Residents of “El Cid,” a private leasehold in Vancouver’s West End, say they’re being given levy after levy to deal with building issues.
As leaseholders, they’re excluded from protections like the B.C. Strata Property Act, the Residential Tenancy Act, and the Civil Resolution Tribunal, and there’s no financial transparency from the building landlord, Sheridan Investments Ltd.
“They want to be nameless,” leasehold property owner Ken Lychak said.
“They want to be faceless and hide behind a corporate name and a barking lawyer. That is what has been allowed to happen, and it is really unconscionable.”
Leasehold property owner Ken Lychak. (CityNews Image)
Vancouver real estate agent Greyden Douglas explained the limitations of a leasehold property.
“There are no votes, you don’t have a strata council, and there is no AGM,” said Douglas.
“So you are subject to the decisions of the owner. If there are going to be any capital assessments, they are just assigned to you.”
Another leasehold property owner, who has lived in the building for 33 years, is living off her single pension and is worried about costs climbing into the millions of dollars.
Leasehold property owner Sonja Bakker. (CityNews Image)
“We just got another assessment for $350,000 for the pool, which we are not even swimming in,” said Sonja Bakker.
“The expenses are so exorbitant, and at one point we had 15, 16 people selling.”
(CityNews Image)
Residents are demanding a voice in how their money is spent. They want the B.C. government to step in and close the legal loophole that leaves them unprotected.
“What do we want? Legislation, just like strata buildings,” Bakker said.
“We don’t want to run your show. All we want to know is, how was that $5 million spent?”
“We know nothing, and we are not dumb people. We want to know,” she added.
“El Cid” in Vancouver’s West End. (CityNews Image)
“El Cid” in Vancouver’s West End. (CityNews Image)
CityNews made several attempts to contact the building owner, Sheridan Investments Ltd., but did not hear back in time for deadline.
It’s been nearly two years since West End MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert authored a report demanding action on private leaseholds.
“We need legal change,” Chandra-Herbert said.
“The government needs to step in and say this is the law, you have to be transparent.”
For now, residents will wait to see what changes occur, before it’s too late.
“How much longer can I stay?” Bakker asked.
“I have started looking around, because it is getting very depressing, being controlled and coming up with all this money that doesn’t grow on trees. It’s very upsetting, and a lot of people are becoming depressed about it.”
“El Cid” in Vancouver’s West End (CityNews Image)
Keep it Factual
Add CityNews Vancouver as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
