Press Hits

A new report released by ACORN Ontario says it has connected a landlord with multiple buildings in the province, including here in Waterloo Region, as the “biggest renovictor” in the province. The report alleged that a landlord by the name of Michael Klein is responsible for issuing hundreds of renoviction notices to at least 21 buildings across multiple cities, including Kitchener, Cambridge, London, and Toronto. A renoviction is when a landlord evicts a tenant by saying they need to make major renovations.

A rental property investor is being called Ontario’s most prolific “renovictor” as the federal government prepares new Renters Bill of Rights legislation that promises to take action against evictions for renovation. Michael Klein appears as a director of companies that own at least 21 properties across Ontario where tenants have been sent remarkably similar so-called renoviction letters in recent years according to research conducted by Acorn, an organization with 177,000 members across six provinces representing low and moderate-income families. Among the buildings are 13 where the Acorn is organizing tenants to fight back against what they call bad faith evictions.

Signs line the street outside of 94 Beck St. in Preston as residents take part in the protests happening across Ontario against property owner Micheal Klein. The rental advocacy organization ACORN has staged protests at numerous Klein buildings around Ontario as they call him the “most prolific renovictor in Ontario.” Multiple attempts to reach Klein have been unsuccessful. According to Acer Bonaparte who is the chair for the Waterloo region chapter of ACORN, Klein owns 21 other buildings across the province and adds this method of buying a building and kicking out the residents is common practice.

Seniors across Canada attended “rocking chair rallies,” marches, movie nights, town halls and other protests Monday to stress the importance of fighting climate change.