Dozens of tenants fear being forced out of their homes

Residents of five buildings recently purchased by real estate agent David Powell and his associates fear having to leave their affordable housing in yet another episode of tensions between owner-investors and tenants.

Frederik-Xavier Duhamel
The Press

The buildings at 7140 and 7150, avenue Shelley, 7530, rue Garnier, 3655, rue Bélanger, and 6620, 28^e Avenue, in Montreal, all of which have between six and eight units, have recently changed hands.

Those who live there have also received long building regulations and notices of rent increases or major works that they consider unjustified. Some of these notices and many clauses of the settlements appear invalid, according to a lawyer.

Tenants who spoke with The Press say the new landlords or their representatives are talking about doing — or have already started without a permit — work to raise rents by hundreds of dollars.

“They gave us a letter with 1001 regulations that didn’t make sense,” says Pascal Chaput, tenant of 3655, rue Bélanger for 16 years. “They made offers for me to leave because they want more than double the rent,” he says.

“I’m going to lose quality of life, I’m going to lose living space, because these people decide they’re going to make money,” worries Marie-Pierre Simard, who lives at 7530 , rue Garnier for 14 years.

“Notice of major repair or improvement”

The tenants of the buildings on Shelley Avenue received “notices of major repair or improvement” in September 2021 which informed them of work requiring their evacuation for three months, from December to February. The documents signed by Anabelle Didier-Bujold, an associate of Mr. Powell, provide for compensation of three months’ rent plus $450.

Some left, but others refused, like Francine Picard, 73, who has lived at 7150 for 25 years. She says that on her first visit, M^me Didier-Bujold told him that his rent would increase by $200 to $300 after the renovations, which have still not taken place.

Same scenario at 7140, where work was started without a permit. A notice was sent by the City to the owners on May 20 to demand that work be stopped, according to documents obtained from the borough. As of June 9, no renovation permit application had been made for these two buildings.

So far, M.^me Picard is the only tenant of the five buildings against whom the current owners have taken steps before the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) with a view to evicting her. However, they withdrew before the hearing.

“They stressed me, really stressed, then for nothing”, indignant M^me Picard, adding that she couldn’t sleep for weeks for fear of having to leave.

“She does everything to make the world tan,” she says in reference to M^me Didier-Bujold.

The residents of 7530, 3655 and 6620 have received lease renewal notices containing a rent increase of $50 from the 1^er July and two options: accept it or leave the premises.

However, “when the owner decides that he puts the options, he must write all the options”, affirms M^e Justine Sarah, lawyer for Juripop. These notices could be declared invalid, according to her, since they do not indicate that the tenants have the right to refuse these conditions.

Several, like Mr. Chaput and Mr.^me Simard, nevertheless refused these increases, scribbling the missing option before returning the notice. Stéphanie St-Pierre, tenant of 6620, said she would accept on the condition that certain work that she considers urgent be carried out.

Building regulations

All tenants who spoke with The Press — at least one at each of the five addresses — received nearly identical building regulations from their new owners.

The 8 to 11-page documents provide for numerous prohibitions and obligations for tenants, including that of paying extermination costs in the event of the presence of vermin.

These regulations also include fees for a host of situations, such as $50 for a visit from a building manager, $75 for three days’ late rent, and $450 for a sublease or assignment. of lease.

“Any modifications to these regulations can be made unilaterally on the part of the lessor”, finally indicate the documents.

“These are regulations that don’t make sense,” says M.^me St-Pierre, mother of two young children. I signed the rules because I was like, ‘Look, I have a newborn baby, she’s going to be 2 months old, the little one. So I can’t pick myself up outside.” »

According to M^e Sarah, these clauses are invalid.

The extermination of vermin, for example, is the responsibility of the owner. In addition, the latter cannot unilaterally modify the regulations – and therefore the lease – according to the lawyer. “It must be sent as a renewal notice, then it must be accepted or refused by the tenant,” she explains.

A landlord also cannot charge a fee for an assignment of lease, except “reasonable fees, such as a credit check, but cannot be predicted [le montant] in advance,” says Mr.^e Sarah. Many other clauses could also be deemed unfair and therefore be invalidated, such as requiring $50 for a visit or $75 for late rent, according to Ms.^e Sarah. “It’s not a harm that seems realistic to me,” says the lawyer specializing in housing law.

A coach in real estate flips

David Powell is a well-known actor in the industry. He is coach at the Quebec Real Estate Investors Club (CIIQ) since 2018 and notably gives the training “Live quickly from real estate thanks to FLIPS” at a cost of $149.95.

“Dave Powell has built a reputation in the real estate flip world in Montreal where he has done more than thirty real estate flips in sought-after areas”, can we read in the description of a short interview published on YouTube by the CIIQ three years ago. “I started doing building renovation flips in Montreal, ranging from makeup renovations to major transformations,” he says in this interview. “That’s where I got my expertise […] I now support investors in their projects to give them the best advice. »

Mr. Powell did business with several partners to purchase the buildings discussed in this article.

7530, 3655 and 6620 were sold on May 17, 2022 to Immobilier LPDP, whose shareholders are Gestion AP-LPD and David Powell Immobilier. Gestion AP-LPD belongs to Louis-Pierre Deslauriers and Andréane Poirier. The tenants of these dwellings say they have received visits from a representative of the owners who is not registered among the shareholders.

The 7140 and the 7150 were sold on August 17, 2021. The 7140 belongs to 9390-0363 Québec inc., whose first three shareholders are David Powell, Anabelle Didier-Bujold and Lucie Desgagné. 7150 belongs to David Powell. Tenants of these two buildings say they have received visits from Mr.^me Didier-Bujold.

All of these individuals were contacted by phone or email. M^me Desgagné is the only one to have responded to requests for The Press. She says she is not very involved in the affairs of 9390-0363 Québec inc. and never having visited 7140.

In addition, Mr. Powell was summoned for a hearing on June 9 by the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) to face six counts of affront to honor and dignity. of the profession. The OACIQ indicates that the decision as to guilt and the sanction must be rendered “within approximately 60 days”.