Burnaby’s Tenant Displacement Specialists

New ACORN report illustrates how Burnaby’s self-made housing crisis works.

Posted October 15, 2018

BC ACORN has released a report titled “Tenant Displacement Specialist: The Manipulative Business of Vacating Burnaby’s Apartment Buildings”. The report uncovers the new business model of tenant relocation specialists, who use manipulative tactics to force tenants to give up their rent-controlled suites, and explains the reasons why developers are so eager to use their services. Included in the report is the story of a Metrotown tenant named Lotfi Fetoui, who lives in a building recently bought by Anthem Properties, a major Canadian development company.

The tenant relocation specialists hired by Anthem present themselves to tenants as advocates working on behalf of tenants to help find new affordable housing, when in fact they are paid for by a developer hell bent on getting tenants to vacate their unit and clear the way for unaffordable, high-rise development. During an unprecedented housing crisis, one much aided by the regressive policies of the Burnaby Citizens Association, ACORN’s report shows how tenant relocation specialists have tragically vacated much of the affordable rental stock in the city.

ACORN leader Murray Martin and local tenant Lotfi Fetoui are available for interviews on Monday.