the hotline out of pocket, using his revenue from a business he used to run. He's now raising funds to help cover basic expenses like a landline, a cellphone or internet access. "I have fees for certain accounting services for reports that I have to submit to the government," he said. "Even before you start talking about paying for an assistant, or anything like that — it adds up." In addition to the hotline, Bennett ran a housing clinic from 1981 up until 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced such in-person activities to shut down. The free clinics were attended by housing lawyers and legal assistants who could offer legal advice and represent tenants at the housing tribunal. Bennett also served as a Montreal city councillor during the 1970s and 80s. 'A major loss' if hotline shuts down Bob Jones, a resident of Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood, remembers walking into the housing clinic in 1988 with a friend who was getting evicted from his home. He described the clinic that day as "utter chaos," with 80 to 100 people waiting in line to see the clinic's staff to get advice. Jones, who had just left a job, offered to volunteer at the clinic, and he eventually spent 20 years working for or with Bennett. "Some of us would actually go with them to the [housing tribunal] and we'd prepare their cases, keep them calm," he said. "We weren't allowed to talk or plead but we had already prepared them beforehand so that they knew what to say and when to say it." Marvin Rotrand, a former Montreal city councillor, says he met Bennett just before the 1982 municipal elections. He said the tenants' rights advocate's ability to provide "effective service in English" is something a lot of the newer housing groups still fail to provide today. "A lot of people turn to Arnold," Rotrand said. "Clearly, it would be a major loss in services if the Housing Hotline had to close." Bennett is confident the hotline will remain, even if the service isn't what it once was. "They'll have to carry me out on a stretcher," he said laughing. WATCH | Tips on how to handle an eviction notice: Got an eviction notice? Here's what to do 1 year ago Duration 1:00 Eviction and repossession notices in Quebec are often issued in late December, but tenants have options if they want to contest them.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Six Ways Cities Are Trying to Keep Rental Properties and Tenants Safe
This spring, as lawmakers in the Illinois State Senate debated a bill that would restrict local programs known as crime-free housing, hundreds of witnesses showed up to share their views on the proposed changes. City officials and police chiefs argued that ordinances governing the programs, which can require landlords to evict renters who have had contact with law enforcement, should stay as they are. Aggressive ordinances are needed, they said, to help the police oust drug dealers who set up shop in apartment buildings, and to compel landlords to deal with problems at their properties. Housing advocates and renters spoke in support of major changes, pointing to multiple instances of discriminatory and unlawful enforcement. Landlords also pleaded for further regulation, telling senators they had no interest in acting as the enforcement arm of the police. It is a debate that has intensified over the past three decades as the number of crime-free housing programs spread from a handful of early adopters to more than 2,000 municipalities across 42 states. An investigation by The New York Times and The Illinois Answers Project found that in recent years, hundreds of people have been evicted in Illinois, many of them over minor infractions that occurred nowhere near their homes. Sometimes people were threatened with eviction after they called 911 for help. Over the years, many state and local governments have amended their ordinances to try to avoid such outcomes, often with mixed results. Some cities have looked to alternative strategies to keep rental properties and their tenants safe. Here are six of them. 1. Protect Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence In 2015, Illinois passed statewide legislation prohibiting what was found to be one of the most troubling unintended consequences of crime-free housing programs: The ordinances sometimes punished the victims of crimes. In many municipalities with these laws, the police order a landlord to evict a tenant after receiving a set number of 911 calls from or about a specific apartment; without much investigation, everyone in the household is forced to move. Victims of domestic violence were losing their homes after reporting abusive partners. Some survivors, fearing eviction, avoided calling the police for help. The 2015 legislation made it illegal to use crime-free housing laws against renters who called 911 to report incidents of domestic or sexual violence. Iowa and Pennsylvania made similar changes after the evictions of battered women in those states were publicized. But the new provisions have not adequately protected victims, according to many people who originally fought for the changes, because police officers still must decide whether to categorize an incident as domestic violence. A recent report issued by a coalition of housing advocates in Illinois found that in many municipalities, domestic violence reports were still triggering evictions. In the Chicago suburb of Rolling Meadows, for instance, a majority of the removal orders in 2023 were prompted by domestic violence calls. In Belleville, in Southern Illinois, domestic violence 911 calls led to more than a hundred eviction orders from 2021 to 2024. 'Ten years later, we're still seeing discriminatory enforcement,' said Emily Coffey, who worked on the report as part of her job at the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. 'We're still seeing enforcement against survivors of domestic violence,' she said, 'even though it's clearly a violation of state and federal law.' 2. Prohibit Evictions Based on 911 Calls A New York State law passed in 2019 required municipalities with crime-free programs to protect people who call emergency services for any reason. 