ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

He deliberated simply refusing to leave his rental unit in Little Italy, where he’s lived for the past two decades, when provincial officers came knocking Friday to carry out an eviction order.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s shelter system? Full, officials told him.

“I don’t sleep. I’m stressed,”ÌýVentullo said outside of his home. “I’m depressed. Where am I to go? No friends or family.”

Through five hours in the hot sun Friday, with a heat warning in effect for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½,Ìývarious law enforcement and municipal political staff desperately tried to find Ventullo time, shelter space or another roof, to no avail, as systemic challenges collided in a way that critics say is all too familiar in Canada’s biggest city.

Anatomy of an eviction

The details of Ventullo’s eviction depend on whom you ask.

His initial landlord, 94-year-old ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ resident Jose Demelo,Ìýhas dementia and resides in an assisted living facility. The landlord’s son, George Demelo, sought an order to evict Ventullo from hisÌýground-level unit because the younger Demelo “intended to move into the unit to support” his father “for at least one year,”Ìýaccording toÌý.

George tried unsuccessfullyÌýto evict Ventullo in July 2023 with his first N12 form, a notice a landlord can use to end a tenancy when they or a close family member need the unit for their own useÌý—Ìýa situation facing an increasing number of tenants across ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in recent years.

What ensued was a two-year battle of appeals and hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board as well as the Superior Court of Justice.

The court recently upheld the legality of the eviction. Court documents note that George, who moved from Edmonton to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, wanted “to be close to his father (Jose), who relies on him for emotional, financial and other support,” describing the eviction as being done in “good faith.”

Not everyone agreed.

Leah Wahl, constituency assistant for local MPP Jessica Bell, wrote to the Landlord and Tenant Board that the Demelos were “doing renovations” on the upstairs unit “all week” during a period in November 2023 when Wahl went to visit Ventullo to help him with his case. “And Mr. Ventullo said that they kept asking him when he was going to move out.” (There is an additional unit on the second floor that has been empty for more than three years, according to the May 2025 court documents.)

Wahl said she asked Demelo why Ventullo needed to leave when the upstairs unit was empty. “Mr. Demelo told me that his father’s health was in decline and that the plan was to move the father into the (ground-level) unit. The reason that they couldn’t use the upstairs unit was because of the father’s mobility issues,” Wahl wrote.

But on the N12 eviction notice bearing George Demelo’s name, a box was checked off that George intended to move into the ground-level unit, not his father, Jose.

“For this and other reasons outlined in the tenant evidence brief, I believe this eviction to be in bad faith,”ÌýWahl’s letter continued.

Approached multiple times near the property Friday, George and his partner, Selena Demelo, who were sitting outside, refused to comment.

“Nobody has wanted to hear our side of the story since November,” George said, before going inside a house adjacent to Ventullo’s unit.

Renoviction bylaw looms in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

Things had turned contentious between George and his tenant in recent years.

Ventullo said a bedbug infestation in September 2021 left him sleeping on a makeshift bed of three wooden dining chairs pushed together, to avoid the pests. He fell off that bed and dislocated his knee at one point, he said, and uses a cane as a result. The bedbugs also prompted a lengthy back-and-forth over who was responsible, with George accusing Ventullo of bringing the pests into the unit, according to Ventullo. Pest extermination occurred months later in June 2022, according to the local councillor’s office.

On Friday, Ventullo’s friend Erin Leslie called him a good tenant who has contributed to the upkeep of the property. Ventullo previously had a good relationship with the elder Demelo, she noted. But Leslie said the delayed resolution to the bedbugs and other issues have left her wondering whether they were meant to “motivate Isidoro to leave.”

“It’s really run down in there, really run down,” Leslie said. “He doesn’t have a fridge, there’s plaster falling from the ceiling.”

Andrew Greene, chief of staff to local Coun. Dianne Saxe, said he personally believes Ventullo’s situation bears the signs of a “renoviction.”

Across Ontario, aÌýgrowing number of tenants have accused their landlords of giving them bogus eviction notices, for reasons such as personal use and renovations.

While ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s city council passed a bylaw last year to protect tenants from evictions disguised as necessary renovations, it doesn’t go into effect until July 31.

“A situation like this is heart-wrenching. I feel powerless. I feel completely at my wits end,” Greene said Friday near the property. “I think it’s indicative of a broken system.”

‘No one wants this’

Come mid-afternoon Friday, a few ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officers arrived, joining the provincial officers from the sheriff’s office at the Ministry of the Attorney General. “We’re here to just keep the peace,” a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officer said.

Greene and his office’s constituency assistant, Bob Gillespie, meanwhile, were scrambling to get the sheriff’s office to delay the eviction on compassionate grounds so they could find Ventullo another space. The two say they’ve been working to find Ventullo housing for weeks.

But ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s shelter system that night had no space for Ventullo, according to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officers, Gillespie and Greene, all of whom called around to shelter intake.

“Anywhere we could’ve taken him would’ve been a costly, disruptive move, if we could even bump him up on the (wait list) and get him space,”ÌýGillespie said.

Looking for a place — any place — across ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ through various sectors, retirement homes and across the market proved challenging, Gillespie said. Options were either unaffordable for Ventullo, orÌýwould take Ventullo away from his local community where he wanted to age in place.

According to the , which fluctuates daily given the squeeze on the system, just the day before on Thursday, there were 62 emergency beds available for men,Ìýout of 1,590.

At one point, the same ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officer could be heard telling Gillespie that he would “appreciate” if they, as political staff working for an elected official, put “as much effort” into the housing crisis that they did “calling the media out here.”

Neither the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police nor the provincial officers were eager to immediately evict or arrest Ventullo.

“I’m not dragging the man out of here without a place to go,” said a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police staff sergeant from 14 Division to other officers at the scene around 4 p.m.

Another ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officer could be heard saying, “No one wants this.”

On a separate occasion outside Friday, when a Star reporter was speaking with the provincial officer tasked with carrying out the eviction order, the landlord’s partner asked if they “needed a reporter here, too. This is crazy.”

Tenant’s future unclear

Eventually, late Friday afternoon, one of the provincial officers approached Ventullo, who at this point in the hot sun was leaning on the property’s fence for support.

“We’re leaving,” the officer said. “But, you’re going to be ready to be gone for Monday.”ÌýAs he left, he turned to Greene mentioning a backlog of other cases.Ìý

“I will figure it out,” Ventullo told the Star. “I need until Wednesday.”

On Sunday, the city’s manager of media relations, Russell Baker, said city staff had arranged for a shelter space to be available for Ventullo on Monday.

“Upon arrival, staff will assess the needs of the individual and link them to the most appropriate supports in the shelter or health care system as needed,” Baker said.

What lies ahead for Ventullo beyond Monday, however, remains unclear.