More than 100 tenants at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Avenue West will go on rent strike Sunday joining the ranks of nearly 500 residents who have been withholding payments since early summer.
It is possible to "refuse" to pay rent due to serious issues like the landlord refusing to fix stuff. I put refuse in quotes since there's likely a specific process you have to go through for the refusal to be protected
Tenants’ unions are a thing. So are cooperatives, for when the tenant union decides to kick out the middleman landlord and manage the building themselves.
The new property owner blames the old one for the rent increase application (probably increases sale pricing), but apparently the upkeep issues started with the new one according to the article, so that excuse falls flat from the sounds of things. I hope the tenants in eviction court see justice done here.