The owner of the private residence for seniors (RPA) Mont-Carmel, Henry Zavriyev, could have to pay up to 100,000 dollars in punishment if he is convicted in connection with a charge of contempt of court. The principal concerned ensures for his part that all the services required by law are maintained in the downtown building.
A hearing will be held Monday at the Montreal courthouse in connection with a subpoena order regarding the numbered company that owns the RPA of 216 rental units, which is led by real estate investor Henry Zavriyev. If the latter was found guilty of having committed contempt of court, he could have to pay a sum not exceeding $100,000 in addition to having to carry out “social work”, indicates the summons to appear from the Court. superior of Quebec.
“In this hearing on Monday, we hope that our landlord will become aware of his lack of respect in his commitment to offer us an RPA,” says Marie-Paule Lebel, a resident of Mont-Carmel involved in this legal case.
Mr. Zavriyev affirms for his part that he has nothing to reproach himself for. “We do everything in compliance with the law,” says the promoter. In interview at To have to on Friday, he says he is helping to tackle the “housing crisis” by converting partially vacant RPAs into traditional rental apartment buildings. “The only way to get these homes on the market so that people can live there is to buy and renovate these buildings,” he argues.
A long fight
The Mont-Carmel residence, located on René-Lévesque Boulevard, was originally supposed to lose its RPA status on 1er August, which was to lead to the end of various services offered in recent years to its elderly residents, such as nursing care and the presence of panic buttons in the rooms.
Several tenants have also left the premises in recent months, but some sixty tenants have opened cases at the Administrative Housing Tribunal, then before the Superior Court of Quebec, to defend their right to the maintenance of the services of an RPA in this building, as provided for in the sales contract at the time of the purchase of the building by Henry Zavriyev, in December 2021, for the sum of 40 million dollars.
Since then, the Superior Court granted a safeguard order last July, which was renewed in September. These decisions have the effect of forcing the owner of the premises to maintain all the services of an RPA in this building, until the case is decided on the merits by the courts.
Fewer services
However, the residents of Mont-Carmel mobilized in this legal saga argue that this order has not been respected in recent months by the owner of the premises. Many homes left vacant after the departure of long-term tenants have notably been re-let to younger tenants, which Mr Zavriyev confirmed to the To have to Friday.
Tenants aged 65 and over would thus now represent a minority of tenants in the building, which would challenge an article of the Health and Social Services Act that an RPA must be occupied “primarily by persons aged 65 and over,” says housing lawyer Manuel Johnson, who represents many of these tenants.
Henry Zavriyev affirms for his part that housing has been rented in recent months to new, younger tenants under leases signed before the Superior Court decides in favor of maintaining the services of an RPA in this building.
The residents of Mont-Carmel also claim that a receptionist is not present at all times in the building, as provided for by the regulations governing RPA. An allegation that Mr. Zavriyev denies. “Nothing was cut […] There is someone at reception 24 hours a day; there is a nurse there 24 hours”, underlines in English the promoter of less than 30 years.
The residents also deplore having lost access to the building’s swimming pool, as well as to several common rooms located in particular on the ground floor and first floor, which were closed one after the other in the last months. Elderly tenants thus lost access to several social activities that previously took place in this building, such as pool games and film screenings. The renovation work that continues in the 16-storey building thus deprives its residents of “meeting places” which are essential to them in order to “break the loneliness”, sighs Mme Lebel.
“If we look at the state of the residence, it’s appalling,” says resident Suzanne Loiselle, who deplores the lack of maintenance. However, she dismisses the idea of leaving it.
“We are too advanced in this fight to think of leaving”, adds Mme Loiselle, who also sees in the hearing scheduled for Monday a “big step” in this legal saga, which is however far from over.
On Monday, Mr. Zavriyev will first have to decide whether or not to plead guilty to the charges against him. If he pleads not guilty, subsequent hearings will then be scheduled to allow both parties to present their arguments before the Superior Court.
Henry Zavriyev also refused to specify whether he would appear at the hearing on Monday, or if he would rather delegate a member of his team.