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“It was a difficult moment,” she said.

Ateel Siddiqi is among dozens of tenants at 71, 75 and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. who have withheld rent from their landlord since May 2023 to protest two proposed rent increases beyond the provincial guideline for rent-controlled buildings.

The landlord says the above-guideline increases (AGIs) are听for capital investments to keep aging infrastructure safe. Tenants, however, describe renovations as disruptive and say there are issues with basic maintenance.

When the AGIs were approved, the tenants’ lawyers continued fighting. They听asked the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to review the decisions, citing concerns over “procedural unfairness,” but the board rejected the request听in the fall,听and it seemed the renters had lost again.

Finally, tenants filed an appeal to the Divisional Court in October 鈥� prompting the approval of the rent increases听to be suspended pending a听hearing.

It’s the latest move in a public battle between these tenants and their landlord that has been going on for years, with fighting playing out on multiple fronts.听The tenants say residents of the buildings are mostly newcomers, disabled people, and people on fixed incomes who can鈥檛 afford the proposed increases and whose living conditions have worsened since their landlord purchased the buildings in 2019. Additionally, the landlord has refused to meet with them as a group, they say, prompting them to organize rallies and go on rent strike. But now they face not only a heated court fight against the AGIs, their landlord also wants to have them evicted through separate proceedings over nonpayment of rent.听

In an emailed statement to the Star, landlord Starlight Investments said it has spent more than $28.5 million in capital improvements to the buildings.

“We care about our residents听and are dedicated to听building safe and welcoming rental communities that our residents can live, thrive, and grow in over the long-term,” said Starlight’s听vice-president of residential operations,听Penny Colomvakos.

“When we acquire any residential building, we听conduct thorough due diligence with third-party engineering firms to ensure the safety, livability, and structural integrity of the residence, and allocate budgets to protect and restore physical integrity.”

But tenants believe the landlord is trying to exhaust and push them out听鈥� through the proposed rent increases, the court system, eviction notices and听ongoing construction 鈥斕齭o the apartments can be put on the market for a more profitable price.

For听Ateel Siddiqi, the stakes are high.

The former doctor is studying to be an ultrasound technician so she can be a “productive member of society,” but her placement is unpaid and she’s relying on OSAP, the Canada Child Benefit and some catering work to cover her bills until she can get paid work in the field.

“They are going to lose millions,” she said about the risks for the landlord. “But for me, I’m going to lose my home.”

How it began: A new landlord takes ownership听

Tenants say many issues started when the landlord purchased the buildings in 2019 and began doing construction. They say they experience daylong water shutdowns two or three times per month, a lack of heating in some apartments and that all apartments regularly lose hot water.听

Additionally,听during the pandemic when many people worked or studied from home, there was loud and frequent work on balconies. That work is done now, but Ateel Siddiqi said it was a 鈥渄isaster鈥� for her autistic son.

鈥淲hen it gets very noisy and very frustrating for him, he gets anxiety attacks,鈥� she said.

Khalil Aldroubi, who lives on the 21st floor and sometimes uses mobility aids, said elevator service is 鈥渆xtremely bad鈥�; an elevator in his building might break down three or four times a month, he said, and repairs can take days. Additionally, he said his 13-year-old son has gotten stuck in the elevator a handful of times.听

The disruptions are partly why tenants feel it鈥檚 unfair their rent would increase beyond provincial guidelines.

In Ontario, rents in rent-controlled units typically can’t听be raised more than the provincial guideline for that year. However, landlords can apply for the LTB to approve a higher amount under certain circumstances, including eligible capital expenditures.听

In 2022, tenants received notice the landlord had applied to increase the rent by 4.2 per cent. The provincial guideline for that year was 1.2 per cent.听

Soon after, tenants say they got together and tried to set up group meetings with the landlord or property manager to dispute the proposal. When that didn’t work, they planned rallies and protested at events where they knew the owners听would be.

The next year, they got notice of another AGI proposal, this time of between 5 and 6 per cent with some variations between the buildings. The provincial guideline for that year was 2.5 per cent.

, Public Sector Pension Investments (PSP) owns the three buildings and Starlight Investments is the asset manager. Starlight, a global real estate investment and asset management firm based in Toronto, owns, develops and manages assets for more than 70,000 multi-residential suites across North America, according to its . PSP is a Crown corporation that invests for the pension plans of the federal public service, the Canadian Forces, the RCMP and the Reserve Force.

When reached for comment, PSP told the Star it works with experienced operators that are responsible for the day-to-day functions of assets they invest in.

鈥淥ur expectation is that Starlight Investments ensures that buildings in our joint portfolio are well-maintained and safe and secure for the residents,鈥� an emailed statement read. 鈥淲e also expect Starlight Investments to follow applicable laws.鈥�

Starlight, for its part, said in a statement it follows the laws and aims to make improvements quickly to minimize the impact on residents.

Since 2019, the property manager has “promptly responded” to more than 23,600 maintenance requests across the three buildings and has a 鈥渞esolution rate of 99.6 per cent,鈥� the statement said.

It added there are functioning heat and hot water systems in all buildings. Residents are given advanced notice of “occasionally necessary” scheduled water shutdowns, it said, and are immediately notified of “emergency water shutdowns.” Starlight added that they offer water bottles to residents during those times 鈥� an approach tenants call “unacceptable” and say has not taken place in recent months.

Eviction notices start coming in

In May 2023, when residents received a second AGI notice, dozens of tenants began withholding rent. (The landlord says there were 86 residents听on strike across 944 units. Tenants, however, say there are and were more than 100, although the number has fluctuated over time as people leave or join the strike.)

