A cosmetic surgery doctor, who owns at least 386 homes in the greater Montreal area and who has been involved in more than 150 cases at the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) since 2014, is under fire from criticism from tenants with precarious incomes . A dozen of them denounced the To have to rent increases which they describe as excessive and repeated pressure to encourage them to leave their accommodation, with the aim of re-renting them at a higher price.
Johanne Leclerc is bitter when she talks about when her building changed hands in 2017: the 63-year-old woman, who lives on social assistance, says she was pressured to leave, like the other tenants in her building. She refused and now believes that she is paying the price. “They are going to arrange for us all to be in the street,” she says, met in her small two and a half located on King-George Street, in Longueuil.
The building of nine apartments in poor condition in which resides Mme Leclerc is owned by the number company of Zahi Abou Chacra, a Montreal-based plastic surgeon who describes himself as a “surgeon and entrepreneur” on LinkedIn. He is also medical chief of the otolaryngology department of the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, in addition to sitting on the institution’s board of directors. In 2017, he paid 2.1 million to acquire four buildings totaling 51 units on the same street in a disadvantaged neighborhood of Longueuil.
While Johanne had to pay rent of $525 per month from the 1er July 2019, his landlord wanted to impose an additional rent increase of $140 on him in anticipation of renovations. Fearful, the lady then “accepted the unreasonable increase in the rent on the spot”, relates her lawyer at the time, Manuel Johnson.
Joined by The duty, real estate lawyer Jimmy Troeung recalls that landlords can increase the rents of their tenants as they see fit “if there is consent of the parties”. On the other hand, if a tenant asks the TAL to fix his rent, the latter cannot take into account renovations that have not yet been carried out. A rise like that of Mme Leclerc – by more than 25% – would therefore be rejected, believes the lawyer, who has 12 years of experience.
The works planned at Johanne Leclerc’s did not take place in the months following this rent increase. The tenant then took steps before the TAL in the fall of 2019 against her landlord. The file was finally settled in January 2021 by an amicable agreement which allowed Mme Leclerc to collect about 1000 dollars and the repairs requested, confirms Me Johnson.
Next July, the lady, who currently pays $688 a month for housing, will have to deal with a $50 increase in her rent. “If we find ourselves outside the whole gang, where are we going to go? There are many tenants in this block who left who were people in difficulty, ”sighs Johanne Leclerc.
Reached on his cell phone and by email, Zahi Abou Chacra did not want to comment directly. “I’m a doctor myself, so I’m very far from all that,” he said. He instead let the secretary and administrator of his company, who is also his spouse, Nada Nachar, answer our questions.
Regarding rent increases, Mr.me Nachar clarified by email that the company “respects the regulations in place. If, for one reason or another, despite prior discussions, a dispute arises between us and a tenant on this subject, we will continue our discussions if necessary before the Administrative Housing Tribunal, the body where these discussions must continue.
” Everybody is gone “
In the building next to Johanne’s, history repeats itself. Michel, who wished to conceal his surname to avoid reprisals from his landlord, shows us a notice of an $80 rent increase. The document justifies this increase, which would have made the 1er July, his monthly rent from 480 to 560 dollars, by the increase in electricity costs, “taxes”, but “especially insurance”. Michel finally negotiated an increase in his rent of 20 dollars per month.
“A lot of people have left. He says, “I’m going to pay three months’ rent and I’m going to pay for your move.” Everyone left, ”says the former bartender, now 70 years old. Work has taken place in apartments in the building, and one of the tenants on the lower floor, who has been there for a few months, pays $605 a month, which is $125 more than Michel currently pays. The City of Longueuil mentions for its part that it has not issued any permits for all of the four buildings owned by this investor on its territory.
In his response to To have toMme Nachar indicates that she “always obtain permits when necessary to allow the various works to be carried out”. She adds that the objective of the company she represents is “to ensure that our current and potential tenants are satisfied by maintaining and improving the accommodations we offer them”.
“This is the main reason why we regularly carry out minor and major works in our various buildings, which we believe should always be the behavior adopted by a responsible building owner,” she says.
From surgeon to investor
Zahi Abou Chacra is the first shareholder and president of the company number 9249-8427 Quebec inc., based in Montreal. He operates this business, which specializes in property management and “home renovations”, with a few associates.
Since at least 2013, Mr. Abou Chacra has spent tens of millions of dollars to buy 16 apartment buildings totaling 386 units in Montreal and Longueuil through his numbered company, according to a review by the To have to. Cases opposing it to tenants flock to the TAL and have led to the opening of more than 150 cases in recent years.
After having discussed with a dozen tenants living in several of its apartments as well as with housing committees and after having searched dozens of cases brought before the courts, it seems that the same story is repeated in the different buildings. Once Mr. Abou Chacra’s company acquires these, the long-term tenants are repeatedly offered to terminate their lease. Those who refuse sometimes see themselves imposing significant increases in their rent.
“They were sending documents that mislead people, unjustified rent increases, amounts of up to $200 increase per rent,” says Mélodie-Laeticia Clérouin, who was pressured to leave her Boulevard apartment. Pie-IX last year, before receiving a $145 rent hike a few months ago.
Mme Nachar replies that it is “wrong to claim that we are pressuring them [les locataires] for anything”. “It’s not our way. Moreover, it is also false to claim that rent increases are linked in one way or another to a refusal,” she argues.
“We manage our buildings by respecting the regulations in place” and “we promote respectful relations with our tenants”, she adds, specifying that this declaration also applies to “rent charged” to tenants.
Not always allowed
The company also does not always manage to demonstrate the validity of its intentions in court.
In a building purchased by Mr. Abou Chacra in the fall of 2013 and located on rue Drolet in the La Petite-Patrie district of Montreal, the tenants received an eviction notice, that The duty consulted, to “substantially enlarge” their accommodation. However, after verification with the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, no permit justifying work of this magnitude was granted at this address between 2013 and 2014.
In fact, the owner did not appear at the hearing of the TAL opposing him to his tenants. The judge ruled in their favor, citing that the owner “has not demonstrated that he really intends to enlarge the dwellings and that the law allows it”.
UQAM professor and housing specialist Hélène Bélanger believes that pretending to carry out renovations without carrying them out to justify a rent increase is an illegal practice used by landlords who want to quickly increase the rents of their tenants.
“In some cases, in fraudulent repossessions, we will threaten and put pressure [pour que les locataires partent] while the renovations are superficial after all” and do not really require the departure of the tenants, she argues.
Fronde of tenants
In a building on rue Boyer, the tenants met also reported having been pressured to leave their homes when the company of the Dr Abou Chacra bought the 66-unit building in 2021 for more than $7.7 million.
A dozen tenants sent a formal notice last December asking that the “strategies of intimidation and harassment with the clear aim of obtaining the termination of the lease” cease.
This year, tenants had the unpleasant surprise of receiving significant increases in their rent in anticipation of the 1er July. Ronald Lajoie will see his rent increase from $576 to $620. The rent for its neighbor, two floors higher, will go from $695 to $749. The building manager, Progim, invokes in a document given to tenants an “increase in operating costs”, mainly insurance, which go from less than $10,000 in 2020 to more than $40,000 in 2021.
About twenty tenants decided to challenge the increase before the TAL.
The various experts and lawyers contacted confirm for their part that the increase in insurance can be a legitimate reason to increase the rent of housing. The magnitude of the increase could, however, be revised downwards depending on the evidence filed by the owner before the TAL, in the event of a dispute.