In Montreal's West Island, tenants say landlord is squeezing them out

For nearly half a century, Ronald has lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Montreal's West Island. It overlooks the water in a quiet neighbourhood and is close to everything he needs.

But in June, a new employee of the building known as the Marina Centre, knocked on his door and asked for $100 more than his usual rent — and another $770 in retroactive payments, despite Ronald having refused a proposed rent hike and the landlord not pursuing the matter at the provincial housing tribunal (TAL).

Ronald is on a fixed income from his pension and can't afford the increase.

"She said if I didn't pay by that Friday she would change the locks," said Ronald, who asked to have his last name omitted as he is still involved in legal proceedings at the housing tribunal.

Though he's been paying his usual rent every month, he said the building manager started refusing his cheques in July, saying the amount was short. He showed CBC cheques that were rejected by the management company.

And Ronald isn't alone.

The Marina Centre is owned by Vincenzo Barrasso — who owns at least two residential buildings in Pierrefonds, Que., — and tenants say Barrasso and his staff are intimidating them into either paying more or leaving their units.

CBC spoke with 17 tenants and two former tenants from two buildings owned by Barrasso. They all say they have experienced "harassment and threats" from Barrasso and his staff, and they believe they are being pushed out because they have lived in the building so long their rents are way below market value.

They say the landlord is threatening to take them to the tribunal, asking for illegal safety deposits, not doing necessary repairs and denying them access to amenities in the building like washing machines and pools, which are included in their leases. Some tenants say they have come home to notes from management posted on their doors.

It is, they say, a campaign that has been going on for years — one tenant has a storage bin full of documents from previous tribunal hearings.

WATCH | Tenants describe the stress of living with fear of eviction: 

The tenants fear the pressure will increase or they will be evicted. Because rent prices have exploded in the last few years, they fear they wouldn't be able to find a new apartment within their budgets.

They also say they have safety concerns after a fatal fire broke out at the Marina Centre in January.

With Montreal in the midst of a housing crisis, even the suburbs are feeling the squeeze with a vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent. One-bedroom apartments in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, where Barrasso owns property, are going for an average of $1,250 per month. A recent report showed that Quebec's homeless population almost doubled in the last four years.