Moving vans, meetings for business tenants caught in legal dispute with landlord in Ontario town [Video]

A business plaza parking lot in Whitby usually devoted to clients was busy with U-Hauls Tuesday as nearly many of the 70 small business owners caught in the middle of a legal dispute scrambled to get their belongings out before they’re locked out for good this weekend.

The tenants who rent office space at the Durham Corporate Centre at 105 Consumers Drive were told May 21 they had ten days to vacate after learning the lease they had signed was not actually with the property owners and that Tim Kennedy, who is listed as president and owner of the Durham Corporate Centre, was in arrears in paying the building owners.

Tara Iaboni, who has run My Montessori Tutoring out of the building for the past two years, said it was “heartbreaking” to be shut out of her workspace with no warning.

“The impact on our students, families, and livelihoods is …