Tenants in at least four buildings in the Plateau Mont-Royal claim they are being unfairly pushed out of their homes.

The group held a news conference Tuesday to complain about the treatment, saying it's a combination of neglect and intimidation by their landlords.

The tenants say they suspect the landlords want to push them out so they can raise rents.

They claim utilities including water and electricity are often cut for days on end; garbage piles up in their hallways and emergency exits; and in some cases, doors don't have locks, compromising their security.

“They stopped cleaning the building,” said one of the tenants, who agreed to speak to CTV anonymously. “Outside, for months, you could see mountains of trash. It was really stinky. And inside the building, there was zero cleaning, also. We also had to face a lot of security issues, because they removed the lock on the main entrance.”

“It's taking a toll. When can I cook? It started taking a toll on my mental, physical and emotional state,” said another.

City inspectors were there checking on conditions of one of the buildings on Tuesday.

 

Tenants at one 64-unit building say they've been complaining for months about a serious bedbug infestation, and one complainant even collected the pests as evidence of what she's been living through.

Some tenants say they have made complaints to the Regie du Logement.

Many have also turned to local tenants’ group Comite Logement du Plateau Mont-Royal for help.

The group has singled out four landlords, all new owners, alleging they are trying to force tenants out to renovate apartments and increase rents.

Some tenants received notices telling them to leave, but say by law, they weren't sent provides enough lead notice.

Simon Roy of Comite Logement du Plateau Mont-Royal said it’s all part of a bigger problem linked to gentrification.

“It is certainly bigger. This is four buildings, four owners that we know, that we’ve done a lot of research on with the help of the tenants that came to us, but every day our help lines are really busy with a lot of addresses,” said Roy, adding that they are building lists of landlords accused of that behaviour.