We lost a neighbour this week. The family was told their home would be closed, and they had to be out by Friday. Apparently the City came by to have a look at the house regarding an issue with a sewage leak in the basement. I never went into the neighbours home, and never saw exactly what the issues were. I was told the City was closing the house as of Friday afternoon and they had to be out by then.
Our neighbours did not choose to re-locate, they were told to leave. After complaints to the landlord fell on deaf ears, the house was finally in such disrepair that it had to be closed by the City. The house they had been living in for the past few years was no longer to be their home. Our neighbours had a right to complain about the conditions of the house, and now I guess they have also been given the right to be homeless, as they have not yet secured a new place to live.
A landlord ignored calls from a tenant. He ignored his obligation to provide a safe and healthy environment. I know the landlord has been to the house several times in the past few years, including being in the basement last week. So, it is not like he was unaware of the conditions of his property. He continued to collect rent for a house in disrepair. And he let a family live in unsafe conditions until the City finally shut it down.
Now our block has one less family on it, and an uninhabitable house, because a landlord chose not to take care of his property.
Would you happen to know the name of the landlords/management company that runs this property is?
ReplyDeleteI was provided information on the owner of the property, and I am sure the City By-Laws people have that same information.
ReplyDeleteThis problem is only going to get worse, unless the city builds more apartments and rental units. Winnipeg has the lowest vacancy rate in Canada, and landlords can pretty much do what they want.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying all tenants are great, but landlords seem to do as they please, since there are desperate renters willing to replace them.
Talk to the hand, I mean the ndp(they don't deserve capital letters). They bill themselves as the peoples party. They lie!! These are the people that they profess to represent. They are worse than any other political party because they are pure 100% hypocrites. They have not done one thing for the disenfranchised in this province. Greg Sellinger our unelected Dictator does what he wants , and he wants to ignore the North End and poor people! Any progress on the murders? Are there more cops patrolling the neighborhood.You will need a stabbing every night to keep a real cop presence.
ReplyDeleteI have to somewhat sympathize with astone in his comment. I don't understand why a so called "socialist" government seems so impotent when it comes to affordable housing. The rents in the north end have been steadily increasing so that most of the people who have to live here are paying $500-900 a month in rent. I actually couldn't afford to rent in this neighborhood, I had to buy. My mortgage is 1/2 of what rent would be.
ReplyDeleteI have seen people who own houses here slap a coat of paint on it, buy some secondhand appliances and voila! lets charge $750 for a 500 square foot house that you are making a $300 mortage payment on. The tax is about $500/year. Why keep it in good condition when you can make a ridiculous profit for a few years and then just let it go.
Things have gotten worse over the last few years and I don't know what the solution is. I am pretty sure it is not coming from the gov't. Even Habitat is now building whole "burbs" instead of the great work they did with infill housing.
The biggest improvement I have seen is working people buying houses and looking after them.
They save a little money and put a 5% downpayment on a modest home.
But this does not help people whose rent is so high they can never save up enough for a downpayment.
Being poor means that you can never have any kind of security of home and that is absolutely
shameful in a city of this size.