Widow can’t sell home due to road allowance that goes through middle of house

A Madoc, Ont., widow trying to sell her house has hit a roadblock over a disagreement surrounding an encroachment agreement as part of the structure sits on an unopened road allowance.

Ninety-year-old Catherine Goettling made the discovery while trying to resell her house in March of this year after the passing of her husband George.

The pair purchased the home in 2006, and at the time, they were told it encroached on 21 feet of unopened road allowance. Not a major issue for the couple who went ahead and completed the transaction.

“If we had a fire, we wouldn’t be able to build on the same footing, you know. It never occurred to us, I never thought about selling,” explained Goettling in her Wellington Street home.

None of this was a problem until now. Once potential buyers find out about the encroachment, they walk away from the deal as most mortgage companies don’t allow people to hold mortgages on properties they don’t fully own, according to Goettling’s niece and real estate agent Joanna Dermenjian.

The house was built in 1953, at that point in time, many municipalities had adopted the National Building Code. However, small municipalities like the Village of Madoc didn’t hire building inspectors as the actual Ontario Building Code didn’t come into place until 1992.

The widow wants the municipality to provide an encroachment agreement, purchase the property or allow her to purchase the land she doesn’t own. But it’s a deal that the mayor of the municipality of Centre Hastings says council can’t support.

“We’re not about to do anything that’s going to hurt somebody intentionally, on the same instance, we have to protect our taxpayers. They’re the ones that pay the bills,” said Tom Deline.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're not about to do anything that's going to hurt somebody intentionally, on the same instance, we have to protect our taxpayers. They're the ones that pay the bills," said Tom Deline.

He says the problem wasn’t created overnight as both sides were aware of the encroachment at the time the widow took over the title of the property, adding that if the road allowance is needed, she’ll be given a year’s notice to move but he doesn’t see that happening in the near future.

“We’re not about that as a municipality. We have no plans to open it at this stage,” said Deline.

The senior lives every day worried about what the future has in store for her matrimonial home when she can no longer live there or passes.

“Something has to be settled while I’m still living,” said Goettling.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Something has to be settled while I'm still living," said Goettling.

At the end of the day, the house is a burden she simply doesn’t want to leave her family and as elected officials see it, the inability to sell isn’t their issue.

Goettling has sought legal advice about the encroachment and to inquire about what the municipality’s responsibilities are.