It was a dreadful case of déjà vu for West End resident Daryn Didyk when he found out the building he’s lived in since 2011 had been sold. The stress of a threatened “reno-viction” that had forced him out of another apartment back in 2009 flooded his mind as he pondered the uncertainty surrounding the building’s new ownership. For Didyk and his fellow tenants at 1168 Pendrell, Plan A Real Estate Services, which took over in early August, has been nightmarish to deal with and now the residents have banded together to sound the alarm about the company’s tactics.
“I was under the naïve impression when they first came in that, because they had a nice letterhead and they had an admin assistant sending their emails, they were truly professionals,” Didyk said of the company in an interview with WE Vancouver. “I’ve just come to realize that it’s all smoke and mirrors.”’
Initially, the company began inundating residents with notices on their doors, including eviction notices for some. It disallowed long-standing bike storage in the building’s laundry room and raised the price of washing and drying from $1.75 a wash and $1.50 for 60 minutes of drying time to $4.50 a wash and $4.50 for 30 minutes of drying time.
For Alison Smith, who has lived in the building for four years, the situation has left her stomach in knots.
“When everything was coming to a head, and there was just notice after notice, I would hear keys jingle in the hallway and the stress – my heart would start racing,” she said. “I lock and latch my door now.”
Plan A property manager Karen Ho and owner Anoop Majithia both refused interviews with WE Vancouver.
Residents at the building have been formulating a battle plan, gearing up for dispute resolution hearings with the Residential Tenancy Branch scheduled throughout September and one in late October.
Vancouver-West End NDP MLA Spencer Chandra-Hebert accused the company of wanting to kick residents out “to get more money” at a press conference last week.
For Chandra-Herbert, the plight of tenants at 1168 Pendrell speaks to the need for the government to penalize landlords who break the rules or try to game the system.
“These residents were living happily for years in this building without any problems with their landlord. [Majithia’s] company bought the building and then a few days later, all hell broke loose,” he said in a phone interview. “Until the provincial government, until the Provincial Liberals decide that you actually have to get tough on people that break the rules, I’m worried this will continue.”
In a statement posted to Plan A’s website, Majithia apologized to residents and denied the Chandra-Herbert’s allegations. The letter states that Chandra-Herbert’s statements have “inflamed the situation” and “contributed to unjustifiable acts of public intimidation and threats directed against my company.” Moreover, the company claims it just wants tenants to adhere to their lease agreements, which weren’t fully enforced by the old building manager, and expressed “regret that the tenants have had a negative experience with our management of the building.”
Tenant Absalon Figueroa, who faces eviction from the building, found Majithia’s statement “embarrassing” given all that’s happened.
Figueroa received an eviction notice from the company after he monitored Plan A representatives in the building at the behest of neighbours who feared illegal entries into their suites. He’s fighting the eviction with the RTB and claims the eviction notice contained “complete lies” alleging that he intimidated Plan A staff.
For Didyk, Figueroa, Smith, and other building residents, the situation at 1168 Pendrell has brought them together, and all have vowed to fight because they don’t want to leave, and if they did, they’d want to do so on their own terms.
“I would leave,” Didyk said. “But chances are, how do I know Plan A’s not going to buy my next building and do the exact same thing? I might as well stay here and fight and hope that things will work out.”
