On the afternoon of Friday, September 19th, over 50 frustrated residents of 1 Columbia, marched alongside supporters to the office of Schembri Property Management. The students were there to hand deliver letters stating that the construction delays which prevented them from moving in to their apartments were a breach of contract and they were choosing to terminate their leases with Schembri.
One by one the students piled in the Schembir office, taking up all the available space, with supporters lining the hallway. Alex Diceanu, a staff member at the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG) who helped students organize the march spoke first. He announced that the students were terminating their leases and that they expected a return of their deposits within 3 business days or they would take further action. He was interrupted several times by Schembri employees who insisted that students leave the office. One by one, the students piled their letters on the desk and marched out of the building to a sea of applause from supporters.
After the march, the group gathered on the sidewalk outside the building to take pictures and talk to media. Police later arrived on the scene and asked the group to stay off Schembri property.
“I think they got the message this time,” said Geetha Gnana, who took a day off work to join her son, Arjun for the march. Her son, is among the 300 students who have lost out on deposits due to the construction delays. Shrutika Sainani, a second-year student in Geological Engineering said that she and her roommate had place a deposit of $1450 which included first and last month’s rent, guarantor’s cheque and key deposit. She was informed of the construction delays while she was not in Canada, three days before she planned to move in. At the time she was not offered any information on alternative arrangements and therefore chose to sign another lease. While $1450 is the average deposit amount students placed with Schembri, some international students made five-month deposits of around $3000.
While in previous statements to the press, Schembri has claimed that they are disappointed that the delays have let down future tenants, it is hard for students to take them at their word because they have yet to release a possible move-in date or offered to return deposits to students wishing to terminate leases. Some students who chose alternative accommodations were forced to stay in a hotel in Guelph due to hotels in Kitchener-Waterloo being pre-booked.
The naturally frustrated students are aware that it is unlikely Schembri will meet the deadline they have set and are prepared to take further action. This includes filing claims with the Landlord and Tenant Board as well as a public campaign against the company. Diceanu says, he alongside WPIRG will be supporting students with filing the claims and they’re determined to help students win back the deposits. Diceanu says that with midterms coming up soon, students shouldn’t have to be stressed out about this. He hopes other student organizations will also become involved. While the Federation of Students VP Internal, Maaz Yasin did attend the march, Feds has not been involved in helping students organize to get their deposits back.
1 Columbia is an egregious example of what is actually common occurrence in KW. The growing population and the low vacancy rates in the region make finding housing difficult. Students, who have little to no experience being tenants, can often become prime targets for companies such as Schembri who can take advantage of tenants who are unaware of their rights. The Kitchener-Waterloo Solidarity Network, which helped the students with the march on Friday, is a community organization that helps people in the KW region facing similar situations related to tenant issues.
For the residents of 1 Columbia, Friday was just the first step. Many of them are determined to win their deposits back and they are prepared to continue to campaign as an organized group for their rights in the hope that they can bring justice to the over 300 students who have been unfairly affected by this issue.
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