Parkdale Residents Win 7-Year Legal Fight for PPP Rent Redress After City “Runaround”

“It was a breach of the standard of care for the city to not give any notice at all. I affirmatively conclude that the city was negligent.”

With this ruling by Justice Paul Perell of the Ontario Superior Court, a 7-year legal fight launched by members of the Parkdale Residents Association over the rights of residents living in legalized rooming houses between 2004 and 2008 was finally won.

Congratulations to Terence Williams, Warren Sheffer, and lawyer Brendan Van Niejenhuis for their resolve in righting an injustice that had deprived many low-income residents of the rent reductions they were entitled to.

Warren, a lawyer and former Vice President of the PRA, was the driving force in researching and raising early awareness of the issue and bringing the City to task when residents of 33 Parkdale rooming houses reclassified through the Parkdale Pilot Project were not notified of their rights to reduced rent. When the City gave the PRA the runaround, Warren brought Terence and Brendan together to launch a class action suit.

The Parkdale Residents Association is proud to have provided seed funding to initiate the class action suit and to have helped publicize the case locally and push the City to do the right thing. Proof that when residents band together we can make a difference, even against an intransigent City bureaucracy.