ACORN holds rally to call out a landlord they say is Ontario's biggest 'renovictor'

Local tenant advocates were part of a multi-city demonstration Wednesday.

Tenants' rights advocacy group ACORN held a rally at the Webster Street apartments in Northeast London, calling out a man they believe is the province’s biggest "renovictor."

"We're here to draw public attention and awareness to what's happening here, not just to 1270 and 1280 Webster [Street], but to buildings across Ontario that are owned by Michael Klien," said Jordan Smith, ACORN chair of the Carling-Stoneybrook Chapter.

ACORN released a new report containing records that indicate a man by the name of Michael Klien is behind thousands of renovictions across Ontario, including the Webster Street apartments in London, which have been subject to allegations of illegal evictions forcing tenants out of their homes for over a year.

"It just goes on and on, it's been a literal nightmare and they are doing it intentionally and so far there have been no repercussions for the company," said Michele Jollymore, who is a tenant in one of the two apartments on Webster Street.

Like Jollymore, many of the tenants say they send their monthly rental cheques to a numbered company, whose director is listed as Michael Klien.

"Using these tactics of hiding, using numbered companies and using every tactic in his book, and shell companies, in order to literally hide from any kind of accountability," said Smith.

Last year, tenants of 1270 and 1280 Webster St. began receiving N12 and N13 notices, intended to remove residents during extensive renovations, something that ACORN says the new management company has been abusing.

"I am not going to be able to move into another unit that's two thousand dollars, not at this point in my life, absolutely not, I will be unhoused," worried Sharon Hodgson, another Webster Street tenant.

ACORN says it wants the province to introduce vacancy control to cap rent increases on vacant units, and is asking the federal government to implement a public registry of ownership disclosing landlords.

"If we don't put in strong protections to stop the bleed of affordable housing, we're entering a level of catastrophe that we literally can't recover from," said Smith.

Recently, Ontario ACORN submitted a complaint against Klein to the Federal Housing Advocate’s office.