Sandra Thomas
Vancouver Courier
In the 1987 movie Batteries Not Included, a pregnant woman, an elderly couple and an artist face eviction by a greedy developer anxious to tear down their building.
In the movie, the tenants are saved by tiny alien robots–which could come in handy in the West End, where a pregnant woman, an elderly couple [...]
By Matt Kieltyka
24 Hours
The owner of a West End apartment building has no reservations about raising tenants’ rent by up to 73 per cent.
Jason Gordon, of Gordon Nelson Investments, took ownership of the 12-suite Seafield Apartment building at 1436 Pendrell Street last year and says the proposed rent increases are fair.
“It’s a competitive business and [...]
By: Jon Ferry
The Province
Does capitalism always have to be on a collision course with compassion?
It seems so in Vancouver’s West End, where tenants in yet another apartment building have learned that bottom-line-minded landlords can charge pretty much what they can get away with.
Making ends meet these days is stressful enough. But try being nine months’ [...]
The Vancouver Sun does a great job of discussing geographic rent increases, what they mean and the various legalities surrounding this eviction/rent-gouging strategy.
By Catherine Rolfsen
Vancouver Sun
Several West End renters, including an elderly brother and sister who’ve occupied their apartment for nearly half a century, are facing potentially hundreds of dollars in rent increases from [...]
Seafield Apartments residents found this article in the Province today. Emerald Terrace residents will be fighting landlord Hollyburn Properties at the Residential Tenancy Office today over the eviction notices they were issued over owning pets.
By Kent Spencer
The Province
Seven tenants of a West End apartment block who are being told to get rid of [...]
The Province does a good job in this article Seafield Apartments residents found today. Jon Ferry dismantles Hollyburn’s rationale for evicting Emerald Terrace tenants who have pets. Allergies? Come on.
Jon Ferry
The Province
Tshoo . . . tshoo. As my pals will tell you, I’m an allergic guy who reacts badly to everything from dust mites to [...]
You know that the situation is bad when even The Province thinks what you’re doing is wrong with a capital W. Seafielders found this editorial by The Province in their newspaper today, regarding the evictions of residents at Emerald Terrace who have pets.
In early December, cat owners at Emerald Terrace highrise in Vancouver’s West [...]
Sandra Thomas
Vancouver Courier
A West End tenant says the company that owns the building in which he lives is evicting tenants while avoiding costly renovation or building permits.
“Give up your cat or move out,” said Andrew Simmons, a tenant of the Emerald Terrace apartments on Nelson Street. He was given an eviction notice Tuesday by Hollyburn [...]
It is very interesting to see Allan Wasel demand over and over again that Hollyburn has a no-pets policy as shown in this article. In fact, Hollyburn does allow new tenants across the street from Emerald Terrace to keep pets. Seafielders learned this interesting tid bit afer atending the Emerald Terrace press conference last week. [...]
Catherine Rolfsen
Vancouver Sun
June MacGregor may soon face a terrible choice: her home or her beloved companion.
The 79-year-old is among seven tenants of Emerald Terrace — a West End apartment building recently bought by Hollyburn Properties — who are battling eviction notices issued because they have pets.
“I feel angry and I feel really, really upset,” said [...]
By Carlito Pablo
Georgia Straight
A number of tenants in a West End apartment building are fighting to keep their units not just for themselves but for their pets as well.
The residents, according to Vancouver-Burrard NDP MLA Spencer Herbert, are contesting eviction notices issued to them by Hollyburn Properties, owner of the Emerald Terrace at 2045 Nelson [...]
Many Seafield Apartments residents went to council to speak in support of Councillor Tim Stevenson’s motion to request needed amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act from the province. Some of the suggestions made by Seafielders, most notably those made by our own Brian Broster, were implemented as amendments to the motion.
By Jackie Wong
The West Ender
In [...]
By: Jackie Wong
The West Ender
Vancouver’s rental vacancy rates will remain below one per cent in 2009, according to the latest rental-market report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The report, released last week, shows that Vancouver has a rental-apartment vacancy rate of 0.3 per cent, one of the lowest rates in the Lower [...]
By Chris Wirth
Special to The Epoch Times
A newly-coined word, “renoviction,” has come into use in certain circles in Vancouver. It describes a trend in which landlords are evicting tenants for renovations and then raising the rent – often by as much as 50 per cent.
Housing advocates claim landlords are exploiting a provision in the B.C.’s [...]
The “right of first refusal”, which Tim Stevenson is suggesting, is used in Ontario to combat evictions for unnecessary renovations designed to gouge profits and take advantage of a tight rental market. It has effectively removed the financial incentive for landlords to evict tenants for unnecessary renovations. Despite popular belief that this law will result [...]
Mark Moore, a Seafield resident in Vancouver, wrote this letter in response to “Renters brace for reno, eviction” appearing in the Courier on November 7, 2008, to correct several errors in the story. The correction appeared in the Courier on Wednesday, November 19, 2008.
