Tenants evicted from problem house in Kelowna

Tenants living inside a drug house at 235 Nickel Rd. in Kelowna were evicted on Friday morning.

While many who live near the problem home say their neighbours caused a great deal of anxiety, they are just relieved to see peace restored on their street.

“I’m very happy, finally something is being done,” said one woman who lives near the home. “It feels like this has been going on forever.”

Since November 2021, more than three dozen police files have been opened on the home, ranging from noise complaints to more serious issues like assault and stolen property.

The landlord claims he’s owed around $15,000 in unpaid rent. Now, after months of trying to have the tenants removed, they were finally evicted.

“This has all been so unreal that it doesn’t even feel like they are gone, said landlord Amit Chopra of Surrey.

“It’s been really stressful, but I’m so happy we were able to wrap this up and clean the place out.”

Chopra added that the people who lived in the home weren’t even tenants. He says their names aren’t on the lease, and that they simply moved in after his last tenant moved out.

“They were illegally occupying the house,” said Chopra.

“I called the cops, they said it’s an R.T.B. issue, the Residential Tenancy Board. I’ve been going around in circles with the Residential Tenancy Board, and they kept on giving me dates, but these guys are not even tenants. Unfortunately, they are just squatters.”

Kelowna mayoral candidate David Habib was asked by the landlord if he could step in to take matters into his own hands — after Chopra claims his calls to the City of Kelowna went unanswered.

Habib says he came up with a plan to remove the tenants in a respectful and fair way, by giving them a 10-day advance notice.

“They seemed very truthful when we committed to giving that timeline, and that’s why I agreed to the timeline, because they did ask for a little bit more time and I didn’t,” said Habib.

“We negotiated down to 10 (days), and that’s why I think it was a blessing for everybody, because they lived up to what they said they would do.”

Habib says a construction crew hired by the landlord carried out loads of furniture and waste throughout the day on Friday.

“They’re boarding up the house, they’re going to fence it off with construction fencing, put a couple of no trespassing signs up and carry on from there,” said Habib.

The homeowner says because the home is damaged beyond repair, the plan is to demolish it.