Thorncliffe Park tenants anxiously await next steps as eviction proceedings wrap up

Yahoo

2 days ago

Iqbal Dar says he's dealt with no shortage of issues at his Thorncliffe Park home, everything from power outages to water damage to uneven floors.
And with the summer heat in full swing, he's had to take cooling showers to manage his heart conditions.
"It was really unbearable," Dar said.
He's among 100 households across three apartment buildings on Thorncliffe Park Drive — 71, 75 and 79 — that have been on a rent-strike for more than two years now as a result of what they say are above-guideline rent increases imposed by their landlord, Starlight Investments and PSP Investments, as well as the disrepair of their units since the companies took over in 2019.
That long-standing dispute came closer to completion last week, as hearings before the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) wrapped up. A decision isn't expected for several more months.
At issue is the eviction proceedings against tenants who've been withholding rent. But before the evictions can proceed, the LTB must rule on whether the landlords are in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act.
The lawyer for the tenants, Sima Atri, says the tenants know what they have risked by going on a rent strike, but she says the landlords have let the units fall into disrepair and they should be keeping them up according to standards.
"We've reached a point where landlords are trying so many strategies to push out long-standing tenants," Atri said.
A spokesperson for Starlight Investments disputed this in an email, telling CBC Toronto that it's invested more than $30 million in improvements and that the maintenance program is robust, as "demonstrated with a 99.6% maintenance resolution rate."
Dar disagrees. He joined the rent strike back in May 2023. It went until November 2023, at which time tenants were ordered to pay their rent into a trust through the LTB. Finally, at the request of the LTB in March 2025 tenants began paying their rent again directly to their landlords.
"We've been fighting this for [the] last two to three years," Dar said. "I'm alone and I'm a senior citizen and I have a limited amount of earnings or pension, which makes it harder if they are going to make us pay a lot more money."
Some tenants like Khalil Aldroubi, who lives with his wife and five children, say they don't think it's fair to start paying again, considering the conditions they are living in.
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"The cabinets in the kitchen — none of them, even upper or lower, open or close properly," he said. He says maintenance that is done is done at "a low level."
Aldroubi says his fridge is also leaking brown fluid, but he fears telling maintenance about it because he might be given a worse fridge as a result.
Now that residents have been ordered to pay the landlord again, Atri says it shows that they are trying to comply with the rules despite the landlord not complying with their obligations.
That's why last week's hearings were so important, she says.
"It's the first time a landlord like Starlight and PSP investments has been put to a test of what the standards are for large scale landlords," she said.
"At this point they're using tactics and strategies that allow long-standing tenants' units to fall into disrepair while completely renovating [other] units to bring in higher paying tenants."
In a statement, Starlight Investments' senior vice-president, Penny Colomvakos, told CBC Toronto that the buildings have gotten safer and liveability has improved since the company took over.
She says the above-guideline increases were approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board.
"Concerns about potential neglect or displacement are contradicted by both our ongoing investment in the community and our continued efforts to expand rent relief and support our residents," Colomvakos said.
As for Dar, he says he fears where he goes from here.
"I don't know what's going to happen today, tomorrow, or day after," he said. "I hope that things will work out and we don't have to leave the place where I've been living … for 11 years."