ACORN Hamilton, ACORN Toronto, and ACORN London members held an action in front of 140 Tycos Drive in North York, Ontario on June 22 to deliver a demand letter from tenants who are fed up with the tenant displacement tactics employed by Family Properties. Finding an address with an active office to drop a demand letter was challenging, and illustrates the need for one of ACORN Canada’s national Stop Corporate Landlords campaign demands: the right to know your landlord.

When members marched to the office, the office staff barred the doors, denied that this was a Family Properties office, and eventually called the police. Members nonetheless persisted in leading chants, posting the demand letter to the office door, and held a tenant speakout outside of the office.

Across written communications from Family Properties received by tenants, 4 addresses are listed as Family Properties head offices: 2929 Bathurst St, Toronto; 3093 Bathurst St, Toronto; 55 Catherine St, St. Catharines; and 140 Tycos Drive, North York. 2929 Bathurst is an apartment building, 3093 Bathurst is a UPS store, 55 Catherine St is a business called Hamdani Textiles, and 140 Tycos is listed on the Family Properties website as an industrial property available for rent. Of these addresses given to tenants, 140 Tycos is the only address that has an active office location.

The demands from ACORN members are as follows: revoke all N13 notices and eviction orders, hire contractors and maintenance staff to address building neglect, and issue apologies to affected tenants for personal and financial hardship caused.