The Vancouver Tenants Union held a rally Thursday in response to what it calls a retaliatory lawsuit from a local landlord.
The group says the legal action follows a series of disputes over eviction attempts in recent years.
Union members and supporters gathered outside the office of Andrzej Kowalski on Howe Street, including Sydney Ball, who described what the union thinks of his lawsuit.
“After losing decisively, I think that it’s kind of a last-ditch tactic to make sure that we feel intimidated and pressured,” said Ball.
The union says the $35,000 lawsuit is an attempt to silence tenant organizing efforts.
But Ball said, “There’s nothing that’s going to make us too scared to stand behind people to secure their homes.”
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According to the union, the dispute follows multiple rulings against Kowalski at the Residential Tenancy Branch in cases tied to attempted evictions over the past several years.
One such attempt was against Terry McIntosh, who tells CityNews that he had lived on the top floor of his Mount Pleasant apartment complex for nearly 28 years, paying well below market value rent, when Kowalski issued an eviction notice in 2025.
“Tenants really have to understand there’s a way to fight problems like this,” said McIntosh, adding that the Residential Tenancy Board ruled in his favour.
He says that’s when Kowalski took the conflict a step further.
“I get a note saying he’s going to fight it in the [B.C.] Supreme Court, but he has to fight not just me but the Residential Tenancy Board.”
CityNews has made multiple attempts to reach Kowalski for comment.
Meanwhile, McIntosh says he’s confident the court case will have a positive outcome, but worries for the future of his housing.
“Hopefully it’ll be the end of it. Unless he finds some strange quirk of fate to get rid of us — or me.”
As the dispute moves through the courts, both sides appear to be digging their heels in, turning what began as a series of tenancy disagreements into a broader fight over tenant rights.