The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Tenancy battle in Halifax
His bachelor apartment was flooding as he stood in the hallway almost entirely covered in water.
But he has no plans of leaving.
The man, who asked that we use only his first name Andrew, is the only tenant left in the 45unit apartment building who were given notice back in August to move out of the building by the end of November.
Andrew said he’s taking a stand against evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is the largest pandemic the world has ever seen and no one showed be thrown out on the streets," he said. "C’mon we’re standing here in a flooded hallway wearing masks and six feet away from each other.”
Plus he said the property owner’s attempt to evict him is illegal. But on Wednesday he said Ardmore Hall Ltd retaliated by trying to flood him out of his apartment.
HEARD BANGING FROM APARTMENT
A man, he said, showed up to his door identifying himself as a plumber and asked to get access to his room to fix his hot water lines. He said he had not asked the building superintendant for the repair but was served a notice of entry that day. He said the man unlocked the door but couldn’t get in because the chain lock was secured.
A few minutes later he heard banging from his apartment and that’s when the water started flowing down his walls.
“I put out pots and frying pans to collect as much of it as possible,” he said as water continued to gather around his belongings.
Meanwhile, Halifax Regional Municipality’s compliance office issued an order to remedy to the property owner the same day. The notice ordered Ardmore Hall to "investigate remedy and repair damages from unknown water source. "
Andrew also has a residential tenancy board hearing scheduled for Dec. 16. He said the landlord never followed the proper legal channels to evict tenants. Though he was received letters he was never issued a notice to quit.
Landlords must obtain an order to vacate from the residential tenancies board if a tenant challenges the notice to quit..the Chronicle Herald asked Ardmore Hall Ltd whether it had an order but the company did not respond.
“I haven’t slept and barely eaten over the past two days but oddly I feel at peace. I’m not going to leave here, absolutely not.”
Andrew has refused to communicate with the property owner or superintendent because of the disrespectful way the company has treated tenants. He said he will continue to stay silent until his hearing later this month.
TENANT SINCE 2016
He's been a tenant since 2016. His rent is $725 per month and he said his repeated efforts to find alternative affordable accommodations in the city have been unsuccessful. His situation reflects a reality of hundreds of renters in HRM who have been forced out of their accommodations during the pandemic and unable to find another home.
Mosiak Properties, Ardmore Hall's parent company, has plans to replace the three-storey apartment with a seven-storey, 130-unit building. In preparation for demolition a metal fence was placed around the perimeter of the property on Tuesday.
Three Halifax Regional Police officers also showed up to the building at around noon Wednesday. He said that occurred after a confrontation with the building's superintendent. Andrew said after his room began flooding he went outside and found the superintendent in the parking lot.
He said he began taking pictures of the man and the licence plate on his truck. He said the superintendant confronted him aggressively calling him a psycho. Andrew said he had bear spray on him and threatened to spray the superintendent after being cornered into the apartment.
That's when the man called the police, said Andrew.t
The Herald was at the scene when police arrived. The officers stayed for about a half an hour and left the scene. No charges were laid.
The superintendant, who refused to give his name, showed up at Andrew's unit and told the Herald that a plumber was attempting to fix the hot water lines and the leak was unintentional. He said a plumber was on his way to fix the leak and also offered to put Andrew up in a hotel, which he refused.
POWER IMBALANCE
Tammy Wohler, a Nova Scotia Legal Aid lawyer in Halifax, specializes in residential tenancy cases. She said Andrew's case represents the power imbalance that so many tenants face. She said it's clear that the property owner didn'thave an order for the tenants to vacate. Otherwise court sheriffs would have changed the locks on the building. She said there needs to be stiffer penalties for landlords not following the rules.
"The landlord is trying to force him out and bullying him," she said. "It shows that people are desperate, that there is no housing, they are up against significant odds that will take ridiculous measures to get them out of their homes."
The company issued a statement Thursday saying the leak was definitely not intentional.
“Our plumber showed up twice today to investigate, the first time he was refused entry by the tenant, on his return this afternoon he confirmed it was a broken water line in the ceiling,” said the staement.
“He has been offered other accommodations while the repairs are carried out and I believe as of right now we have yet to hear back.”
The province announced last month measures to protect tenants during the pandemic, including capping residential rent increases at two per cent per year and bans so called renovictions — a widespread practice in HRM of landlords evicting tenants for renovations.
The protections for renters are temporary and will expire either on Feb. 1, 2022, or until the state of emergency is lifted, whichever is sooner. Wohler said there is a possibility Andrew will be permitted to stay in his residence in the event the company did not get a vacancy order earlier. She wants Andrew to get in touch with her.
"I would have to take a look at it If they don't have an eviction order already, which sounds like they don't, they might be out of luck and have to wait.”