Court proceedings underway around eviction plan for Little Italy apartment building

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Court proceedings underway as Little Italy tenants face eviction

Ottawa lawyer says tenants facing eviction having rights sidestepped

Ottawa tenants facing ‘mass eviction’

Court proceedings started Thursday in an eviction plan for a Little Italy apartment building.

The judge heard from both tenants and the lawyers representing the receiver, which is asking hundreds of tenants to leave due to mould issues.

All parties spent hours discussing the major issues on the table. The 185-unit high rise building at 101 Champagne Ave. is under the control of a court-appointed receiver after its owner defaulted on more than $60 million in mortgage debt.

The receiver is asking a judge to terminate every lease, evict all tenants, and sell the vacant building to a new buyer, all before Sept. 1, 2025. The reason cited is mould, after testing found it in several units.

Many of the tenants are international students and several of them spoke during Thursday’s proceedings, saying five weeks notice is very stressful with the academic year quickly approaching. Some tenants are also still out of the country for the summer.

The lawyer for KSV Restructuring told the court that if someone wants to leave the building, which has mould issues, they should be able to do so as soon as possible and that they should be helping people instead of putting up roadblocks.

The court case resumes Friday afternoon.

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