Waking up to a knock at the door has left 10 people without housing in Halifax, after the city issued an order to vacate 22 Evans Avenue Tuesday.
“Everyone who used to live in that building will not be allowed to return until the landlord has fixed the problems that we’ve addressed with him,” said Brendan Elliott, senior communications adviser with the city.
The location is a small apartment building in Fairview and was home to 10 tenants.
“This is obviously not a great situation for them, they’re being told they can’t stay in their apartments. So what we did was we provided them with taxi chits to send them down to the province because we’d already worked with the province ahead of time to make sure they wouldn’t be on the street last night,” Elliott said.
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Hearing that the building got shut down didn’t come to a surprise to former tenants who used to rent from the same landlord.
“The building was in excellent shape when we first moved in and all of a sudden it went right down hill. The landlord didn’t want to fix the places or nothing,” said Gail Johnson, a former tenant of the apartment building next to 22 Evans Avenue.
The city says they issue an order to vacate typically once per year, and that it’s a “last resort” when landlords don’t respond to their warnings.
“It’s extremely rare to issue these orders because most times the landlords recognize there’s a safety issue and they do the things they’re supposed to do to ensure that the building is safe,” Elliott said.
A member of the Brunswick Street Tenants Association says displacement of tenants is an issue that needs to be addressed.
“It’s atrocious, I mean I at least had time to pack some stuff up and get myself out in a timely manner, these people had no time,” said Deb Key, one of the founding members of the Brunswick Street Tenants Association.
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Key sympathizes with the displaced tenants, she and other people were displaced on Brunswick Street after the apartment building they were living in was sold due to “deplorable” living conditions.
“We’re seeing far too many landlords get away with not doing the things that need to be done to make your home safe,” Key said.
An email response from Heather Fairbairn, media relations adviser with the Department of Community Services states:
“The Department works with our partners in providing emergency shelter when people are displaced. Typically, we look to see what services are available in the community and then work to make the appropriate matches. This may involve shelters or a short stay in a hotel room, based on the individual’s needs, until they are able to find a place of their own. If a client is unable to find accommodations on their own, we provide referrals to the appropriate resources and services to help them secure and maintain housing.”
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