A West Kelowna, B.C., senior is speaking out, after she and several of her neighbours received eviction notices, and just two months to find new accommodations.
On Feb. 28, six tenants at the Golden Homes Mobile Home Park on Boucherie Road were all served with eviction notices. The notices indicate that extensive plumbing and electrical work needs to be conducted.
“Everything has worked well since I’ve been here,” described tenant Joyce Collins.
“They’re wanting us to move out because of plumbing and electrical, but I’m having no issues in my unit.”
Joyce Collins moved into her home in October 2020. She says work was recently done to her bathroom, and the lighting and flooring was re-done throughout the home. She doesn’t understand why more renovations are needed and fears she will not be able to find a new home in time.
“Most of us here that are having to leave, we have doctors in the area, we work in the area, and we have family here, so to ask us to just uproot and just leave — it’s not feasible, especially in these times,” said Collins.
Golden Homes is managed by RMD Group out of West Kelowna. The tenant’s landlord says despite the fact that while the homes may not show their age, they were built over 40 years ago, and safety of the tenants is a concern.
“As landlords, it’s always our responsibility to make sure that we provide safe housing for people,” explained landlord Nicky Hazle.
“We’ve done a lot of renovations and we’ve tried to keep the units looking good, but looking good doesn’t tell you what’s in the walls.”
Hazle says the six units slated for renovation are currently not up to today’s building standards.
“There’s most likely aluminum wiring and old pipes, and so they’re just not up to code, so were concerned about the safety of everyone,” said Hazle.
“What we’ve noticed is that the foundations are cracking, we’ve got huge cracks in the floors, and several different items that need to be addressed.”
At this time, it’s unknown how much work will be required on the homes.
“We’re not really even sure if we’re going to be able to renovate them or if we’re going to have to do a complete demolish,” said Hazle.
“We can’t in good conscience rent units that we’re questioning their safety.”
Collins, however, says she and her neighbours plan on going to arbitration, to try and get an extension, or even stay in their homes.