Montreal seniors' home residents told to leave or pay more for less service

At 88 years old, Suzanne Saint-Jacques Mineau has been enjoying her downtown Montreal apartment in a private seniors' residence as it provides a range of services that meet her needs.

"I found that it was becoming precious to have a place where I could still feel safe, and above all sheltered," she said.

She had no intention of leaving anytime soon, but then somebody stopped by unannounced on Monday to hand her a shocking announcement.

And now she has a tough decision to make.

The new owner of her private seniors' residence (RPA) on René-Lévesque Boulevard, Résidence Mont-Carmel, has plans for the 216 apartments in the 16-storey housing complex.

Those plans include raising the rent and cutting the services people like Mineau rely on — such as a nurse-in-residence and alert buttons to call for help at any time. Mineau can either agree to the changes or move out.

"They said the reason was that they bought the building that they want to turn into multigenerational housing," she said. "There will be no more RPA."

The notice tells Mineau she is welcome to stay.

"We would like to assure you that we would like to keep you as a tenant of Mont-Carmel after the transition and that we would be happy to sign a new lease with you as a regular tenant, at the current rent increased by three per cent," the notice says.

Real estate investor agreed to maintain RPA

The building was sold for $40 million in December 2021 to a company owned and managed by Henry Zavriyev, a young real estate investor who has a history of clearing residential buildings out in the name of renovations.

For example, Zavriyev bought a building on de Maisonneuve Boulevard in 2019 and made plans to upgrade the property. He offered tenants as much as $5,000 to leave. He also offered to help them find them an affordable place to move to.

The difference between that building on de Maisonneuve and Mont-Carmel is that Zavriyev, who could not be reached for comment this week, agreed to maintain the RPA as seniors' residence. 

On the notarized deed of sale of Mont-Carmel, Radio-Canada has learned there is clause — clause seven — stating the buyer agrees to respect the operation of the building as a private residence for seniors.

Lawyer Antoine Morneau-Sénéchal told Radio-Canada that clause could enable the building's seller an opportunity to intervene as Zavriyev does not appear to be respecting the terms of the sale agreement. 

"The problem that I see is that the landlord wants to withdraw services while increasing the rent, which, to me, appears very problematic," said Morneau-Sénéchal, who wrote Le louage résidentiel, a book about tenants' rights.

"Normally, when you remove services that are included, it comes with a reduction in rent. Obviously the owners don't do that because it eats up their profit margin."

$40M purchase loaded with unexpected problems

André Longpré's family business had owned Mont-Carmel since the late 1980s. The family owns other RPAs in Laval.

Longpré told Radio-Canada that he is not handling the Mont-Carmel case, is unaware of the situation and cannot comment on the topic. He said there is no one available to speak to the media, though he encouraged reporters to contact Groupe LRM, the firm that manages Mont-Carmel.

But calls to Groupe LRM were redirected to a public relations firm, PROXIBA, where spokesperson Éric Barbeau said it was Zabriyev who requested clause seven.

"It was not the buyer's initial intention to take this route. They were really committed to operating this RPA as an RPA at the time of the transaction," Barbeau said. 

"And then over the holidays, after the transaction, they made some very bad discoveries."

Zabriyev discovered the building was in very poor condition and the vacancy rate is at 12 per cent — something not mentioned during negotiations, Barbeau said.

Barbeau said Zabriyev also learned there were issues of non-compliance with Quebec's Régie du bâtiment which required immediate attention.

Barbeau said Mont-Carmel residents pay very low rent, about half the normal rate, and were he to have left things as they were, Zavriyev would have ended up in an unviable financial situation.

Residents decide to stay or go

Why a real estate developer bought a building for $40 million without knowing its state of repair or vacancy rate remains unclear but now, some 200 residents of Mont-Carmel — two-thirds of whom are over 75 — have three months to decide what to do.

"If you prefer to leave, we will pay you the value of three months' basic rent,"  the notice says, pointing out that the local health network has been made aware of the situation.

Mineau is among those looking to leave, not wanting to pay rent to the new owner.

"I would not want to have a landlord, a species of shark, like that," she said.

More than 60 RPAs in Quebec have closed in the last seven months, according to Marc Fortin, head of the Regroupement québécois des résidences pour aînés (RQRA). His group represents a network of hundreds of private seniors' residences in Quebec. 

Fortin said the labour shortage has played a key role in the closure of RPAs as it makes it difficult to maintain properties and offer services.

"We must ensure that the problems are resolved in order to secure appropriate housing and quality care for all seniors," he said.