Calgary resident Linda Leger said she's alarmed after the property management company in the building she is living in enacted a $525 monthly rent hike for a one-year locked-in term. .“It’s almost like a clinical shock,” said Leger, 65, in a Monday interview. .Leger said she moved into the Madison Terrace Apartment Building, 2421 16 St. S.W., seven and-a-half years ago because she was put in a difficult situation. Her son lived in Madison Terrace, and he let her sublease the living room from him. .She subleased the unit for five years until she signed her own lease on it in 2020. The rent she was paying prior to the increase was $825 per month. .Leger received a letter from property management company Zone 5 Investments Alberta on March 31 informing her that her rent was going up to $1,350 per month effective July 1. She said the rent increase caused her extreme anxiety and panic attacks. . Rent increaseRent increase notice .When she spoke with her landlord, he said he has the right to do it. The landlord said he was increasing the rent because that's what the local prices were. .The resident went on to say Alberta’s lack of rent control leaves her “absolutely enraged.” She's been lobbying politicians and the Calgary Housing Company (CHC) for the last two weeks about it. .One tenant who lives in the Madison Terrace with his elderly mother told her the increase motivated him to move out. An elderly man who is her neighbour said the ordeal has left him shaking his head. .She said this experience affected her mental health and stability. While she is not in denial, she said she cannot believe it's allowed. .All she is going do for now is lobby CHC. She has been on the waitlist for its rental assistance program for two years because she is single and not a foreigner. .The politicians who she contacted about her ordeal are Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally, Alberta Seniors, Community, and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon, Finance Minister Travis Toews, and her MLA Nicholas Milliken. She has been demanding they collaborate and develop rent control. .She said the increase is “unethical, it’s a breach of my Charter rights under Section 7, and it should not be allowed under any circumstances.” Similar situations have been displacing people like herself who are low-wage earners. .Leger concluded by saying Alberta needs rent control because low-wage earners matter. .“Our lives matter,” she said. .“Our stability matters.” .Calgary senior Cindy Coyle spoke out March 28 after the property management company for the building she's living in imposed a $450 monthly rent hike for a locked-in one-year term. .READ MORE: Senior stunned after rent goes up $450 a month for Calgary apartment.“They’re taking advantage of people [who] are lower income, seniors, and families and all of sudden just making it a one time only, not even sporadically,” said Coyle. .She said she was disgusted when she found property management company Best Investment Properties increased her rent by $450 per month. .Zone 5 Investments Alberta landlord Harj Sidhu could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
