Vanier ACORN members from Capital Towers take on slumlord Q Residential’s $3,000 rent increase!
Posted September 15, 2022
On Thursday, September 15th, tenants of 1240 and 1244 Donald St in Ottawa came out to fight back against a ridiculous $3,000 charge from their landlord, Q Residential. This $3,000 bill is a retroactive above-guideline rent increase (AGI) from 2019-2022, and includes a rent increase for 2021 even though the Ontario rent freeze prohibited rent increases for that year.
Over 100 tenants in 1244 Donald St have been served this AGI by Q Residential, which was approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board despite tenants’ requests for an accessible hearing. Management is demanding that tenants pay up by November 1st. As such, there is virtually no payment plan available for tenants who are primarily low-income, on disability or working low wage jobs, newcomers, Syrian refugees and families.
For years, tenants have been complaining about a host of maintenance issues, such as mould, cockroaches, bed bugs, and the overall lack of cleanliness in the building. More than this, the property is a high-rise apartment complex, and at any given time only one or two elevators are in service. Tenants in wheelchairs have had to wait over an hour to get on the elevator and reach their floor.
Tenants are fed up with the neglect and harassment they’ve been subjected to, and decided to hold an action to fight back! At the action, tenants took turns speaking out about their experiences while living at 1240 and 1244 Donald St. Tenants also recited chants outside of the building and delivered a demand letter to the Q Residential Capital Towers administrative office located at 1240 Donald St. At this action, 22 tenants and ACORN members were present. It was led by our amazing ACORN members Jean-Marc Ladouceur and Sean Wilson! Big shout out to tenants such as Cheryl White and Marsha Brunet who came out and spoke about their issues and led chants.
City News and CFRA spoke with members about the impact of the $3,000 AGI – stay tuned for the press links!
Tenants will be attending the upcoming virtual Vanier ACORN chapter meeting on October 4 at 6:30PM to plan more next steps. Tenants will continue to fight for safe, affordable, healthy homes!
Live in the Ottawa-Vanier area? RSVP for the chapter meeting by clicking here
If you’d like to take online action, click here to send an email to Q Residential.
