A group of tenants from Toronto, Canada, decided to protest to their wealthy landlord, who was not taking care of their problems properly.
The tenants left roaches on the doorstep of the landlord to protest a wave of evictions and an ongoing unaddressed infestation of cockroaches in their property.
17 families are currently facing evictions from their houses at Crescent Place.
3 residential buildings are owned by real estate development and property management company named Pinedale Properties.
People that live at the place have been hit by the pandemic and they are having a hard time paying their rent.
Once the eviction notices started to roll in, the residents created a tenants union and fight for their right.
Residents of Crescent Place and people that are living at other properties have been requesting rent relief since April.
In September of last year, protestors also formed a human blockade to stop 14 police officers from evicting a resident from their house.
As per the Crescent Town Tenants Union, a lawyer for the Pinedale Properties admitted during a hearing on February 16 that the company had not experience financial difficulties during the pandemic.
It would cost around $56,000 to grant the rent relief required by tenants with the property company having already far more on their lawyers, which reportedly cost around $1000 per hour.
Not only that though, the tenants are also talking about the maintenance of the building.
The tenants said that there are pest infestations in the building.
Their messages to Robin Bookbinder, the VP of Finance of the property group, have been blocked.
Because they have no one to talk to, the tenants did something.
On Valentine’s Day, the tenants went to the house of Bookbinder and gave him a gift, which none of us would like.
Along with hearts, the tenants left roaches that they had captured at their infested houses.
Dil Begum, a member of the Crescent Town Tenant Union, said:
For years we have been asking Pinedale Properties to clean up our building and remove the pests. We left these cockroaches as a present for Mr. Bookbinder along with our letter of demands. Pinedale Properties needs to know the conditions they make us, our families, and our neighbours, live with every day.
Good thing they did that!
What are your thoughts on the tenants leaving roaches in front of the house? Let us know what you think about it by leaving a comment in the comments section below!