Winnipeg landlord hit with thousands in fines after evicting tenants

The Winnipeg landlord who kicked out dozens of tenants from this College Avenue apartment in July, has been slapped with $9,000 in penalties, after an investigation by the provincial residential tenancies branch, leading to questions on whether new legislation or increased penalties need to be added, to make sure this never happens again.

Stratford Hall, a three-storey block at 285 College Avenue, saw tenants evicted without notice on July 12, leading to the Manitoba government stepping in, leading to the landlord Kelly Vasas being served thirty-two orders, worth $9,000 on behalf of nine tenants.

“The landlord at the College Avenue apartments acted illegally and irresponsibly and treated tenants in a terrible way,” said Lisa Naylor, Consumer Protection Minister.

Minister Naylor says there have only been $23,000 in fines handed out prior to this incident, and while this fine is three times higher than any other given out previously, she says it’s not enough.

“Seeing the challenges that were experienced by tenants through the summer in a lot of situations, my first response to that is we need to strengthen the legislation and increase fines,” said Naylor.

St. Boniface Street Links Executive Director Marion Willis was helping 10 tenants in the building move back in and was handed a $672 ticket for trespassing while on site. She commended the residential tenancies branch for their investigation, but emphasised how much damage has already been caused.

“If anything good will come of this it will be some legislative changes that creates new policies,” said Willis. “There’s no compensation for this that were really impacted, and they lost everything.”

The Province says more fines could be levied in the future if more tenants participate, but say the landlord’s actions following the eviction have caused some struggles.

“He bribed them, he handed those people a thousand dollars and told them to leave, and if you’re vulnerable and you don’t know your right you take the money and don’t look back,” said Naylor.

CityNews reached out to the landlord’s lawyer to see if they would appeal the fines but have not had a response at this time.