Saint John property manager feels targeted after pellets fired at company vans

Karen Sharp has no proof that angry tenants are responsible for last week's shooting of two vans emblazoned with her company's logo.

"But it feels targeted," said Sharp, owner of Leading Edge Property Solutions on Somerset Street in the north end of Saint John. 

As far as she knows, no other vehicles in the parking lot outside the company's office were hit overnight on May 10. 

Saint John police say the damage appears to be consistent with damage caused by pellet guns. They say they're still investigating. No one has been arrested or charged. 

One van was fired at three times through the front windshield. A second van was shot through the driver's side window. Police said there were also dents in the auto body. 

Sharp, who's worked in Saint John property management for 15 years and started her own company seven years ago, said she's detecting more animosity and hostility between tenants and property owners, including property managers. 

"We have certainly seen a bit of a split between the landlord and tenant, and that seemed to come about at the end of March," said Sharp.

That's when the province announced it was going to impose a one-year 3.8 per cent cap on rent increases retroactive to Jan. 1.

A small number of tenants now feel entitled to reject reasonable rent increases, Sharp said. Meanwhile, landlords feel ambushed by legislation they did not factor into their investment decisions. 

Sharp says her company manages 500 units and that 85 percent of her clients are out-of-town investors. 

Those investors are dealing with rising costs across the board, she says. That includes higher property taxes and utility bills. 

They're also having to absorb the costs when apartments are damaged. Sometimes, units are left in disgraceful condition, and it costs "thousands of dollars" to have them fixed, said Sharp. 

Jill Farrar said she hasn't heard of any tenants attacking landlords or their property. 

"Not to say it doesn't happen," said Farrar, secretary of the New Brunswick branch of ACORN, a national organization that represents low and moderate income people and often advocates for affordable housing. "There's definitely people on both sides, I'm sure, who have done some unsavoury things."