Halifax tenants in 'precarious housing situations' band together to fight renovictions

Nicola Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Late past year, aggregate tenants successful tiny flat buildings astir Halifax got akin letters from their caller landlord, stating their leases would soon beryllium terminated. But nary reasons were given. 

This didn't beryllium close with Amanda Rose, who has been renting her one-bedroom apartment in the city's northbound extremity for astir six years. 

"It seemed targeted," Rose said successful a caller interrogation astatine her Cunard Street apartment. "It seemed similar it was targeted toward the tenants who had been present the longest and were paying the lowest rent amount."

Rose, who works arsenic a backing co-ordinator successful the societal services sector, knew 4 radical successful her eight-unit gathering had received the letter.

When she knocked connected immoderate doors, she recovered tenants successful 4 different buildings precocious purchased by the aforesaid landlord, PreCor Property Management, were facing eviction attempts arsenic well.

Rose said they started communicating successful an email concatenation and offering accusation and enactment to others successful "precarious lodging situations."

Some contested the legality of letters, which were withdrawn by the landlord. Then came renoviction attempts for Rose and others.

Six months later, Rose is inactive surviving successful her unit, fighting her renoviction. A residential tenancy serviceman ruled successful her favour successful May, saying the renoviction did not look to beryllium successful bully faith.

But her landlord appealed the decision to tiny claims court. A new proceeding volition hap successful the coming months. 

"Fighting these renovictions, it's not lone thing that I'm doing due to the fact that it's successful my champion involvement and it allows maine to person that safe, stable, unafraid housing, but it besides is to support the close to lodging for each of my neighbours, too," she said. 

Sydnee Blum, a assemblage ineligible idiosyncratic with Dalhousie Legal Aid Service successful Halifax, said she's representing 1 of the tenants successful the appeal. Blum estimates up to 24 tenants of PreCor Property Management are impacted. 

"When it's happening to aggregate buildings astatine a time, this is, to us, portion of a systematized effort to evict semipermanent tenants, bash cosmetic upgrades connected a gathering and past rent them for higher rents," Blum said.

"And this is what we spot successful the classical renoviction, oregon flipping of flat buildings."

Nova Scotia's Registry of Joint Stocks shows the director, president, and caput of PreCor Property Management is Mitchell Hollohan, whose concern code is listed in Halifax. 

Property records amusement Hollohan owns astatine slightest 21 properties nether his ain sanction and nether assorted numbered companies. 

Hollohan did not respond to an interrogation petition astir the evictions and the information of the buildings wherever renovations are planned. 

Asbestos claims

Rose said the landlord approached immoderate tenants successful February and asked them to motion an statement to extremity their tenancy for renovations, stating an biology appraisal found asbestos successful the building.

He offered the compensation required by the Nova Scotia government, and immoderate further money.

Rose, who pays conscionable implicit $1,000 monthly for her unit, knew she wouldn't beryllium capable to find a caller rental anyplace adjacent to that amount. She didn't motion the statement and asked for a transcript of the asbestos report and the gathering permits. 

"I've been surviving present for six years, the gathering has had tons of renovations done passim that time," she said. "The portion downstairs was converted into an Airbnb.... There was new backsplash enactment in, caller sink, caller counters, walls were painted.

"Never erstwhile was asbestos mentioned to america successful that time."

Rose said she inactive hasn't seen the landlord's report, conscionable an email saying asbestos was found, sent from an inspector who previously worked for Hollohan. 

In aboriginal May, Rose paid $425 for autarkic asbestos investigating successful the building. CBC News reviewed the report, which recovered nary asbestos. CBC besides requested a transcript of Hollohan's report, but did not person a response. 

After Rose and different tenant took their quality with PreCor Property Management to the province's Residential Tenancies Program, the residential tenancy serviceman dismissed the renovictions. 

"The actions look to beryllium an effort to displace lower-paying tenants, marque cosmetic upgrades, and subsequently re-rent the units astatine higher rates," Lori Prest wrote successful her decision, which Hollohan appealed. 

The tenants are present awaiting the appeal proceeding to beryllium held successful the coming months. 

Numbers successful dispute

According to information gathered by Nova Scotia's Residential Tenancy Program, renovictions are becoming little common.

The programme lone counts renovictions if a proceeding is applied for, not if tenants hold to permission and extremity their tenancy. Still, determination person lone been 19 applications truthful acold this year.

In 2024, determination were 84 renoviction proceeding applications, compared to 152 successful 2023 and 123 successful 2022.

A section spokesperson said the diminution "is mostly owed to the amendments introduced successful 2022 to support tenants successful instances wherever their landlord tries to usage renovations arsenic a crushed to terminate a tenancy."

"There is precise strict authorities successful spot present astir compensation, announcement periods, impervious that a landlord indispensable supply and penalties for a landlord who doesn't travel the process," spokesperson Susan McKeage said successful an email. 

However, Blum said renovictions are inactive common, they conscionable aren't ever counted successful the data. 

"So, it doesn't seizure tenants who are conscionable agreeing to leave. And past it doesn't seizure tenants who are connected fixed-term leases that are terminated, oregon who are fixed illegitimate eviction notices and don't cognize that they tin combat that," Blum said. "There's decidedly been a spike this summertime successful the reports that we're getting of renovictions."

Rebecca Hartery lives successful different 1 of PreCor Property Management's buildings. She contested the eviction missive past winter. 

She said the landlord told different tenant that renovations are coming. She noticed workers recently taking samples from the walls. 

She said she checks each time if gathering permits person been issued for her address, waiting for different eviction attempt, portion continuing to communicate with the landlord's different tenants. 

"It feels truly frustrating, but it besides feels truly motivating to marque definite that radical cognize their tenant rights and to talk to the radical that you unrecorded with," Hartery said.

"I consciousness a batch much information and stronger with america communicating and being capable to fto each different cognize what's happening due to the fact that I deliberation it conscionable builds a stronger case."