The Abuse and Harassment Escalated to All New Level.

The last 24 hours have been an emotional experience. It is hard to believe that our landlord/property managers could stoop to this recent all time low but they did. Things escalated again after the fire next door that took the lives of two people. It is my understanding that the rest of the tenants have now been housed which I was so happy to hear about. Unfortunately, our landlord/property manager took this tragic experience to begin an onslaught of harassment. Not concerned about whether our smoke alarms worked or if we were ok, no they concerned themselves with the use of our decks.

About 8 1/2 years ago I moved in to the 1 bedroom apartment in Chinatown/Kensignton Market, where I call home. I was leaving a long relationship that had become unhealthy and was looking to live on my own. I live with post traumatic stress disorder and I thought that living alone might also be helpful in managing my symptoms which can be difficult, overwhelming and hard. I could control my environment, making sure doors are always locked, windows locked, what light I need to leave on etc. My PTSD is a result of some fairly traumatic things that happened to me. Violence I experienced at the hands of men.  I am not in control of my environment completely and nor is it as safe as I wish it could be. I, along with the other tenants  who live in the building also have to deal with abusive nature and harassment of our "property managers/landlord". We also have to deal with the harsh reality of living in a system that allows landlords to perpetuate violent, harassing behaviour with little recourse.

I didn't originally begin renting from the current property managers,  the building belonged to a different owner and a month later the current owners took over as our "landlord". I 'm writing landlord in quotation as I write my rental cheques to a numbered company and the property managers, David and Michael always refer to the landlord as a landlord and not by name, trying to keep secret who it is but we know it's their family and we know they all work in and own the jewelery store downstairs from us. We did a search to figure out who they were when they tried to evict us 8 years ago and they lost.  8 years ago is when the harassment began. It started with letters, and neglect of our units, threats of eviction. It started with interactions with the one property manager, David, who screamed at us in almost every interaction, having no communication skills. It began when they realized that they could be getting double for our units and that we paid to "little". They took us to court, trying to evict us from our homes, my neighbours had lived in these units for 20 plus years and they lost.  They tried to just boldly increase our rents by $300, which was illegal. They make sure we pay a rent increase every year as to the provincial designated amount but don't attend to basic maintenance issues. They make sure to send us harassing letters with threats of eviction with every communication.

(just a sampling of the threatening letters)

This is part of the reality of living in a city where housing is scarce, where you spend way to much on rent, almost all your income, to be sometimes treated in this power imbalanced, abusive, harassing way. I don't want to move. I've thought about it. But where would my neighbours go, they don't have a lot of income? Why should they have to move? My place is my home, their places are their homes and we certainly won't be bullied out of them.

(our destroyed plants)

Two days ago the landlord , possibly himself with the workers who are building our decks and putting a new roof on, took all our plants and plant pots and threw them in the laneway making sure they were damaged and destroyed.

The Japanese maple that just started to bud, the succulents that have been growing in pots for over 30 years, the red maple, cute and small that lived on the deck for also more than 30 years, the gorgeous lillies that bloom every year increasing in quantity with every new summer.

(my lilies :( )

Clay pots, and rocks that my neighbour brought home from the property she grew up on where her family used to live but was sold after her mother died this last year and the chicks and hens that grew at the base of the maple, they originally came  from Hungary decades ago. The pots that were home to tomatoes, lavender, morning glories, a beautiful vine, echinacea, kale, herbs, flowers.  These were removed and destroyed without notice. Dumped and broken in the lane way.

I called Michael first. David's brother. He denied knowing anything but said he disagreed with his brother and wasn't going to be our property manager anymore. I didn't hate Michael the way I hate David. He didn't start screaming at you right away or threaten you with eviction with every conversation. He wasn't all that nice either but he isn't David. I called David. He played dumb. Said he didn't know there was work going on until I mentioned to him that he was seen on the deck the day before yelling at his brother while the workers were out there working, building the new decks. He said he didn't know anything about anything. But he knew. He stumbled on his words, he's been threatening us with removing them for years. He demanded $12,000 from me for the new deck and new roof.

(2006 - my first garden on the deck)

We had no idea they were even going to do work on them, they had given us no notice. Nor is it our responsibility to pay for the roof and decks. These haven't been replaced in over 30 years. We've battled over the use of the decks. We had to have a lawyer involved to stop him from removing our things in the past. But this time, he just did it. With no shame. We called the police, they came 4 hours later and took a report from my neighbour. My one neighbour discovered they were in the laneway. What pots were not broken were taken before we got to them. When I arrived home all that was left was a pile of soil.

We looked through it trying to save some of the chicks and hens. Who ever was responsible for throwing all of it down off the decks made sure our stuff was destroyed. The clay pots were in pieces. There were over 40 pots on three decks, 2 of our decks are quite large.  We now have to file with the Landlord Tenant Board to be compensated for this destruction of our property, this will take time.


I visited with my neighbour yesterday. We both cried while we spoke about the destruction of our plants and pots, the bullying and abuse. We all know the end goal is to get us out. They forced out our neighbour and her young daughter a few years ago, let the apartment sit empty for a year, did some renos, made one of the bedrooms in to two and doubled the rent. The new tenants pay double what we pay. He could get double.  But we are in this together. We won't be bullied out of our homes. I am crying while I type this. I think of the power we have when we have fought back but I also feel anger and sadness when I think about the destruction of our things. The cruelty of destroying our beautiful plants. This was an act of violence and one I feel incredibly emotional about. My neighbours on either side of me have lived here for over 30 years. They are good tenants and good neighbours. Everyone has a right to a home. One free from violence and harassment. We may get compensated, they may get charged which I am doubtful of, but this doesn't stop the harassment and this certainly doesn't replace what was ours. I am sad but I am also grateful to my neighbours who act unified together.  Where ever you live, you should know your neighbours and I am grateful I know mine and that we look out for each other. We aren't going anywhere, we will fight back and so far the response from friends has been really sweet with offers of new plants and pots. But in our neighbourhoods we need to be organized as tenants, to meet and fight back unified together. This type of abuse from landlords happens throughout the neighbourhood and throughout the city and there are strategies beyond court and tribunals we could and should be using.