Halifax, NS – Halifax tenant, Stacey Gomez, is fighting to keep her home for close to 5 years amid an attempted renoviction. She is one of the last remaining tenants in the 7-unit building. As the date of her hearing at the Residential Tenancy Board approaches, she says that the landlord is escalating the situation.
Gomez has been a resident at the property in downtown Halifax since December 4, 2017. The property is close to Dalhousie University’s Sexton Campus, in a historic area of the city. On December 20, 2021, the building was sold to new landlord Marcus Ranjbar, whose Instagram handle is HalifaxHouseFlips. Ranjbar operates the property with Morgan Fraser.
“The landlord’s reasons for the renoviction continue to change. First, they said there was high radon, then “extensive” renovations and now they are saying there is a mould issue,” says Gomez.
The Residential Tenancy Hearing which would decide on the landlord’s application to have Gomez evicted was originally scheduled to take place on August 12, 2022. However, the Residential Tenancy Officer ruled to adjourn til August 31, 2022 because the landlord had not submitted his evidence to the tenant in advance of the hearing. The hearing will also address Gomez’s counter claim for repairs and other issues.
Gomez, who went public with her story in July, says that the landlord has refused to make essential repairs, took away a private garbage service (constituting an illegal rent increase) and made defamatory social media posts about her. On August 13, 2022, Ranjbar demolished the front steps to the building with no notice, impeding her mail delivery.
The landlord began building renovations on May 31, 2022. In a video published on August 22, 2022, Gomez says that Ranjbar has stepped up his actions in the last few days, including demolishing her patio and destroying her garden with no notice, blocking the main entrance to her home and posting a release of liability on her entry doors.
An excerpt from the landlord’s note reads: “Stacey Gomez ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR, AND RISK OF, INJURY TO HIS/HER PERSON OR HIS DEATH or damage to his/her property, whether caused by the negligence of the landlord or otherwise, occurring during or as a result of the Stacey Gomez’s presence at (redacted) Church Street.”
“The note makes me fear for my safety and even for my life, simply for living in my home and exercising my rights as a tenant” said Gomez.
On August 20, 2022, a note reading “Stay the fuck out” was found posted to the entrance Stacey Gomez uses to access her unit.
Gomez says that she hopes that the province puts in place better protections for tenants such as a permanent rent cap, and regulations to deter renovictions.
