Residents of 75 Spencer Ave. in Parkdale are on a rent-strike against their landlord, who has applied for a retroactive above-guideline rent increase which would raise the rent by 5.4 per cent.
The property manager is MetCap Living, and the building owner is Kin Pong Chung.
The allowed yearly increase is of 2.5 per cent, with exemptions granted for capital renovations and improvements. But tenants say they haven’t seen any improvements to their building other than in the lobby, while units remain neglected and infested with pests.
Tenant Fazal Muhammad told CP24 they agreed to pay the 2.5 increase, but the landlord has since increased the amount and refused to negotiate. Dozens of tenants are now withholding rent payments altogether.
In 2017, 300 tenants at five other MetCap-owned buildings in the neighbourhood withheld their rent for similar reasons and stopped the rent hike.
“With above guideline rent increases again on the rise in Parkdale, our neighbours at 75 Spencer are drawing the line and demonstrating the renewed strength that working-class people will need in the struggles to come,” said Bryan Doherty, with Parkdale Organize.