"Like a bad dream": Fairview tenant faces eviction after 23 years

A Vancouver woman who’s lived in the same Fairview apartment for 23 years doesn’t know where she’ll go after her landlord served her an eviction notice.

Charna Buchalter is 50 years old and single, and despite being university-educated and working full-time, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to afford a market-rate rental in Vancouver when she’s forced to move.

“It feels like a bad dream that my home of over 20 years is being taken from me and I’ve been a great tenant. It does not feel real,” she told Daily Hive. “I feel anxious, worried, and haven’t been able to sleep or eat … I worry about being out on the street.”

Buchalter works as a visual stylist creating displays for stores. She also sometimes works in the film industry and teaches at Kwantlen University’s fashion department. In a given year, she typically makes $45,000 to $60,000.

Her current rent of $1,000 is affordable for her — but she knows that’s the going rate for a bedroom in a shared apartment with roommates now. She’s looking at studios in the $1,400 range, but even those are hard to come by — any openings she sees on Craigslist have intense competition.

What’s more, she has a dog — making finding housing even more difficult.

“I think it’s a crazy situation. I think there are a lot of people who are, you know, gainfully employed, and they’re just one step away [from homelessness] if they’re evicted from where they’re living.”

Landlord claims daughter will live in the suite

Buchalter’s landlord served her an eviction notice earlier this month, claiming his adult daughter was going to move into the suite.

Having a close family member occupy a rental unit is one of the protected ways under BC law that landlords can evict a tenant with two months’ notice.

Buchalter doubts his daughter is truly moving in, given that her unit in the building at Ash and Broadway hasn’t been updated in about 40 years. She thinks the landlord trying to get her out because she’s one of the longest-standing tenants — and is paying much less in rent than occupants of the other 11 units.

“It just seemed so underhanded in the way it was done,” Buchalter said, referring to how the landlord’s wife approached her in-person and said they needed the space for their daughter because accommodation was so hard to find in Vancouver.

She was served the official eviction notice days later.

“I’ve been told through others this is the new thing they’re doing to get older tenants out … the daughter has never seen my suite yet they claim it’s the one she wants,” Buchalter said. “The landlord’s wife said it’s not a personal but a financial decision for them.”

She didn’t want to name her landlord in this article for fear of retaliation. Daily Hive has confirmed he owns the Victorian Hotel downtown as well as a $5.7 million Shaughnessy home along with his wife, according to land title documents.

The landlord did not respond to Daily Hive’s request for comment.

Dispute process risky, tenant says

Buchalter is disputing her case with Residential Tenancy Branch, which will push back her eviction date until a hearing can occur.

But if the government agency sides with Buchalter’s landlord she’d only have 48 hours to remove all her belongings and find alternate housing — an incredibly stressful prospect for her.

In 2021, the BC government strengthened protections for tenants during the arbitration process. The onus is now on the landlord to prove good faith when evicting a tenant for personal use. If it’s found the landlord’s family member didn’t actually live in the suite for a minimum of six months, then a tenant is entitled to 12 months’ rent as compensation.

If a landlord cannot prove good faith and a proper reason for eviction, then the eviction is cancelled and the tenancy can continue, a spokesperson for BC’s Ministry of Housing told Daily Hive.

Hunter Boucher, vice president of operations with LandlordBC, said landlords need to understand the law or risk paying financial penalties.

“The core of this issue is really whether the landlord is acting in good faith,” Boucher said of family-use evictions. “It’s something that we as an association take incredibly seriously and frankly expect all landlords to act with integrity.”

A landlord who is acting in good faith to genuinely move a child into a suite should take care to gather all the evidence they can to prove their point. Boucher gave the example of a landlord taking over a unit so their child can attend university — they should be able to show documentation to confirm the child’s enrollment.

Landlords who disobey the law also erode public trust and pave the way for further legislative restrictions for all landlords, he said.

“We know that, and this is particularly true of landlords in the secondary market (basements suites and investor condos) can sometimes fail to appreciate their responsibilities more broadly in the context of the RTA and especially when ending the tenancy for this reason.”