Rental resistance
Recovering New Waterford drug addict says landlords won’t rent to him
Jordan Mcneil has a new job, anew daughter and anew life he is building in his hometown of New Waterford.
The 23-year-old is dedicated to his new life as a father, a provider for his family and “recovering addict.” For about eight years, Mcneil struggled with an opioid addiction. Although he had tried methadone therapy, he wasn’t able to get clean but when his daughter, Lyona, was born five months ago, he says “something changed.”
Mcneil, his fiancée Amber Lawrence and Lyona moved to Port Aux Basques, where they could stay with Lawrence’s mother and Mcneil could quit opioids cold turkey.
Succeeding, Mcneil moved on to the next challenge — getting work. With limited options in Port aux Basques, the family moved back to New Waterford in June where Mcneil has some family support.
It didn’t take long for Mcneil to secure a full-time job at Convergys call centre, and Lawrence, 18, is starting a new job on July 22. But now Mcneil is now fighting another challenge — getting someone to rent to him.
Mcneil and Lawrence think he is being refused rental units because of his past history of drug abuse. They said one landlord told Mcneil over the phone that he changed his mind about renting to them, after accepting a deposit, because he won’t rent “to anyone on drugs.”
“My fiancée and daughter lost out on a beautiful apartment because they won’t rent to me,” he told the Post.
Upset by the rejection, Lawrence, who says he has never used drugs and doesn’t drink alcohol, called the landlord and asked him to give them a chance. They offered to allow the landlord to make regular visits to see how they were living and to give him access to the drug testing randomly done by child protective services.
The provincial agency is conducting random drug tests because Mcneil has a history with drug abuse and they are staying with Mcneil’s mother, who has a history with the agency.
Mcneil said when he told Convergys management that child welfare might come for random drug testings, his employers were supportive.
“They are amazing people… they said they just want to see me succeed,” Mcneil said.
“(Child welfare) are very involved. If I was using, I wouldn’t have my daughter in my care. I have to have a lot to back me up and I don’t mind that I have to.”
Margaret Dechman, a sociology professor at Cape Breton University who researches issues surrounding people in marginalized communities, including people with or recovering from substance use disorder, said she isn’t surprised by Mcneil’s situation.
“It’s very difficult for people to find places to live when they are labelled this way… people can’t change unless the community lets them change — not just lets them, but facilitates it,” said Dechman.
“Until other people put away the label you can’t put it behind you. He’s done everything he could possibly do, has a job, what more do we want?”
Dechman said helping people recover from addictions is a community problem and she congratulated Convergys for hiring and supporting Mcneil.
“We should look to them as an example of how to do it.”
The Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies Act does help with disputes between tenants and landlords. However, there is nothing in it that “regulates how landlords screen potential tenants,” said spokeswoman Marla Macinnis.
“Landlords may screen tenants using different types of information… (such as) personal reference checks, past rental history, employment status. It is up to each landlord to determine if they choose to rent a unit to a perspective tenant,” she said.
“However, landlords are required to comply with Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Act. If an individual feels they are being unfairly discriminated against they can contact the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.”
Mcneil said they have considered renting in Sydney, but it would add five hours of travel time for Mcneil to get to work because of public transit schedules.
“People know who I was and what I was, but no one talks about the good,” Mcneil said.
“I can’t say I don’t understand (the landlord’s concern). Not a lot of people are educated when it comes to addiction. Not a lot of people have faith in people in recovery.”