View Towers residents displaced by a fire are being evicted instead of being offered one of the dozens of vacant suites in the building.
Family of residents and poverty advocates are raising concerns about the possibility of “renovictions,” forcing long-term tenants out of low-rent suites that will be renovated and offered at higher rents.
There are about 100 vacant suites in the 356-unit building at View and Quadra streets in Victoria. Twenty-three of those were damaged by fire in a ninth-floor unit on May 15, according to a report by the Victoria Emergency Management Agency for the City of Victoria.
A total of 86 suites were damaged by smoke and water, displacing 70 residents.
It’s unclear if any undamaged, vacant suites have been offered to displaced residents, but most people have been told to look for new homes.
Chris Rogerson said his father-in-law, Herb Volker, was told his seventh-floor suite was damaged and he needs to find another place to live.
Rogerson asked about getting Volker into one of the vacant suites and the building manager said Volker would have to re-apply as a new tenant.
That leaves Rogerson with some unsettling questions: “What happens to his rent? Are you going to honour the rent he was paying before? I’m betting no.”
Volker, who has lived in the building for 17 years, was paying just over $500 a month.
“I’m concerned there are going to be a bunch of people who see their rent going up by $100 a month because of this, and that doesn’t sit well with me, especially when most of the people who live there are of limited means,” Rogerson said.
The building manager at View Towers refused to answer questions about the vacant suites or why residents would have to re-apply.
The building owner, Vancouver-based Westsea Construction Ltd., also refused to answer questions.
Some displaced residents received a letter, obtained by the Times Colonist, which said they are being evicted under section 44 of the Residential Tenancy Act because their tenancy has become “frustrated” as a result of the fire.
Click HERE to see the letter
The owner has asked many tenants to sign mutual agreements to end tenancy to get their damage deposit and half of May’s rent returned. Sarah Khan, a lawyer with the Vancouver-based B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre who is monitoring the case, said residents are not legally required to do so. Khan said tenants have not received written information detailing the type of damage affecting their units.
“In this case, where you have a large group of vulnerable and low-income people who are scrambling to try to find other places to live ... the owner has a moral obligation to provide suites in the building to the tenants who have been displaced and to provide the rental accommodations at the same price,” Khan said. “We want to make sure that tenants aren’t being unfairly removed.”
Phil Ward, director of support services at Pacifica Housing, said he’s trying to find alternative housing for about half a dozen displaced residents. He said his organization has not been given a clear answer about why vacant units are not available.
Volker, who is in his 60s and on a disability pension, has found another place to live but it costs $600 — $100 a month more than he was paying at View Towers.
“I think Herb might be one of the lucky few who have someone to advocate for him but, in my opinion, I think there’s some people who might get rolled over,” Rogerson said.
Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said “it would be a continuation of a tragedy, if View Towers was using this [fire] tragedy … to, frankly, underhandedly not deal with tenants in a responsible way, in a way they are legally obligated to.”
Displaced residents have been taking their concerns to Together Against Poverty, a Victoria advocacy group which is trying to help residents find answers. “That’s a big fear for a lot of renters — using … a catastrophe like this to kick out low-income renters,” said Victor Ryan, a public interest law student working with the agency.
Andrew Wynn-Williams, executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness said he finds it “bizarre” that there are 100 vacant suites in a city that has struggled so much to house low-income clients.
“I don’t know what reason there could be for not freeing up those units,” Wynn-Williams said. “It's a question we have asked.”
Additional reporting by Bill Cleverley
