A 74-year-old woman who was evicted from her home of 26 years is speaking out, saying more needs to be done to protect tenants.
Rosalyn Wagner told Global News she lived in her Mount Pleasant building with no issues until in 2019 when the landlord asked tenants for a voluntary rent increase.
“He said he would like to raise the rent by $445, this is voluntary,” Wagner told Global News.
“He said he realized it’s not legal but he asked for it, pleading his case.”
Wagner said her husband was weeks away from undergoing medical assistance in dying (MAID) and she said her landlord was aware of that.
“I thought he would be sensitive to that situation but I guess that didn’t factor in,” she added.
Wagner said she could not afford the increase at that time.
However, she said a few months after her husband passed away, she noticed a change in behaviour toward her.
“He wouldn’t allow me to talk about anything, any issues in the apartment,” Wagner said.
She added the landlord’s daughter would glare at her and made her feel uncomfortable.
“They had no reason to evict me,” Wagner added. “I had been a good tenant for 26 years.”
She said her situation highlights the vulnerability of seniors and if it hadn’t been for others advocating for her she would not have felt comfortable speaking out.
“Don’t let this happen to you,” she said. “Because it cannot happen. I’ve never been through such a terrible experience as I have in the past few years.”
Her friends and supporters even made a website, highlighting the ordeal Wagner went through.
Ashley Syer, a lawyer and mediator, said a tenant is under no obligation to agree to a voluntary rent increase.
“I do hear about this quite a lot,” she said. “I think a lot of landlords, particularly who have had long-term tenants are looking at the numbers and saying, ‘Gee, I could get a lot more rent if I was renting this at today’s market,’ versus whatever the market was when, say, eight, 10 years ago when the tenant first moved in.”
Syer said she also sees a lot of tenants feeling the pressure of saying yes to a voluntary rent increase because they are worried that saying no will affect their living situation.
“It’s certainly legal to ask,” she added.
John Davis, Wagner’s former landlord, told Global News the rental increase request was about coping with rising cost, not greed.
He said Wager was lawfully evicted so his brother could move in.
“It had nothing to do with her refusal to increase her rent,” Davis said.
Wagner is now in a new home with her dog and she’s happy and it feels safe.
“I would have loved to stay there just because of my friends,” she said of her former home. “I loved my neighbourhood but I don’t miss the treatment and the harassment that I had.”