Local MLA Jenny Kwan addresses the media at an affordable housing protest outside the Carl Rooms yesterday. The residents of the Carl Rooms were saved from eviction when the new owners tentatively agreed to hand over management to Atira and freeze rent rates.

Two small victories for housing campaign

Golden Crown “Olympic” evictions declared illegal; Carl Rooms to stay open and affordable

March 20

Vancouver – Pivot Legal Society and a coalition of advocacy groups won two small victories for residents of the Downtown Eastside’s low-income hotels yesterday.

Two residents of the Golden Crown Hotel received notice from the Residential Tenancy Branch that their illegal eviction notices and rent increases linked to the Olympics were set aside.

“We are pleased to be part of a process that set aside these flawed eviction notices and rent increases,” says Shabnum Durrani of Pivot Legal Society who was counsel for the tenants. “However, this is a short term solution. The only real solution is for government to reinvest in social housing.”

The eviction notices given were for March 31, 2007, to the 28 units in the Golden Crown Hotel located across the street from the Woodward’s building. The eviction notices and rent increases are linked to the 2010 Olympics as owners of the hotel have indicated that they would like to use the hotel to provide housing to Olympic workers rather than the current residents.

In setting aside the illegal eviction notice, the dispute resolution officer in the case wrote, “the ‘Notice’ given by the landlord is not an ‘effective’ Notice because it is not in the approved form and it is fatal in its deficiency because it does not inform the tenants of their [rights]…I find the ‘Notice’ given by the landlord is void from the beginning.”

Carl Rooms to stay open and affordable

Also yesterday 46 single room occupancy (SRO) hotel rooms were saved when the new owners handed management of the Carl Rooms to a local non-profit organization.

Community advocates, including David Eby from Pivot Legal Society, convinced a partnership of developers, 0773477 B.C. Limited, to turn over management of their recently-purchased SRO to Atira Property Management, a non-profit property management organization. Atira is a Vancouver-based company that operates three other low-income buildings in the Downtown Eastside.

The owners’ agreement with Atira includes plans to renovate and improve the building, while it remains at rent levels accessible to those on basic social assistance.

“This is a short-term solution, but it is a model for all developers who own Downtown Eastside properties to follow,” says Eby. “We were called by the owners for assistance after our client filed for arbitration against them, and we were able to connect them with the resources they needed for everyone to win. They will protect their investment and earn a profit, but more importantly, this building will remain full of low-income tenants, and will be renovated and maintained to the highest standards.”

Pivot Legal Society, in close partnership with the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association and tenants at the hotel, had an arbitration scheduled to challenge illegal eviction notices and to demand repairs. The arbitration was to be heard on April 12, 2007, but now appears to be unnecessary. “It’s a nightmare and a financial drain if these buildings are run improperly, especially for first time owners,” notes Eby. “As a result, many developers choose to slowly, or rapidly, evict tenants and leave buildings empty while they wait for opportunities to convert. Our coalition of community groups has initiated a model we hope other developers will follow while we wait for proper social housing to be built.”

The Carl Rooms agreement is still tenative and a contract will be signed shortly.

The Golden Crown and Carl Room hotels were two of the four hotels scheduled to close to low income individuals in the last four weeks. As a result of the work done by Pivot and several other advocacy groups including the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association and the Save Low Income Housing Coalition, three of the four hotels have remained open and operating for low income individuals.