In the last couple of months, I’ve been so busy packing and moving that I haven’t had time to write about why I’ve been packing and moving. It’s a story that is increasingly common for Vancouver renters. Here’s the scoop.

There’s nothing quite so demoralizing as arriving home after a long day of work to find an eviction notice taped to your front door.

In the 15 years I’ve been renting at various locations, I’ve always been on time with the rent. I’ve never thrown any rocking parties (heck, I rarely throw dinner parties.) I’ve always treated the suites I’ve rented with respect and had good relations with my landlords.

So when I read the eviction notice, I was shocked, but not surprised. The landlord evicted my husband and I for the stated reason of “landlord’s use of property”. That means that the landlord requires the apartment so an immediate family member can move into the suite.

When my building was put up for sale last year, we knew what might come. Under the current B.C. laws, landlords can raise the rent for existing tenants annually by the cost of inflation plus two percent. But if the existing tenants move out, they can charge whatever rate they want to the new tenants. Essentially, having existing tenants restricts the landlord’s ability to raise the rent above the legal limit.

So “renovictions” are now common in Vancouver. A new owner buys the building, and, under the premise of renovating or moving in a family member, evicts long-term tenants so they can bring in new ones at a higher rent.

My building was sold in December, and before the new landlords had even introduced themselves, they posted a notice of rent increase on our door. We didn’t object: they raised the rent the legal limit. But when we met them, they made it clear they intended to renovate the building. They also told us that within weeks, all the tenants had move everything out of storage so they could renovate the space, which they then reduced by at least 50 percent, using the remaining space for what appears to be a new suite.

The landlord also moved a friend or family member into the vacant suite below us, and, all of a sudden—in a building that had always been quiet—I was waking up several times a week to music blasting at 3 a.m. One after another, a string of hassles and inconveniences all added up to wear us down.

Then in the spring, we got the eviction notice. Four out of the seven units in our building had been issued eviction notices that same day.

The reasons given? On two of the eviction notices, including ours, the landlord stated that they intended to move a family member into the suite. (The other unit also had a letter attached stating that that the suite would be undergoing renovations.) For two of the units, the stated reason for eviction was renovations. And previous to that, the landlord had issued a verbal eviction to a tenant in a fifth suite, citing the need to renovate. When tenant asked for a legal notice, landlord refused, and instead pressured him numerous times to sign a voluntary end to his tenancy.

Landlords can legally evict tenants for renovations. But they must have all the permits necessary to do those renovations in place before the notices are issued. One of the tenants checked at city hall, and found no permits on file for our building.

A landlord can also legally evict a tenant to use the suite for an immediate family member. But they must issue this notice in good faith, with the sincere intent that a family member will occupy the unit for at least six months. The only real way to prove there was no good faith is if it becomes apparent that a family member did not occupy the suite after the fact. By then, the tenant is already gone.

So was this a renoviction? It was pretty clear to us. NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert is pushing to close the legal loophole in the Residential Tenancy Act that allows this to keep happening, and he used our building as an example. Here’s more on my building’s renoviction in the Vancouver Sun.

The last few months have been incredibly stressful and draining. We’re now in housing limbo, staying with my parents until we find a permanent home, but we’re so happy to put the whole ordeal behind us. We’re looking forward to finding a secure place to live again where there’s no negativity.

We know that there are good landlords out there, and it’s absolutely their right to make a profit on their housing investment. But both tenants and landlords need to respect the law–and each other. Is that too much to ask?