'Take me to court, I'm not leaving': Tenants defiant as Webster Street Apartments issue more eviction notices

Catherine Ostrander is the latest to receive an eviction notice from Webster Street Apartments.

“I like my apartment here,” said Ostrander, a tenant at 1280 Webster St. “I've been here for 23 years, and the thing is, I really don't want to move.”

Late last week, Ostrander received a notice with N9 and N13 forms attached.

The notice, like ones handed to some other tenants in late April, state that renovations need to be done, and she's required to leave for health and safety reasons during the process.

"A lot of people are elderly in the building are 80 to 90 years old, and they're getting eviction notices,” said Aaron Dell, who was one of the first 20 people to receive a notice four months ago. “Ten more people from this building, 10 more people from that building. So basically, they're going to keep continuing to evict people.”

ACORN London, an advocacy group for low income tenants, said these types of incidents are becoming commonplace across Canada.

“The housing market is going out of control, and there is no one guarding the gates as far as protecting tenants’ rights,” Jordan Smith, a leader with ACORN London previously told CTV News London.

Tyler J. holds up a three-month compensation cheque after receiving an eviction notice in late April 2023 from Webster Street Apartments in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

ACORN said the term they use in these instances is "reno-viction.”

“It is using renovations as an excuse for eviction,” said Smith. "What they will do is neglect regular maintenance for a period of time until these problems get exaggerated to the point where they feel they can justify kicking people out and doing a total renovation.”

Smith said it allows the landlords to double the rent of the new apartment, and with government tax rebates and tax breaks for investing in housing, corporations are incentivized to “use this tactic.”

The landlords also threatened to raise the parking rates on the property, but have since retracted as one tenant said “they are picking their battles.”

Those who received the initial notices in April were offered compensation of $3,000 or up to $5,000 if they were to leave early. Those payments have now started to arrive.

“We came home we got a envelope in our mailbox that has no return address, no stamp that was obviously just put in our mailbox by the landlord,” said Tyler J. “This is a cheque for $3,000 for three months rent compensation, when they know full well we had no intentions of moving.”

Part of a multi-page eviction notice handed to residents of 1280 and 1270 Webster St. in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

The question now is whether to cash the cheque or just hold onto it. Some believe there should be no repercussions for cashing the cheque, as they feel the initial eviction notice was an illegal document.

Tyler J. and his mother Michelle don’t plan on cashing the cheque, but they have seen others take the money and leave, or upgrade to a renovated, higher-rent apartment.

“A large number of people left because they don't know how to fight this and they think it's written in stone that we have to leave,” said Michelle.

Dell has yet to receive a cheque, and four months after getting an eviction notice, he has continued to pay his rent and maintain the status quo.

“Screw it, I'm staying,” said Dell. “They can do whatever they want with their fake papers and whatever and take me to court. I'm not leaving.”

CTV News London reached out to Webster Street Apartments but the call went straight to voicemail. We have yet to receive a response to our request for an interview.