Several tenants of a building in Winnipeg’s West Broadway neighborhood say their privacy, rights and safety were violated during months of unauthorized construction this summer, prompting some to leave.
But the new owner argues that the old complex needs improvements and defended management’s notices to tenants.
Mira Koop, who moved in mid-October, is among several tenants who question it.
“There are legal ways to do this,” Koop said on the last day in his apartment. “They chose the most vile way to get rid of us.”
Art professor and college student says problems started when a new owner took over 640 and 644 Westminster Ave. — adjacent buildings on the corner of Langside Street — in July.
Days after meeting the new property management company, Chanden Homes Ltd., he returned home from a trip to find his refrigerator and stove had been replaced without warning and his Internet was down.
“I said, ‘Oh my God, this is not my house,'” he said in an interview.
The chaos of continuous renovations that followed in August and September ruined their quality of life, Koop said.
Some of the biggest changes included building fire escapes on the back porch, leaving dangerous holes in the floor without safety signage, and a loss of space in his suite as contractors prepared to install an HVAC system, he alleged.
“[There was] noise coming from below, because they’re doing a demo from below, noise coming from above…then, on top of that, noise coming from inside my unit, as they drill and remove all my [hallway] ceiling,” Koop said.
He also says that on several occasions contractors entered his suite without 24 hours’ written notice. that the Residential Leases Branch requires.
“It was very, very disturbing and disturbing,” Koop said.
another tenantThey agreed, including one who told CBC that five men came into their unit one morning while they were sleeping to measure appliances and cabinets.
Two other tenants, Madlen Bowen and Liam Simpson, say theyThey signed a new lease with the previous owner just before the building was sold in July.
They said the new landlord proposed that tenants start paying for heat and water, as well as raising the rent by nearly 16 percent starting in January. — a good increase above the provincial 2025 guideline of 1.7 per cent.
lLandlords may request a rent increase above the guidelines if the standard guidelines do not cover the unit’s operating and capital costs. According to emails sent to tenants shared with CBC, the new landlord requested an increase above the guidelines.
“We can’t call our home home when they are actively trying to turn it over our heads,” Bowen said. “It’s miserable.”
Tenants said their complaints to Chanden Homes often went unanswered or were dismissed, while notices and services did not improve much.
Owner says old building needs updates
According to company and title documents, 640 and 644 Westminster Ave. were sold on July 29.
Tenants say Chanden Homes contractors and representatives started work a day early, but Justin Beaulieu, director of 640 644 Westminster Avenue Ltd., denies that work began before the company took possession.
He says work on the building is necessary.
“We understand this is a difficult time for tenants during renovations, but since the building is over 100 years old, we have to update some elements,” Beaulieu said in an email.
City records show no building permits have been approved for the property since 2000.
The contractor, Bosk Construction, told CBC it believed it did not need permits for the type of work it was doing, which owner Adam Tougas described as painting work and preparation for construction that would later require permits.
That included installing panels on the fire escape to keep water out and replacing rotted and dangerous floorboards, Tougas said.
He said they applied for the permits they planned to get anyway after a city inspector came in late September and told them to stop working.
Tougas maintained that his workers would not enter an apartment without confirmation that tenants had been notified, and he said his company began issuing its own notices when tenants seemed concerned or confused.
“I’m a little perplexed and I want to make sure that in the future this doesn’t happen again,” Tougas said in a phone interview when asked about residents’ concerns.
In separate emails, both Beaulieu and Chanden Homes said management notified tenants in accordance with Residential Leasing Division rules.
None answered follow-up questions.
CBC reviewed copies of multiple emails from Chanden Homes to tenants where the notices were sent less than a day after the proposed entry time.
“We’ve had multiple requests for entry and either people didn’t show up, or they didn’t give us the correct notice and they didn’t show up,” tenant Simpson said.
A provincial spokesperson said that while they cannot comment on specific cases, if a landlord is reported to have entered a unit without proper notice, an officer from the Residential Leasing Division will contact the landlord to explain the legal requirements.
The branch could also issue administrative sanctions and a warning letter, the spokesperson said in an email to CBC.
‘They are not showing us respect’
Tenants said they began contacting the Residential Tenancies Division in mid-August, but said responses that often came days later were largely unhelpful.
In an email sent to a tenant in early September, the branch said it “cannot have a hearing to stop the landlord from doing extensive demolitions and renovations.”
An email sent to another tenant in mid-October said the branch will not be opening a compliance file at this time because the landlord has requested a higher than stated rent increase. The branch said the tenant could, however, make a claim for financial loss against the landlord due to the loss of services and space.
In another October email to a tenant, the branch said it does not have jurisdiction over property standards but could consider ordering the landlord to make repairs and could investigate him for not giving enough notice of a rent increase.
As for Koop, he decided to move after receiving a notice on his door in August.
He would spend a night away to catch up on sleep and escape the noise, she said, but the notice said: “I believe you have abandoned or moved out of this rental unit.”
He also said that if he did not contact management by August 21, “they could enter the unit; make a list of what is left in the unit; throw away any food… or pack up and store the remaining items.”
Koop said he called Chanden Homes, who told him the notice was a mistake.
Although he will move, he hopes that by speaking out like this, companies will take responsibility and keep other tenants in their homes.
“No one leaves for the money,” says Koop.
“We’re leaving because of poor communication. We’re leaving because they don’t show us respect.”
Several tenants of an apartment building on West Broadway in Winnipeg allege their privacy, rights and safety were so violated during months of extensive unauthorized construction this summer that some felt forced to leave. The new owner argues that the old complex needs improvements and defended management’s notice to tenants.
