The elderly tenants of Résidence Mont-Carmel, in downtown Montreal, suffered a setback before the Quebec Court of Appeal, which granted a request by landlord Henry Zavriyev by bringing the case back to the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL). A decision that disappoints the residents concerned, who however do not intend to give up.
In a decision handed down on Tuesday, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that the TAL has “exclusive jurisdiction” to hear the file of the tenants of the Résidence Mont-Carmel who oppose the change of use of the private residence for elders (RPA) in which they have lived for years. The court thus ruled in favor of the owner of the premises, the young investor Henry Zavriyev, who had appealed a judgment of the Superior Court rendered at the end of October in which the court declared itself competent to analyze this case on the merits.
“We did not expect this decision,” notes resident Marie-Paule Lebel. The tenants united in this legal saga met on Wednesday morning to take stock, the day after this decision of the Court of Appeal which disappointed more than one. “But the morale of the troops is there. We continue ! There is nothing that will prevent us from continuing, ”assures Mme Lebel. “This is a cause that concerns all seniors in Quebec, so we must continue to carry it,” insists the tenant, in a context where many RPAs have changed vocation in the province in recent years.
A vocation to keep
At the heart of this case is a clause included in the deed of sale signed by Henry Zavriyev in December 2021, when he acquired this 216-unit RPA located on René-Lévesque Boulevard East for the sum of 40 million dollars. . The notarial deed mentioned that the vocation of the building should be preserved after its sale.
However, in January 2022, the building’s tenants over the age of 65 all received a notice stating that the building would lose its RPA vocation from 1er August of the same year to become a traditional rental complex. Residents who decide to stay in place would then see their rent increase by 3%, in addition to losing access to several services, such as the presence of a “panic button” in the rooms and a nursing assistant in all time on site.
Clinging to the inscription in the deed of sale of the building mentioning that the vocation of RPA should be preserved for this building, 57 residents, some aged over 80, united in April 2022 to contest their case before the Superior Court of Quebec with the help of two lawyers specialized in housing law. One of these, Julien Delangie, specified to the Duty Wednesday that the residents had made the choice to turn to this court – rather than to the TAL – since it is a deed of sale which is at the heart of this file.
However, the TAL has rather jurisdiction over files relating to rental leases, argued the lawyers for the residents, whose position received a favorable reception last year from Superior Court Judge Charles Bienvenu. The residents of Mont-Carmel also obtained a safeguard order last year allowing them to keep their housing and the RPA status of the building until this case is decided on the merits by a judge.
“The cause is the same”
The three judges of the Quebec Court of Appeal who looked into the case earlier this year, at the request of investor Henry Zavriyev, however, developed a different analysis of the case. They thus concluded that this cause is ultimately about the change of use of a rental building, which falls within the “exclusive jurisdiction” of the TAL. “The TAL is therefore in this case the only judicial body which can be seized of the dispute between the parties and answer the questions of law and fact that it raises”, decides the Court of Appeal.
Be that as it may, the will of residents like Normand Breault to continue this struggle remains strong. “The cause is the same. It’s about saving Mont-Carmel and through our actions, saving other seniors,” says the 82-year-old tenant. The latter regrets that “current legislation is such that anyone can do anything to the detriment of the elderly who are beneficiaries” of RPA.
The tenants are also claiming safeguard orders and damages from Henry Zavriyev in another legal case, which remains with the Superior Court.
A “gratifying victory”
In a press release, Henry Zavriyev said he was delighted with this decision – which he described as a “gratifying victory” – while deploring that this case is still currently before the courts. “It is a pity that we lost all this time to get back to the point where we should have started,” added a written statement.
Joined by The duty, the real estate investor, who has acquired since 2017 with his partners some forty buildings located in ten boroughs of the metropolis, did not hide his annoyance at the stretching of this case before the courts. “I would like the file to be concluded as soon as possible,” said Mr. Zavriyev. As for the future of the Résidence Mont-Carmel, he “will respect the court decision” which will be rendered in the long term to close this saga, he assures us. “Whatever the court decides, I will respect it. »