Advocacy groups in Vancouver's poorest neighbourhood have released a list of what they call the city's worst slum hotels in hopes of hitting owners where it hurts the most: their pocketbooks.
Members of the Pivot Legal Society and the Carnegie Action Project hope the list of problematic Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels will pressure B.C.'s Residential Tenancy Branch to impose financial penalties against the owners.
A lawyer for Pivot says the list was made in conjunction with groups who spend significant amounts of time helping low-income tenants in Vancouver's notorious downtown eastside - an area known for homelessness and widespread drug use.
The groups have singled out these buildings because they say repairs are seldom done, rats run freely, and mildew is everywhere.
CTV British Columbia obtained city inspection documents that prove it.
They also say there is a problem with illegally keeping damage deposits and ongoing verbal abuse of the tenants.
DJ, a volunteer with many downtown eastside organizations, has lived in the Balmoral Hotel for 11 years.
"My partner and I pay $750 for a small one-bedroom that's got rats, mice, cracks in the walls and ceilings and other problems," she says. "When I ask someone to come and do necessary repairs it often takes weeks to get the problem fixed."
Wendy Pederson, an organizer with the Carnegie Community Action Program, says many of their members are among the tenants who live in the buildings.
"Low-income tenants deserve to live with dignity and security, but these two landlord families deprive tenants of their rights by repeatedly breaking the law and allowing the conditions in their buildings to remain so horrendous," she says.
"[Owners] are making significant profits on the backs of some of the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals in our city."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander.