Within days, tenants began to receive eviction notices for nonpayment of rent.听The LTB told the Star the landlord has filed 261 applications to evict tenants over outstanding rent since May 2023.

Resident Sameer Beyan said he arrived in Thorncliffe Park about nine years ago, after leaving Eritrea and Saudi Arabia.听

Beyan, who works as an office admin,听pays $1,388听for the two-bedroom apartment he shares with听his parents, who are in their 80s.听The AGI would hike his rent to more than $1,600, which raises serious concerns for them.

鈥淲e don’t really know what’s going to happen, where my parents are going to live, if I鈥檓 going to find a new place to live in,鈥� Beyan said. 鈥淭hese are all questions that we discuss every day.鈥�

While the renters initially got individual hearings for the eviction process, pro-bono lawyers they retained that fall听successfully argued听in September 2023听their cases should be heard together, said tenant organizer Philip Zigman,听who does not live in the complex.

Renters who joined the strike later will have individual hearings, and lawyers will argue again that they should join the group, he added.

Beyan said the vast majority of tenants on strike听started paying their rent, at an amount that would take into account the provincial guideline increase only, to the LTB directly more than a year ago.听He added that people who joined the strike more recently may not have been ordered to pay to the board yet.听(The LTB said 73 units have made at least one rent payment in trust to the board.)

Their group听eviction hearing has not been scheduled yet.

In its statement, Starlight said it offers a rent relief program that none of the residents withholding rent have taken up.听

Tenants, meanwhile, called the program inadequate in a statement. “If Starlight and PSP Investments are sincere in their desire to provide relief, they must withdraw the above-guideline rent increases,” they said.

Landlords request a rush hearing

Within weeks of the strike starting, the landlord requested the LTB shorten the wait time for the AGI hearing.

Documents show the landlord argued tenants were harassing the landlord, its staff and their families, and said tenants were being advised not to pay rent.

In June 2023, the LTB granted the landlord’s request, highlighting concerns of “intimidation and harassment” as well as the rent strike jeopardizing residents’ tenancies, a tribunal document shows.

Tenants said they didn’t get notice of the request听or have a chance to respond to the allegations, and听they only found out in August that a written hearing was scheduled for the next month.

In September, they submitted a request to change the format of the hearing to be in-person, citing language needs, lack of access to technology and complexity of the AGI application as well as the risk of displacement.

But the LTB denied that request听鈥� which formed the basis for the tenants’ appeal this year.

When reached for comment, the board told the Star in an email that, “to preserve adjudicative independence, the LTB cannot comment on any matters that are before it.”

Next step: Divisional Court听

In May and June 2024, the LTB granted above-guideline increases for all three apartment buildings; the landlord would be allowed to hike rent by between 5.3 and 6.4 per cent over two to three years听depending on the building, in addition to the provincial guideline increases of 1.2 per cent for 2022 and 2.5 per cent for 2023 over two years.听

In its decision, it deemed the maintenance听concerns raised by the tenants听not “serious” enough to dismiss the landlord’s application. It also wrote that, under the Residential Tenancies Act, it doesn’t have the authority to consider the financial impact on tenants when determining whether or not to approve an AGI.

Tenants, having retained the Community Justice Collective as their lawyers, requested the LTB review each decision. By September, the board declined to review the order for one building, 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr.听Final decisions on the other two buildings are still pending.听

Tenants appealed that decision to the Divisional Court in October,听arguing the LTB’s refusal to hold in-person hearings violated the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, among other reasons.

“The Board Granted the Landlord’s AGI, without any meaningful participation of hundreds of Tenants impacted by its decision,” the appeal read.

In response, the Divisional Court ordered a stay on the LTB’s order approving the AGI. Lawyer Benjamin Ries,听who is not involved in the case,听said that is the expected result of an appeal being filed.

Following the stay, on Nov. 6, the LTB听ordered a review hearing听on another building, 75 Thorncliffe Park Dr.,听and ordered the AGI order on that building be stayed. It has not responded to the request to review the decision for 71 Thorncliffe Park Dr., tenants say.听

Despite the suspension of the AGI orders for 75 and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr., tenants say the landlord gave a “new wave” of eviction notices in mid-November to some tenants听in those buildings听who were not on rent strike. They were ordered听to pay the outstanding money for the rent increase, tenants say.

Two eviction notices shared with the Star order tenants to pay some $2,000 by Dec. 2 or they risk being evicted.

“The way I see it is Starlight and PSP were aggressive before, but they’re really showing it really visibly for everyone,” Beyan said.

Starlight told the Star in a statement that the notices were given out by mistake.

鈥淲e acknowledge that the property manager, Greenwin served N4s to residents and some of those N4s included only the AGI arrears, which was an administrative error resulting from an automated process,” the statement said. “Greenwin has reached out to residents to apologize for this miscommunication and clarify that they will not be enforcing the N4s served. We regret this error and have been working to remedy it.”

Ateel Siddiqi听described the whole process as feeling like she is “screaming” and no one is listening听鈥� not the landlord, not the LTB and not the government.

She knows units in her building, which is centrally located for travel to Scarborough, North York, and in the future, on the Ontario Line, can lease for upwards of $3,000, and she fears the landlord wants to kick everyone out who is paying an affordable rent.

Ateel Siddiqi says she paid about $1,760 for her two-bedroom apartment before the rent increases started in 2022, and now, she pays $1,850 to account for guideline increases in 2022 and 2023.

If she were to pay the AGIs, she says her rent would rise to about $2,050. Additionally, she would owe her landlord about $2,100 in unpaid increases.听

Ateel Siddiqi says the system is broken, and that’s why they continue to fight.

鈥淭his is a baby step toward changing the system,鈥澨齭he听said. 鈥淲e know that we’re fighting for the right people.鈥