CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Members of the Zahorodniy family believe they could be the next victims of “renoviction” in Charlottetown.
The family of five moved from Israel to P.E.I. in 2015 and have lived in the same duplex home ever since.
They were given an eviction notice earlier this year to vacate the home so it could undergo renovations. However, they were successful in appealing the eviction.
Now, they have been served with a second eviction notice and must move out by the end of the month.
“What are we going to do?” said Vladimir Zahorodniy, the family’s father. “Live in a tent or something.”
Adding to the stress of the situation, Vladimir said he recently lost his job as a long-haul truck driver.
“If it wasn’t all at once it would not be so bad.”
The family previously appealed the first eviction to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC).
Raymundo Yu, the family’s neighbour, said IRAC ruled in their favour because the eviction “wasn’t in good faith”.
The second and most recent eviction notice, which said the landlord was going to occupy the residency, was also taken to IRAC. However, the family said the appeal was unsuccessful.
Housing advocates in P.E.I. say IRAC will typically approve evictions if landlords are moving into the unit.
“Landlords are saying that it’s being used for their own personal use because there’s a rule with IRAC that if it’s meant for yourself or a family member that you can push someone out of the home if that’s what you want to use it for,” said Dee Miguel of P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing.
Advocates have also described the process of evicting tenants under the guise of renovations as “renovictions.”
“People are finding that’s not the case, they’ll wait a week and find out their apartment has been listed on Airbnb and that’s just not cool,” said Miguel.
Vladimir said there’s no reason to evict the family if it is for renovations, which was one of the reasons given.
The inside of the home has a click-wood floor, tile kitchen floor, and paint that isn’t chipped or ruined.
Vladimir said if the landlord wants to live in one of the units, they have several other units that are frequently vacant due to many of the homes being short-term rentals.
“It doesn’t have to be here,” he said.