Lavish Toronto house renting for $15k per month after controversial renoviction

A house that recently hit Toronto's rental market for a whopping $15,750 per month has locals picking their jaws up off the floor, not because of the extravagant price tag, the extensive renovation that warranted it or its feature in a certain local magazine.

What's most shocking in the case of the 2,300-square-foot semi-detached at 140 Harrison Street is the fact that it was, up until a few years ago, home to a number of tenants who were booted out so the new owners could flip it and put it back on the real estate market, then the rental market for far more.

It appears to be a classic case of renoviction, which has become a more common threat for renters in the city in the last few years amid soaring real estate prices.

Oh, what’s that Toronto Life? You’re featuring the absolute dirtbags who evicted my former neighbours during a pandemic, and lied about occupying the house in order to flip it? 140 Harrison St, btw if anyone wants to gawk at this tacky piece of shit house https://t.co/u4D26tDqee

— Zach Braff sex tape (@ratbagjackson) November 29, 2022

A few accounts on X are now calling out the home's owners, as well as Toronto Life for spotlighting the "masterful" makeover as its "house of the week" back in November 2022.

"They’ve basically admitted publicly that they lied at this point," a person who claims to be a neighbour wrote regarding the spread in the news outlet, calling the owners "absolute dirtbags who evicted my former neighbours during a pandemic, and lied about occupying the house in order to flip it."

Others have shared the new rental listing for the entire 3+1 bedroom, four-bathroom home, which is now going for a staggering amount in rent, a new strategy after owners failed to sell.

It was put up for rent in late January after it was purchased by new owners for $1.75 million in 2021, gutted and relisted for sale in 2022 for $3.85 million, and had its price lowered to $3.8 million in January 2023, and again to $3.77 million in February of that year.

this was four apartments where everyone was renovicted pic.twitter.com/zQoiI4J4E2

— Anal Bailao (@RentSafeTO) February 14, 2024

The rental listing boasts the home's brand new luxe features, like "floor-to-ceiling windows, engineered hardwood floors and a sleek kitchen with a quartz 11' island." And the photos do indeed show a house that looks like it's from a magazine (which, you know, it is), available for a one-year lease for a whopping total of $189,000 annually, plus all utilities.

The listing also notes that the place comes furnished and that the landlords "are open to short-term lease at a premium," as if the price isn't premium enough.

The home received a massive facelift from its new owners, who tried to flip it for more than doubled what they paid, but are now renting it out for an exorbitant $15,750 per month. Photo from Sothebey's International Realty Canada, Brokerage via Realtor.ca.

According to former residents who spoke with CTV News last January, the home was occupied by three long-term tenants and their landlord before it was purchased, with units going for under market value — one said she paid $870 at most per month for her one-bedroom apartment.

As Toronto Life wrote in their spotlight of the Trinity-Bellwoods home, "the owners intended to renovate and move into the home. However, they’ve since changed their minds and are looking for a buyer with a taste for luxury." But now, apparently, a renter.

Who could afford $189K/yr in rent?! Toronto wages are awful compared to most major cities around the world. We need a massive purpose built rental movement to get rid of these sleazy landlords

— modernplate (@themodernplate) February 15, 2024

For tenants (or landlords) wanting to take their case to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board — which some say these renters should have done — there is now a backlog of more than 53,000 claims awaiting resolution.