To the editor:
I am a tenant of Seafield Apartments, the building profiled [...]
By Jackie Wong
The West Ender
If his apartment building’s management had its way, Andrew Simmons would have surrendered his three cats to an animal shelter by now. A seven-year tenant at the Hollyburn Properties-owned Emerald Terrace apartments at 2045 Nelson Street, Simmons received a “No Pets Policy” notice from the company, dated November 24, which gave [...]
Business in Vancouver November 11-17, 2008; issue 994
Real Estate Roundup: Peter Mitham
Affordable accommodation in Vancouver remains a key challenge in the city’s efforts to draw new residents
An exceptional year
B.C. real estate is shaping up for an exceptional year, but the exception isn’t on the upside.
Speaking to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s annual housing outlook [...]
CÉCILE LEPAGE
L’Express du Pacifique
Au crépuscule du 31 octobre, zombies, sorcières et squelettes hantaient pour rire le perron et le hall d’entrée de l’immeuble Seafield à Vancouver. Le 1436 de la rue Pendrell, décoré avec soin par ses occupants pour toutes les grandes occasions, est un passage obligé pour les enfants du quartier lors de leur [...]
Spencer Herbert, newly elected NDP MLA, discussed the Seafield in his debut speech in the Provincial legislature, further adding emphasis to the grave issues West End residents face due to loopholes in the Residential Tenancy Act.
By Charlie Smith
The Georgia Straight
Veteran Liberal MLAs must have wondered, “Who is the hell is this kid? And where the [...]
Posted By: Jackie Wong
11/20/2008 12:00 AM
When it was announced last Saturday night (November 15) that Gregor Robertson would be Vancouver’s next mayor, a group of West End residents jumped for joy, joining hundreds of victorious supporters that packed a ballroom in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, where Vision Vancouver held its election party. “I feel fantastic!” [...]
CKNW 980 AM
Renters at Seafield Apartments in the west end say they are thrilled Gregor Robertson is their new
Mayor. The renters say they’re facing evictions for renovations, after which their rents are hiked way up.
Mayor-elect Gregor Robertson says he vows to fight the practice by requiring renovations to be scrutinized by City staff.
Seafield renter Melissa [...]
Sandra Thomas, Vancouver Courier
Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008
When early results of Saturday night’s municipal election showed Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson with a strong lead, the huge crowd gathered at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver broke into thunderous cheers and applause.
It was the first indication that the close, and sometimes bitter, political race could finally [...]
Friday, November 14, 2008
By: Mary Frances Hill
Vancouver Sun
Tenants of a Fraser Street apartment complex are looking for answers — and homes — after their landlord announced plans to demolish the building and replace it with condominiums and townhouses.
The 78 affordable rental units at 4550 Fraser sit above a block-long retail strip at 29th Avenue and [...]
JANE ARMSTRONG
FROM WEDNESDAY’S GLOBE AND MAIL
NOVEMBER 12, 2008 AT 4:33 AM EST
VANCOUVER — It’s the last thing Roland McFall thinks of when he falls asleep at night and it’s the first thought that pops into his head when he awakens: At 83, Mr. McFall faces eviction from his grand and sprawling two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver’s [...]
By DHARM MAKWANA, 24 HOURS
The ruling NPA have failed Vancouver renters, according to Vision Vancouver’s mayoral candidate.
Gregor Robertson made his case yesterday on the steps of Seafield Apartments at 1436 Pendrell Street, where tenants claim to be facing eviction because their landlord, Gordon Nelson Investments, is applying part of the Residential Tenancy Act.
“We now have [...]
Kent Spencer
The Province
Monday, November 10, 2008
Tenants of a West End apartment have been told they must vacate their suites by Dec. 1 so the building can undergo renovations.
But the tenants are vowing to use every legal means to fight the evictions.
“This is extremely stressful. All the tenants want to stay in their homes,” said Christine [...]
CKNW 980 AM
Residents of the Seafield Apartments in the west end are pledging a long, hard fight over what they say are
evictions for renovations that are only taking place in order to jack up their rents.
The building has been around since the 1930s and is home to two dozen tenants who range in age from
newborns [...]
KRISTEN THOMPSON, MÉTRO
November 09, 2008 06:17
While many Vancouverites watch Dec. 1 draw near with thoughts of the approaching holidays, 24 tenants of Seafield apartment are bracing for eviction notices that day.
Yesterday, they gathered on the steps of their West End heritage building, joined by Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson, demanding the right to stay [...]
Sunday, November 09 – 04:26:52 PM
By: Erin Loxam
VANCOUVER NEWS1130 – More people are facing eviction in the West End as another property owner says his building needs renovations.
The people living in the Seafield building on Pendrell near Nicola are outraged that they are being given the choice to accept rent increases of double what they [...]