Elderly renters given short notice of 43 per cent rent hike

Tenants of another New Brunswick apartment building, including several elderly residents, are facing double-digit rent increases that a new landlord is trying to impose twice as fast as New Brunswick allows.

Eighty-two-year-old Irene Murphy has lived in the 45-unit building at 35 McKnight St., on the north side of Fredericton, for the last 10 years.

She received a letter on Dec. 31 stating that her rent would be increasing $390, to $1,300 a month, on April 1. It’s a 43 per cent increase Murphy says she and several of her neighbours, who received similar notices, can’t afford to pay.

“Oh my goodness, they are so upset, because