'Despite their intent to aid communities, overly broad ordinances have instead had a harmful chilling effect deterring victims of violence and crime from accessing police assistance and have jeopardized public safety,' the legislation states. The law dictates that any renter in the state has the right to contact emergency services without reprisal, and it protects landlords from being fined or from losing their license if they don't evict a tenant based on the number of calls to the police. The American Civil Liberties Union of New York maintains a 'Know Your Rights' page about the law on its website, with a link to its services and a message for both renters and landlords in case an eviction order is prompted by calling 911: 'You can bring an action in court for damages or for the eviction to be undone.' 3. Limit Enforcement to Serious Crimes Cities that aggressively enforce crime-free housing laws can evict tenants for the violation of virtually any law or municipal code. In some cities, setting off fireworks or allowing a minor to drink a beer could lead to an eviction. In 2019, California issued statewide regulations limiting the enforcement of crime-free ordinances to serious offenses. The state prohibited cities from initiating evictions based on overly broad definitions of crime. Faribault, Minn., tried something similar after the A.C.L.U. accused it in a lawsuit of discriminating against Black residents, including a growing Somali population. As part of a 2022 settlement, Faribault agreed to revise its ordinance, which now spells out the specific offenses that can lead to an eviction. John Sherwin, who became Faribault's police chief as the settlement was being finalized, said the city of about 25,000 was small enough that each time an offense at a rental property occurred, his officers checked with him about whether it warranted a crime-free action. 'We are not evicting for anything less than a felony,' Chief Sherwin said. 'I think this is just a smarter way to do it. This ordinance is for dealing with what's causing the most social harm in the community, and those are serious felonies.' 4. Require Due Process and Oversight In Richton Park, 30 miles south of Chicago, Diamond Jones and her family were ordered out of their home after calling the police multiple times in 2022 to report shootings and threats against them. At the time, the city's crime-free housing program had no appeals process. Ms. Jones later sued, and as part of a settlement reached in 2025, Richton Park began giving tenants an opportunity to dispute the allegations against them and argue against an eviction. John Murphey, the town attorney who wrote the amended ordinance, said there had yet to be an appeal under the new policy. But he stressed that he designed the process to be convenient and low-cost for renters. 'Rather than hiring a lawyer and fighting it out in eviction court, this gives an early opportunity for the tenant to tell his or her side of the story,' Mr. Murphey said. The legislation under consideration in Illinois would require that all crime-free programs have a similar appeals process. 5. Rental Registration, Complaint Hotlines and Code Enforcement When asked about the underlying problems crime-free housing policies are meant to solve, local officials often point to absentee landlords, investors who buy properties but aren't around to properly manage or maintain them. According to Chief Sherwin, it was a 'recipe for crime to thrive.' But there are other ways to make rental properties safer and more orderly. By creating a detailed registry for all rental buildings, municipalities could maintain control over unresponsive landlords by threatening them with the loss of their registration or with fines if they repeatedly fail to deal with code violations or problematic tenants. To identify issues early, towns could conduct routine inspections of rental properties and create a hotline for tenant complaints. Peoria, Ill., which in 2020 settled a federal housing discrimination lawsuit tied to its crime-free practices, now relies heavily on other tenant laws governing lease violations and evictions, and its code enforcement division seeks to connect renters with support services and free legal aid. Peoria also expanded a rehousing program, which allows the city to sue landlords for code violations and gives part of any recouped funds to tenants to help them find a new home. A crime-free ordinance 'is a tool we have,' said Joe Dulin, the city's community development director. 'It's not the first tool we ever want to use.' 6. Repeal or Ban Ordinances Several years ago, St. Louis Park, a city in the Minneapolis suburbs, went through an elaborate process to analyze possible improvements to its crime-free housing practices following local news reports that showed the city had evicted hundreds of people, often for incidents that weren't even crimes. After nine months, the group appointed by the city to study the issue proposed two solutions: St. Louis Park could keep its ordinance but carry out a long list of needed changes, or the city could repeal it, while also requiring landlords to get licenses and register their properties. In the end, the St. Louis Park City Council voted unanimously to do away with crime-free housing. Other municipalities across the country have also repealed their crime-free ordinances, usually after facing lawsuits or threats of legal action. Last year, California banned the regulations statewide. In Illinois, the proposed legislation would not go that far. Cities could still require landlords to evict renters convicted of a felony that occurred on a rental property. But most other enforcement would be curtailed. 'It's a community safety issue,' said State Senator Karina Villa, the bill's chief sponsor, of the efforts to restrict the policies. 'People should feel safe to contact their law enforcement without fear of repercussions, without fear of ending up on the streets.' Reporting for this article was supported by a grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Funders have no control over the selection and focus of stories or the editing process and do not review stories before publication. The Times retains full editorial control of this story.
