A man who has lived in a Little Italy apartment for almost 40 years will be able to stay in his apartment for at least another year.
Retired photographer Pierino Di Tonno received an eviction notice earlier this year following a three-month hospital stay.
The 82-year-old has been fighting the decision ever since, and this week the Rental Board ruled in favour of Di Tonno.
Housing advocate Martin Blanchard said the board overturned the eviction notice because the paperwork was not properly filled out.
"It was rejected because the date was not appropriate to send a notice and also because the person signing was not the person duly mandated to sign the notice. This is the only way that tenants can defend themselves against these kind of procedures is to have a problem in the procedure itself. So the owner will start again next year," said Blanchard.
Di Tonno is glad for the reprieve but said it should be harder to evict tenants in good standing.
"I am happy, but just for this year or next year, the same story? Because the government of Quebec, the lawyers, not changing on nothing," he said.
Earlier this year Blanchard's group staged several protests to support Di Tonno, and urged local residents to boycott his landlords, who also run the Milano grocery store.
"I haven't bought a sandwich since I heard of the story, to be honest with you," said Michael Bloom. "And I did like their sandwiches."
The Petite Patrie Tenants' Committee says that the number of seniors living in the neighbourhood has dropped by two-thirds over the past decade, largely because of rent increases and evictions.
