Why A Halifax Landlord Nearly Doubled The Rent For One Of His Tenants
HALIFAX – A local landlord is increasing rent on a resident by $650 a month, in the hopes that she will move out of the building.
Earlier this week, a Facebook post went viral when someone took a picture of a notice given to Gracie Fogarty of her rent increase. The notice, given to Fogarty by GNF Investments, says the rent increase would take effect April 1 of next year – the date her lease is to be renewed. The document also states that, as of that same date, parking would be unavailable due to building renovations.
GNF is allowing Fogarty to vacate the one-bedroom apartment without notice. The company also writes that, if she leaves by the end of November, she will receive her damage deposit back in full. Fogarty says she has been shocked and emotional since receiving the notice on October 23.
“Some people have come in (to my work) and said their rent has jumped by hundreds and the costumers tell me how sorry they are that this is happening,” said Fogarty.
“I tell them not to worry – worst thing that can happen is I’ll be living on the street…Right now, I’m totally petrified of being homeless, even though I work.”
Fogarty, who lives on Dutch Village Road in Fairview, works at a gas station. After deductions, she makes $980 every two weeks. Right now, she pays $725 a month for rent, as well as $500 for a variety of medication, including her heart medication. She has lived in the same apartment for 11 years and has seen rent increase by only $25 during that time.
The owner of GNF Investments, Navid Saberi, said he had no choice but to nearly double Fogarty’s rent to try and force her to move. Saberi says the apartment building on Dutch Village Road is more than 60 years old and is in dire need of renovations. He says he has been trying to work with all tenants for the past two years to give them time to move.
“We have a 60-year-old building…and several units require upgrades…We have been working with these people for two years, trying to give them enough notice that we want to renovate, and they should find other accommodations,” said Saberi. “Unfortunately, they are not doing that, and we have offered to move them to other units in the building and they have refused.”
“We have no choice; we need to get the unit vacated and we had no choice but to increase the rent, so they’ll move…”
“It is not meant to be a rental increase.”
Fogarty, however, claims that she never received any notice about renovations after GNF bought the property. She also says that, when she was handed the rental increase notice on October 23, she was told by the GNF representative that she was “holding up progress” by not moving.
“He gave me that letter and said there’s going to be massive outages of electricity and water. And I told him, ‘you cannot turn my electric off without a 24-hour notice,’ ” claims Fogarty.
Saberi claims he has been generous with his offers to Fogarty and others to try and help them move. He says he told the tenants that, if they move to another building, he will pay the moving expenses. Saberi also says that, if the rent in the new building is more expensive than what they are paying now, he would subsidize (for one year) the rental cost up to $300.
Another option he, gave tenants was to move them to the lower level of the apartment building until the renovations were complete upstairs. Saberi did admit, however, that the lower level apartments would have to be renovated as well, eventually.
If the current tenants chose to live in the apartments, after the renovations are complete, they would have to pay higher rent. Saberi estimated that an average apartment would cost $200 more per month to help offset the cost of the renovations.
When asked if he was sure that upping a tenant’s rent to make them move was legal, Saberi responded by saying: “Well, we have no other choice; what choice do we have?”
Saberi says Fogarty is one of several tenants who hasn’t taken him up on any of his offers.
Fogarty, however, doesn’t want to move from the apartment she called home for 11 years. She also doesn’t want to move into one of the lower-level apartments, because she would have to get power reconnected to her new place.
“But that means I disconnect my power and get it re-hooked up, which is a cost – to move to another apartment that, when he hits that floor, he’s going to renovate that,” said Fogarty.
Ever since the Facebook post (made by one of Fogarty’s loyal customers) went viral, it has renewed the rent control debate in Halifax. Right now, there is no cap on how much a landlord can increase their rent upon lease renewal (if enough notice is given). Across Halifax, people are demanding that Nova Scotia bring back rent control- something that was done away with back in the 1990s.
“People need to do something about these landlords, they really do. There has to be a cap on the rent,” said Fogarty.
“I know people have to increase the rents; I understand that. But there should be a cap; like 10 percent or 15 percent.”
Huddle Today tried to reach Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Chuck Porter, for comment on the issue of rent control. Our request wasn’t responded to by publication.
Fogarty says no politicians from any level of government has reached out to her after her rental situation went viral. She did say, however, that Dalhousie Legal Aid Service left her a message on her phone.