“This is proof that the tenant protection system in Quebec is broken”

The repeated evictions carried out in recent years by investor Henry Zavriyev to build a real estate empire in Montreal caused a strong reaction from elected officials of the National Assembly and the City on Wednesday. All are calling for legislative changes to tackle “property speculation” and the phenomenon of “renovictions”.

It was barely 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning when the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, brandished a copy of the investigation of the To have to on Mr. Zavriyev during a press briefing at the National Assembly. The 28-year-old investor, who currently owns more than 1,000 rental units in Montreal, has made profits of nearly $13 million in five years by reselling buildings he acquired and then renovated at a high price. Along the way, many tenants, including several elderly and low-income people, saw their leases terminated by this landowner.

” This morning, The duty portrays Henry Zavriyev, a real estate developer who has made the eviction of vulnerable people a real business model. We are talking about a man who put millions of dollars in his pockets by targeting the most vulnerable tenants and throwing them out on the streets. That’s proof that the tenant protection system in Quebec is broken,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois at the Blue Room. The elected official then underlined the importance, according to him, of “repairing the safety net which should protect the most vulnerable tenants, including the elders”.

The opposition party is also presenting a motion this afternoon to urge the National Assembly to adopt “the principle” of Bill 993, which aims to amend the Civil Code of Québec to better protect seniors from the effects of the housing crisis.

Currently, low-income tenants aged 70 and over who have lived in the same dwelling for more than 10 years are protected from repossessions and evictions. This bill, drafted by the solidarity deputy Andrés Fontecilla, aims to extend access to this protection to all tenants aged 65 and over who have occupied the same accommodation for at least 5 years. The document also proposes to increase the maximum income eligible for this measure.

“What Mr. Zavriyev is doing is downright speculation to line his pockets,” lamented Mr. Fontecilla, in an interview with the To have to Wednesday. His bill, he acknowledges, is only one solution among many to tackle the “epidemic of renovictions”, but it is a step in the right direction, he argues.

“Obviously, this will not solve the entire housing crisis, but it will help avoid a scheme used by speculators to evict senior tenants in particular,” he says. Our bill in a way closes a loophole used by these speculators and which makes it possible to throw hundreds, even thousands of senior tenants out on the street. »

Beyond the Numbers

Questioned in the corridors of the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, for her part wanted to put into perspective the extent of the impacts of evictions on tenants in the province. She then presented her Bill 37 in the morning, which notably provides for changes to “clause F” of leases and protective measures concerning the rents of tenants of a private residence for seniors subject to a change. assignment, as is the case for the Mont-Carmel residence in downtown Montreal.

“I say it right away, out of one million three hundred thousand dwellings in Quebec, there are currently 270-280 cases for cases of evictions [qui sont judiciarisées] argued the minister, who then urged tenants who are threatened with eviction to file an application “immediately” with the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL), to which additional resources have been granted “to speed up the study of the causes” presented therein.

However, according to Mr. Fontecilla, the minister “is hiding behind the figures of the TAL” to underestimate the extent of the problem of evictions, many of which are not the subject of legal recourse. “We know very well how it happens in reality. The vast majority of tenants who are “renovinted” or who suffer abusive rent increases, they will not use the Administrative Housing Tribunal, ”raised the united deputy.

“Minister Laforest is like her boss, François Legault, completely disconnected from the housing crisis in Quebec,” continued Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.

“Unacceptable” practices

In Montreal, reactions to the investigation by the To have to also didn’t take long on Wednesday either.

“Such practices are unacceptable, shameful! Our administration is tightening its regulations, modifying its administrative practices and systematizing follow-ups with [les] tenant organizations, but it is also the business of the [gouvernement du Québec] : we must reform the Civil Code, ”insisted Wednesday the head of housing on the executive committee of the City, Benoit Dorais, on Twitter. ” A shame ! “Added on this social network the councilor of the district of Saint-Jacques, Robert Beaudry, about the practices of Mr. Zavriyev.

In an email to To have to, the acting head of Ensemble Montreal, Aref Salem, also challenged Quebec on Wednesday, demanding “to amend the Civil Code in order to double the notice period for repairs or major improvements, involving an evacuation, from 90 to 180 days”. Thus, believes the elected, tenants will have “more time to defend themselves before the TAL”, whose effectiveness is also to be reviewed according to him to allow all tenants to “enjoy their rights in a reasonable delay “.

With Alexandre Robillard and Marco Belair-Cirino

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