The landlord is unmasked: he uses divorce as an excuse to evict his tenant

The owner of several buildings in Montreal tried to evict his tenant on the pretext of divorce with his wife, but a judge quickly unraveled his machinations and rejected the “bad faith” claim.

“The court considers that above all what the landlord wants is to evict the tenant from his apartment, because the rent paid by the latter, namely $900, is much lower than the rent paid by the other tenants of the building” , reads a ruling on the matter handed down last May.

Owner Nelson de Sousa went to the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) to repossess the apartment in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal occupied by his tenant, Florence Lavoie-Côte.

His purpose? A split with the father of her nine-year-old son in May 2022 prompts her to move quickly.

“However, even though the landlord claims to have separated from his wife, no objective or concrete evidence corroborates this allegation. The homeowner admits that he lives in the family home with his wife and son and is still married. He mentions that no decision has been taken on selling the family home,” said Mr. The court rejected De Sousa’s plea.

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Not his first exit

Judge Isabelle Gauthier recalled in this decision that five years earlier, the owner had already used this little game to evict other tenants from the building where Florence Lavoie-Côté lived.

“The owner and his wife, according to their testimony, have been separated since May 2017. The owner testified that they resumed cohabitation 14 months after repossession of the apartment, which resulted in the unit being placed back. The rental market, within two years of its removal, was not $745 per month, but twice that, or $1,695. “, we read in the court document.

Tenant, Smt. Note that Lavoie-Cote accuses her landlord of not wanting to live in her modest lodgings.

“He currently lives in a prestigious townhouse located in the same district and is the subject of photographs published in an architectural magazine,” he explained to the court.

See the post in question below:

An apartment “for his mother”

Before submitting her accommodation for repossession in December 2022, the owner also asked her tenant if she wanted to move out of her unit because she was looking for an apartment for her mother.

“[Nelson De Sousa] Despite questions from the tenant’s attorney, she also testified that her mother had been living with her father in the building they owned in Plateau-Mont-Royal borough since 2015. Tenant’s accommodation,” says the judge.

In February 2021, Mr. De Sousa asked the same tenant if he would be willing to vacate his accommodation in exchange for financial compensation. Florence Lavoie-Côté, however, declined the offer.

“In this logic of the tenant and in such dire circumstances, the court does not see any circumstances that demonstrate a real and serious need for repossession to live there. […] As a result, no such authorization to return the residence can be granted,” concludes Honorable Isabelle Gauthier.

“The referee clearly saw his game”

The Register The man, known as Nelson de Sousa, owns at least six buildings located in Montreal on Monday in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and Rosemont-La Petite-Patri.

“It’s terrible, I don’t expect it as a judgment,” says the person who heads ESPACE LGBTQ +, which aims to create a real estate network for social groups in the region. Sexuality and gender diversity.

Mr. De Sousa says. “She took me very well,” he admits, insisting that he had actually divorced his wife in good faith.

As for Me Brown, contacted by our representative, the owner definitely wanted to evict his tenant to increase the rent.

“He is a person who travels five to six times a year, has a large real estate portfolio, but he firmly stated that he did not want to take my client’s accommodation for low rent … But the judge clearly saw in his record. Game, “refuses the lawyer who specializes in the housing sector.