Disabled man avoids homelessness after error causes eviction
Former drywaller has managed to find a new apartment, but ministry still won’t take responsibility for late cheque
The new apartment is a bit smaller than one he was evicted from, and it costs him $50 more each month, but it has big windows that let in lots of natural light.
“I didn’t end up in the street, but I’m still not happy about the whole thing,” Andrew McLean said as he coaxed one of his cats, Roxanne, out from between the stove and the cabinets, where she had fled when the movers arrived.
On Tuesday, McLean, a 53-year-old former drywaller, was evicted from his 12th-floor Weston apartment for late payment of rent, even though it was being paid directly by the provincial government out of his disability benefits. When the government cheques didn’t arrive on time, his landlord, Realstar Management, took McLean to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Because McLean had entered into an agreement to pay his rent on time for 12 months, board member Harry Cho held him responsible for the government error.
“Although it is apparent that the Tenant is not directly responsible for the late rent payments from ODSP, the Tenant does bear the responsibility of meeting the conditions set out in (his agreement to pay rent on time),” Cho wrote in his decision.
Thanks to a last-minute reprieve that pushed back the date of his evic- tion by two weeks, McLean was able to move directly into a new apartment in a lowrise complex beside York Civic Centre, a few kilometres away.
But it’s not exactly a happy ending. As if getting evicted for a government error wasn’t bad enough, the province still refuses to accept responsibility for the late cheques.
“There were no systemic technology issues in the months leading up to, or after, the eviction proceedings that would have led to an individual or a third party, such as a landlord, not receiving a monthly cheque,” wrote Ministry of Community and Social Services spokesperson Kristen Tedesco in an email.
McLean’s caseworker, however, blamed the delays on “computer glitches” with Ontario’s new welfare computer system, the Social Assistance Management System (SAMS). The $242-million system has been plagued by a long list of troubles, including overpaying thousands of recipients while underpaying others.
“The delay of the landlord receiving October’s payment is no fault of Mr. McLean,” the caseworker wrote in a letter dated last November.
“I was not able to reissue another cheque to the landlord until 3 weeks after I was notified by the client that the cheque was not received.”
After the Star highlighted McLean’s case last month, concerned readers set up an online crowdfunding cam-
“I didn’t end up in the street, but I’m still not happy about the whole thing.” ANDREW MCLEAN
paign that raised more than $1,700. McLean received the money last week and put it toward his rent deposit at the new apartment and the cost of hiring movers.
Amid the hustle and bustle of moving and cleaning Tuesday morning, McLean took a few minutes to step out onto his highrise balcony one last time.
Staring out over the gabled roofs of Weston and up Highway 400 to Canada’s Wonderland in the distance, he speculated that the landlord just wanted him out in order to raise rent. One-bedroom apartments are renting for $339 more than he currently pays.
“There are four people in the building on ODSP. All the payments came late, but no one else is going (to leave),” he said.
Scott Bigford, Realstar’s senior vice-president, wouldn’t discuss the cases of any individual residents. “However, we have low turnover which is evidence we are not targeting people to move out,” he wrote in an email.
The Ministry of Community and Social Services confirmed that when multiple disability benefit recipients in the same building opt to have the government send rent directly to their landlord, the payments are lumped together into one cheque.
In her letter, McLean’s ODSP caseworker noted that they were responsible for one other recipient in his building.
“To date, I have not received any phone calls from the other client on the same cheque as Mr. McLean stating that the landlord has not received their rent payment,” the caseworker wrote.
McLean explained the situation to his new landlord, who has several tenants for whom the government pays rent directly.
“He’s a pretty good guy,” said McLean. “I don’t understand why Realstar was so unreasonable.”