Club Sommet’s tenants fight co-op conversion

May 8, 2008

“Condo conversions aren’t allowed in many Montreal boroughs, so apartment owners are using another tack to sell their properties - and renters want the city to make sure they’re protected against sudden eviction.

Condo conversion is out and co-op conversion is in as the new battleground for tenants and landlords in Montreal, tenant advocates say.

Several tenants of a 300-unit apartment building on Mountain St. that was transformed from a rental building into a co-operative last fall attended a Ville Marie borough council meeting last night to demand a moratorium on that type of building conversion.

The tenants of Club Sommet at 3475 Mountain want municipal and provincial authorities to block such conversions until they can legislate the same kind of protection that exists for tenants whose buildings undergo condo conversion.

Some of Club Sommet’s tenants are facing eviction as the building manager proceeds with major construction work to combine some units to make larger dwellings and breaks up other units to sell.

The first evictions will be heard at the Quebec rental board in June.”

Source: Montreal Gazette. Read the complete article