By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
For one long-time Vancouver tenant, the future is uncertain. Abby Leung has lived in Kensington-Cedar Cottage for over 17 years. She told CityNews Vancouver that she’s never been late to pay rent and has “maintained a good relationship with her landlord.” This includes taking care of her landlord’s dog, according to the Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU). Now Leung, who shared she is elderly and has a mental and physical disability, faces eviction from her basement suite. The VTU is currently helping Leung with collective action as they are “committed to educating renters on their rights and standing up to landlords and developers.”
To understand how the situation progressed, it’s necessary to take a few steps back. According to the VTU, Leung’s landlord originally suggested eviction “so that family members or homestays could move in.” Then, in November 2023, the landlord told Leung that her rent would be increased by 42% beginning in March. This suggested increase was 12 times the “legal provincially regulated allowable rent increase,” which was 3.5% in 2024. Leung told her landlord the increase would be unjust, but ultimately agreed to a 24% increase, feeling pressured. The VTU stated the landlord then grew angry with Leung. “I was so anxious and nervous, and so depressed. I stayed home and cried,” she told CityNews.
Come September 2024, Leung’s landlord served her with an eviction notice. Section 49 of the Residential Tenancy Act refers to “landlord use” evictions, stating “a landlord may end a tenancy with four months’ notice if the landlord or their close family member intends to occupy the rental unit.”
“Eviction with the ‘landlord use’ is rising,” Leung told the VTU in an interview on Instagram. “A lot of landlords use this excuse to evict long-term tenants, particularly the vulnerable, people just like seniors.” Artemisia Yang, a volunteer with the VTU, told CityNews, “We see across Vancouver, which is the eviction capital of Canada, where landlords will use all sorts of bogus reasons — not just landlord use, but damage to property — to evict the tenants in order to raise the rent.” The rental increase limit does not apply between tenancies, except for single-room units in Vancouver.
According to a 2023 story from Global News, “BC seniors who face eviction from long-term, affordable rental housing face ‘catastrophic’ consequences.” They reported that “there’s been an ‘uptick’ in the number of people over 60 in homeless shelters, and even single-room occupancy buildings are now financially out of reach for many.”
“We need a system to protect the tenants, and not provide the loophole for the landlord to abuse.” — Abby Leung, Vancouver tenant
The Residential Tenancy Act also includes a good faith clause, which “requires honesty of intention with no ulterior motive” for the eviction. Leung believes her landlord may have intended to re-rent the apartment at a higher price. “We need a system to protect the tenants, and not provide the loophole for the landlord to abuse,” she told the VTU, referring to how landlord-use evictions are too easy for landlords to carry out.
Leung says she’s reached out to her landlord on multiple occasions. “I honestly want my landlord to sit down with me and find a solution that’s good for us together, then I don’t need to leave,” Leung told CityNews. “I have written a letter, texted her, and emailed her, and also [reached out] verbally to ask her to have a conversation. Unfortunately, she ignores all my requests,” she told the VTU. CityNews was unable to receive a response from Leung’s landlord.
Given her rent was originally raised illegally by 24%, Leung filed a dispute with the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) with the assistance of the VTU, claiming the eviction was in bad faith. The branch sided with the landlord. The VTU said Leung “plans to continue fighting” and pushed for the BC Supreme Court to conduct a Judicial Review to determine whether or not the RTB acted fairly. VTU organizer Alex Werier told The Peak a date for the Judicial Review has not been set. He also stated that on January 30, one day before Leung’s scheduled eviction, she attended court and “was granted a stay of her eviction until March 31.” Leung’s stay may “be extended if necessary until a date [for review] can be scheduled and attended.
“While we are very glad to have received a stay of the eviction, Abby’s housing is still uncertain, and that has been very hard for her, both because she is still facing the threat of being kicked out of her home, and because of the uncertainty of not knowing when her court date is,” stated Werier. “At the moment, the stay is not indefinite.
“This is a good reminder that there are likely thousands of people throughout the city going through similar hardships without this support. These systems can be quite opaque, and landlords will almost always have more resources at their disposal to navigate them,” Werier continued. “The VTU plans to remain in this fight until Abby is safe and secure in her home.”
