Résidences Soleil: $17,000 to a tenant we tried to silence
Published on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 by Camille Payant in the Journal de Montréal.
He was the instigator of a request to reduce rent during the pandemic because of services not received.
Résidences Soleil will have to pay $17,000 in damages to an 82-year-old tenant who was threatened with eviction because he led a residents’ committee demanding a rent reduction during the pandemic.
For two years, tenants of Résidences Soleil Manoir Brossard on Montreal’s South Shore were unable to access their activities because of the pandemic.
There are plenty of them in these two towers, which are reminiscent of a Club Med for seniors: bowling, mini-golf, spa, shuffleboard, swimming pool, gym, cinema…
Pierre Rochon, who has been living there since 2019, has started researching the various legal remedies available to reduce the rent for the cancelled services.
He and his friend, Laurier Lepage, formed a residents’ group to send homeowners a request to “recover overpayments for services and activities not rendered”.
Eventually, 400 of Manoir Brossard’s 600 residents agreed to sign the formal notice. The claim totals over $3 million and is still before the courts.
“We didn’t think it was going to get this big,” Mr. Rochon mentioned in an interview with Le Journal.
FORMAL NOTICE
However, Résidences Soleil did not appreciate the request and decided to “produce a gag effect” by sending a formal notice to Mr. Rochon, according to Administrative Judge Robin-Martial Guay of the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL).
The letter warned him to stop “soliciting residents” or face “expulsion without further notice from [leur] “.
Laurier Lepage, who no longer lived at Résidences Soleil but wished to visit his friend, was then refused access to Manoir Brossard. A photo of him was even posted at the reception desk to remind employees that he could not enter the building.
“The Tribunal will refrain from qualifying the nature of this injunction to the tenant,” added administrative judge Guay.
Manoir Brossard manager Dominique Bergeron did not respond to our request.
LEASE CANCELLATION
Pierre Rochon, who represented himself before the TAL, sent a formal notice to Résidences Soleil for violating his privacy by refusing access to Mr. Lepage.
In response, Résidences Soleil indicated that it would terminate its lease on August 1st, 2022. Then they failed to collect his August and September rents.
“It was not out of concern for the security of the premises and the peaceful enjoyment of the tenants that the director acted as she did, but solely to obtain that the instigator of 400 formal notices […] leave the residence”, ruled the TAL.
The Tribunal found in favor of the tenant, awarding him $17,000 in damages. But the most important thing for Mr. Rochon is that he has ordered Laurier Lepage to visit him again at his home, where he is happy all the same.
CAAP Montérégie is an organization whose mandate is to inform and assist tenants in private residences for the elderly about their lease and their rights and obligations. You can contact us at 450 347-0670.
