Law firm Diamond & Diamond is now preparing two legal actions against the landlord of a North York highrise, whose residents remain out of their homes following a deadly five-alarm fire in November.
Head of civil and commercial litigation, Darryl Singer, tells NEWSTALK1010 they are currently drafting materials to seek a court date in January on behalf of tenants from 235 Gosford Blvd.
"An application to force the landlford (Ronkay Management) to ensure that all of the tenants are housed at the landlord's cost until the building is remediated," he said.
A five-alarm fire pushed out hundreds of residents from the building and also led to the death of one man in November.
The landlord has posted publicly it would continue to house residents currently staying at a hotel until the end of January, writing on its Facebook information page "those staying in accommodations provided by Ronkay Management will continue to be lodged."
But Singer says with Ronkay's inconsistent information given to various tenants and refusal to communicate with their legal counsel, a social media post isn't enough.
"If the landlord's lawyer provides something in writing to me that says this is what will happen, then that would be satisfactory, because at least we'd have some sort of a promise from the landlord," he said. "It means nothing, it's not legally binding in any way, I want the landlord to actually agree legally to do this."
Tenants who have been housed by the landlord will begin paying rent in January with the landlord paying difference for the cost of their accomodations, while others who have found alternate accomodations with friends and family have not, nor will be moving forward, according to Ronkay.
While the first action could be set aside with a legal document Singer says, a second one - a class action lawsuit - is less likely.
"Also in the new year, that's a longer term piece of litigation, that will be for financial damages for the losses that people have suffered," he said.
Those damages will include missed work, transportations costs, replacing wardrobes and food and while exact estimates haven't been determined, the firm will could possibly seek $30,000 to $50,000 per tenant, with 100 of them being formally retained.
The decision to continue on the path of legal action comes after Singer, other lawyers and several tenants held a news conference last week demanding Ronkay meet certain terms and promises around compensation, transportation and housing.
Following the news conference, Ronkay said in a statement "we are working as diligently as we can to return clients to as many units as possible, as quickly as possible. Our engineer firms and other technical specialists are currently working to assess the entire scope of restoration."
"Every family and every suite faces different challenges. We are working diligently to address everyone's needs."
Ronkay also said at the time that no decisions had been made beyond December, but recently posted on its Facebook page that provided housing for those that still need it would continue until the end of January.
But Singer says the landlord has not formally responded, nor did they agree to an off the record meeting with their legal representation.
"That suggestion was rebuffed outright," he said. "I was told that the landlord is not prepared to meet with me and that the landlord has given the matter to their insurance company and their insurance company will eventually appoint counsel who will contact me."
On Wednesday, Mayor John Tory said he had been assured in meetings with the landlord and his emergency management team that no residents would be out on the street during the holidays.
"There was an initial period during which there was inadequate communication to say the least, there were some people left over say as of the end of last week, beginning of this that were still not," he said. "I think that number's being widdled down."
"There are very, very few people that are in actually in any situation where they'd be in any doubt at all," he said.
Ronkay has released a short statement:
"We can't comment on a legal action before we have seen any documentation. Also, any legal action is premature since the Fire Marshal's report of findings has not been released."
UPDATE: A previous version of this story said tenants who have been housed by the landlord have been paying their rent, while others who have found alternate accomodations with friends and family have not. This has been corrected to say that tenants will be required to pay rent starting in January, with the landlord paying difference for the cost of their accomodations.