Organizers with the Stop Demovictions campaign want the City of Burnaby to make sure all Metrotown residents are covered by its Tenant Assistance Policy.
The Provincial Residential Tenancy Act requires landlords to provide at least two months’ notice and the equivalent of one month’s rent if tenancy is ending for demolition purposes.
In 2015, city council adopted a Tenant Assistance Policy, which asks developers looking to demolish multi-family buildings to provide tenants three months’ notice and three months’ rental compensation. Developers are required to submit a tenant assistance plan, showing the names of the affected renters.
In the case of applicant Belford Properties, which plans to replace two low-rise rental apartments on Silver Avenue with highrise condo towers, its tenant assistance plan was submitted June 2015, around the time its rezoning application went to public hearing.
“The (tenant assistance) plan applies to tenants that are in the building or in units in the building at that time,” said Lou Pelletier, the city’s director of planning and building.
“Council didn’t want existing tenants to have to wait till the very end to receive their compensation. Sometimes the development process can take 18 months to two-and-a-half years from beginning to end, so council said, ‘Someone in the building, if they find a new place to live and they want to move out early, they should be able to access that compensation,’” he added.
Pelletier said “replacement tenants,” those coming in after a tenant assistance plan is submitted, are not covered by the city’s policy.
He noted it’s the developer’s responsibility to let all replacement tenants know the building is slated for demolition.
“(We) compensate tenants who didn’t see this coming or couldn’t knowingly make a decision. It’s to help those tenants that are hit with an unforeseen change in their tenancy. Somebody who applies for a unit and is told the building is under redevelopment, you should know that it’s not a permanent unit for you, then they’re knowingly making that choice,” Pelletier told the NOW.
But Matthew Hunter with Stop Demovictions said that isn’t a fair statement.
“To say that they were warned, it’s giving them the illusion of choice. You know you’re going to be evicted soon, but you move in anyways because you don’t really have a choice unless you’re willing to move out to Langley or Surrey.
“I believe all people should be entitled to three months’ rent compensation regardless of when they moved in. So many people moved here because they couldn’t find anything else. The choice was either rent it or don’t have a place at all,” he said.
No compensation
Hunter said he’s heard of some Metrotown renters who moved out before they received their eviction notice, after hearing of the building’s fate but did not receive their three months’ compensation.
“They don’t really have a choice then either because if they wait until everyone gets their eviction notice and then they try to find a place to rent, it’ll be much harder because then there’s this influx of people all looking for rental apartments all at once,” he said.
In a statement from Belford Properties, the company said it’s not aware of any renter who has complained about a delay in receiving their compensation or that they didn’t receive what they were entitled to.
“The company has historical data and can double-check if a specific tenant has a concern,” the statement read.
Anyone who believes they’ve been shortchanged is asked to contact the onsite property manager.
The Stop Demovictions campaign is giving the City of Burnaby one week (until March 14) to enforce its Tenant Assistance Policy, so it covers all renters, said Hunter.
Bad communication
According to some Metrotown tenants, Belford and Gateway Properties (the property managers) did not communicate its plans for the building.
Gagan Singla and three of his friends moved to Silver Avenue last April.
The full-time Langara students say they were put on a month-to-month contract, and no one told them the building was going to be redeveloped.
“We came to the manager, she didn’t know how to speak English. She didn’t explain anything. We just moved in; that’s it,” said Singla.
They received an eviction notice about two months ago and are being given two months’ compensation if they move out before April 30, according to the 22-year-old.
Fatima, who did not want to use her last name and also lives in one of the two buildings, criticized Belford and Gateway for not being honest.
Fatima moved in with her mom last June (their third demoviction) and was told by the property manager she had at least two years before a decision would come down on whether or not to demolish the building.
“It’s hard,” she said of the idea of having to move again. “My brother moved out. I’m a full-time student and I’m also working, and my mom is sick.”
She said she’s unsure where they’ll relocate to next.
According to three tenancy agreements obtained by the NOW and signed by three different tenants who moved in after June 2015, all three tenants knew the building was going to be demolished.
“Belford Properties instructed Gateway Properties to inform all tenants who moved in after July 1, 2015 that the building would be demolished. It is Belford Properties’ understanding that the property manager onsite did notify all tenants and included a written note on each tenant’s rental contract, which the tenant then signed. If a specific tenant has a concern about this notification, Belford Properties would be happy to look into it,” according to Belford’s statement.
Meanwhile, the Metrotown Development Plan, which seeks to make the area Burnaby’s new downtown core, goes before council this month. Housing advocates say the plan, if passed, will displace 6,000 renters and deplete the city’s rental stock.
