Blair Madeley has one of the most coveted commodities in the city — a relatively affordable, one-bedroom apartment. He pays $1,200 a month for his Parkdale unit on Jameson Avenue less than a block from King Street.He also has something no tenant wants — a stack of notices threatening to evict him from the place where he has lived for the last six years. The forms, known as N5s, allege that Madeley, 31, has damaged the property and interfered with others’ enjoyment of the building.He says he has received seven notices this year — he showed the Star copies of five dated between May and October this year but says he has received seven altogether since February — for a list of offences ranging from relatively minor infractions such as failing to flatten cardboard boxes for recycling and attaching stickers to his unit door, to more serious allegations such as intimidating the superintendent and allowing his cat to escape and foul the super’s apartment.Madeley, a bouncer and University of Toronto student, who lives with his girlfriend, their dog and cat, believes the landlord wants him out to raise the rent that has gone up considerably in Parkdale in recent years. He also thinks the landlord is vexed by his association with a group pushing for building improvements. Landlords are increasingly using N5 forms like the ones Madeley received to trigger evictions so they can raise the rent when a new occupant moves in, say tenant advocates. “It’s really common. In a tightening rental market where landlords are financially incentivized to evict,” said Cole Webber of Parkdale Community Legal Services, who was not speaking to the specifics of Madeley’s case.“This is just another tool in the tool basket for landlords,” another form of eviction “where the landlord is trying anything to get the tenant out,” said Geordie Dent of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations.The number of no ...
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