Kitchener City Council Lowkey Bout to Drop a Bylaw on Landlords Pullin' Sketchy Renoviction Moves 🏡➡️🚧

The Tea ☕

Okay, fam, so Kitchener City Council just had a whole debate about renovictions – that's when landlords try to pull a fast one and evict tenants so they can renovate and charge more rent later. It's kinda sus, right?

Well, the Council voted to explore making a bylaw to regulate this mess. Basically, they're thinking about making landlords get a license before they can even THINK about evicting someone for renovations (aka issuing an N-13 notice). Some are even suggesting that landlords should have to find temporary spots for tenants or give them some extra cash to help 'em out while the reno is going down.

But hold up, it wasn't a unanimous decision, no cap. Six council members were all in, three were straight-up against it, and two were just vibing in the middle. The Mayor, Berry Vrbanovic, was like, "Let's try it out and see if it slaps, but lowkey if it doesn't, we gotta ditch it." Plus, a staff report from before was like, "Nah, don't do it," suggesting they should just ask for more money, hook up with community partners, and teach peeps about their rights.

Turns out, a bunch of other cities like Hamilton, Toronto, and London already have similar bylaws, so Kitchener's tryna keep up. Tenant advocacy groups like ACORN were out there protesting and spitting facts to the council members, tryna convince them this bylaw is a must. They're tired of renters getting the boot for some boujee upgrades.

Now, this ain't a done deal yet, fam. They gotta vote on it again at the next council meeting to make it official. But it looks like Kitchener might be about to drop a whole new set of rules on landlords, and honestly, it's about time. Stay woke!