Law and compassion

“We were living in our apartment for 16 years and were shocked when our landlord gave us an eviction notice, basically saying he wanted to move into our apartment. That was just a charade for renoviction. We couldn’t even consider the idea of moving out because of the quick move-out date he gave us. Then his legal counsel said we couldn’t talk to our landlord directly, even to fix a leak. The overwhelming stress of trying to deal with this while working and raising our two sons was enormous.”

Everything changed when Vince attended a community meeting about evictions.

“I listened to a representative from The Neighbourhood Group talk about tenant rights and called their free legal clinic, Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS), the next day.”

KBCLS helps low-income people in the Kensington-Bellwoods community who are struggling with tenant rights, immigration and refugee status, income security, and domestic violence.

“We were impressed with how empathetic everyone at KBCLS was. Their consistent, professional communication really eased our minds. Even when we attended the Landlord and Tenant Board Tribunal, we felt like we were in good hands. The Tribunal was quick and we came to an agreement where we would move out but with a much longer time to allow us to find a new apartment, which we love. KBCLS was amazing. They didn’t pressure us to do anything other than what we wanted to do. Staff have a lot of passion for their work. For them, it’s not just a job, it’s their calling.”