Advocacy group, Waterloo Region tenants call for anti-renoviction bylaws [Video]

Tenants and members of Waterloo Region ACORN are uniting in their push for stronger protections against what they call “bad-faith evictions.”

ACORN held a region-wide day of action on Tuesday, calling on the city councils of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge to adopt anti-renoviction bylaws similar to the one recently passed in Hamilton.

The demand comes in response to the growing number of renovictions, where landlords evict tenants under the guise of making significant renovations, only to re-list the units at  much higher rents. According to ACORN, this practice has been contributing to the region’s affordable housing crisis.

“There is a big disconnect between the cost of living and income,” said Maribel Jagorin, co-chair of Waterloo Region ACORN and a tenant currently facing renoviction. “There is a housing crisis out there. How am I supposed to live? I can’t afford somewhere else, and there’s nothing out there for me. I am …