Eviction notices served
New owner of Lower Montague Trailer Park says years of back rent owing in some cases
Some residents of a Three Rivers trailer park will be looking for a new place to live after a new owner gave out seven eviction notices recently.
Janet Sturgess, the new owner of the Lower Montague Trailer Park, said there were several tenants in the park who were overdue paying rent for years and were told by the previous owners the park would close because of so much money that was owed.
Sturgess said she decided to buy it to keep it open and make necessary improvements.
“It was run like the Wild West,” she said.
Sturgess said the sale closed on April 27. The park was previously owned by a co-op.
The co-op sent notices to some tenants before she bought the property, said Sturgess, and she gave rent demands for May 1.
Her next step was to give eviction notices on May 4.
As the province deals with the fallout of the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic, the provincial government sought a moratorium on evictions, which the P.E.I. Supreme
Court granted in April.
That means landlords can still give eviction notices, but they won’t be enforced until a later date.
The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) has also suspended all rental hearings.
Tenants who want to contest eviction notices still have a limited time to dispute them despite the moratorium.
Sturgess said she moved into the park two years ago and when she found out it was going to close, she decided to buy it.
Since taking ownership, Sturgess said she has also passed out rules to the residents who will be staying, and there are issues with the septic system that she is addressing.
“They’ve been having issues with it for years,” she said.
There are 36 lots in the park, and Sturgess said there are some people who owe close to 10 years’ worth of rent.
“There is over six figures owing in back rent,” she said.
Sturgess said she is following all the rules when it comes to evictions and is aware the eviction notices won’t be enforced for now.
Three Rivers Mayor Ed MacAulay hadn’t heard about the evictions when The
Guardian contacted him but said the tight rental market is the same in the area as it is in the rest of the province.
There is some development happening in Montague with affordable housing units and other units are being built in Georgetown, MacAulay said.
“We’re hoping to have a little relief in our housing over the next year or two,” he said.