Homecoming: Senior evicted, possessions tossed
Man, 78, returns from Caribbean to find he’s been evicted, possessions in dumpster
After five months in the Caribbean, John Balcaran returned to Ottawa in April 2017 to a giant surprise — his apartment was empty.
Except for a couple of boxes, the contents of his home for 14 years were gone. Unit 302 at 2850 Cedarwood Dr. had been cleaned out and the locks had been changed.
“I’m 78 years old,” he said. “Everything I’ve acquired in my life was in that apartment.”
It would only get worse. Balcaran, a retired tailor and clothes designer, would soon discover he’d been evicted without his knowledge and the vast majority of his possessions thrown in a dumpster.
He ended up, temporarily, in emergency housing. For the remainder of 2017, he fought for compensation and was awarded $12,500 by the Landlord and Tenant Board of Ontario.
But after an appeal by the landlord, Timbercreek Asset Management Inc., the award was overturned on Dec. 1, leaving him with nothing.
“All I want,” he says, “is what they stole from me.”
Among the losses, he claims, is a trove of gold and diamond jewelry, dozens of high-end suits and ties, a large-screen TV, a computer, thousands in cash, and a large number of family heirlooms.
The case turns on a tenant’s obligation when it comes to pest control in a multi-unit complex.
A 10-page ruling by board member Philippe Rabot said the landlord asked Balcaran in writing on Oct. 28, 2016, to prepare his two-bedroom apartment for pest-control treatment for cockroaches.
Timbercreek said it tried to treat the unit on Nov. 16 but found it was “poorly prepared,” or too cluttered, for the work to proceed. Balcaran left for Trinidad about four days later. He says he informed the front desk he would be away for an indefinite period as he was helping his brother with an ailing nephew suffering from a heart condition.
“I told the landlord, ‘Please spray the place as powerful as you can.’ ”
On Dec. 2, the board was told, the landlord served Balcaran with a notice that his lease could be terminated if he didn’t have the unit ready for pest treatment within seven days. It still wasn’t ready on Dec. 12, so Timbercreek proceeded with its eviction plan.
(Timbercreek told the hearing it has a legal obligation to the entire complex to keep pests under control.)
After more unsuccessful attempts to treat the unit — the interior was never tidied as Balcaran was away — an eviction notice was granted on March 6.
“Are you going to allow the landlord to evict a tenant without the tenant even being there?” he asks, in astonishment. (The rent was being paid, via postdated cheques.)
On March 17, the eviction proceeded when a contractor arrived to haul out the contents.
“It took a full two days to complete the process of removing all the items from the unit. Most of the items were placed in garbage bags and left in a dumpster,” the ruling said. Balcaran is very concerned about the loss of documents and valuable items left in locked briefcases.
“In cross-examination, (the contractor) indicated that nine briefcases were among the items found in the rental unit and subsequently discarded. He did not open any of them.”
A manager at Timbercreek, meanwhile, denied the firm had any knowledge of Balcaran’s travel plans, and his contact phone number was out of service. Nor did he know that, because of a rent subsidy from the City of Ottawa, he wasn’t supposed to vacate the unit for more than 60 days without permission.
The first board member believed there was reasonable evidence the landlord knew the tenant was in the midst of an extended absence and hadn’t abandoned the apartment. It awarded Balcaran $12,500, or half his claim, though his initial estimate of loss was closer to $500,000.
The appeal board disagreed. It found the landlord had taken reasonable steps to find Balcaran, including reaching out to the city, and had no idea of his whereabouts or possible return date. And the member pointed to Balcaran’s refusal to get his apartment ready for treatment.
“It would be fair to state, therefore, that the Tenant was the architect of his own misfortune,” says the ruling from Rabot.
Still reeling from last spring ’s loss, Balcaran now wants a lawyer to pursue a civil case.
The lawyer who represented Timbercreek at the hearing, David Lyman, said the company considers the matter closed. He said the company went out of its way — taking two days — to sift through Balcaran’s belongings to save personal documents or items that were obviously of value.
Though not exhaustive, the search did not find any of the claimed jewelry or missing cash, he said, and the company kept the saved items longer than the legally required 72 hours.
“They feel bad he’s in a difficult position,” the lawyer said Monday. “It’s unfortunate for Mr. Balcaran that he doesn’t have his possessions. However, the landlord is not liable for that, the contractor is not liable, and the City of Ottawa is not liable.”