Abby Leung has been living in her Vancouver suite for more than 17 years.
She says she’s always paid her rent on time and maintained a good relationship with her landlord. But now, Leung is facing eviction at the end of January.
“I’ve established everything here. I’m elderly with a mental and physical disability. It’s impossible for me,” she told CityNews on Monday.
Early last year, Leung’s landlord tried to raise the rent by 42 per cent, when the legal provincially regulated allowable rent increase was only 3.5 per cent.
Leung ended up agreeing to a 24 per cent increase, but in September, she was served her first eviction notice.
“My rent is not the market price. If she rents out the place, she could double the rent. … I was so anxious and nervous, and so depressed, I stayed home and cried,” she explained.
Citing the Landlord Occupancy Clause, the owner originally told Leung that a family member was moving into the suite. However, that changed and the landlord then stated that she needed the basement suite to accommodate her foot injury.
With help from the Vancouver Tenants Union, Leung disputed the case the the Residential Tenancy Branch, who ultimately sided with the landlord.
The case is now up to a Supreme Court judge who will decide if Leung gets to stay in her home.
“We see across Vancouver, which is the eviction capital of Canada, where landlords will use all sorts of bogus reasons, not just landlord use, but they’ll make us reasons like damaged property to evict the tenants in order to raise the rent,” Artemisia Yang, a volunteer at the TRB, explained.
CityNews reached out to the landlord both in person and over the phone but received no answer.
At an unrelated news conference on Monday, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon acknowledged that evictions of seniors are on the rise.
“We know it’s a challenge, but we’re trying to find a balance between those landlords that are genuinely using it for family, and tenants who depend on their livelihood to find another place where they can afford,” Kahlon stated.
“One of the first steps we took last year was launching a web portal where now anyone wanting to use that space is required to share info about who’s moving in, how long they’re moving in for,” he continued.
But for Leung, she just wants to stay in the place she’s called home for so long.
“I honestly want my landlord to sit down with me and find a solution that’s good for us together, then I don’t need to leave.”