A landlord in the Truro area who owns multiple apartment buildings has received orders from the residential tenancies program due to issues with heat and water availability. Despite previous complaints from tenants, ongoing problems persist. Sarah Frame, a long-time resident of Anita Crescent, highlighted the challenges faced by tenants, including recurring periods without hot water and heat caused by oil shortages over the past year.
The residential tenancy program issued an order in December mandating the landlord to ensure constant availability of heat and hot water, along with providing laundry services as per the lease agreement. Despite these directives, many issues remain unresolved. Frame mentioned that tenants have resorted to doing laundry in town due to the absence of dryers, which were removed because of non-payment for propane tanks.
Apart from heat and water concerns, the landlord was also instructed to address garbage collection irregularities. However, Frame reported that the problems persist, with instances of heat and hot water outages occurring several times in March alone.
The president of Comfort Smart Homes, Fabian Fraser, who oversees several apartment buildings under Yada Property Management, acknowledged the challenges faced by the company in maintaining the properties. Fraser attributed issues such as arrears with garbage collection services and difficulties in procuring oil for heating and propane for laundry to financial constraints, including significant unpaid rent owed by some tenants.
CBC News obtained copies of several residential tenancy orders highlighting maintenance issues both inside and outside the units. One tenant, Tammy Atkinson, raised concerns about the lack of snow removal services after the change in ownership of the building she resides in, leading to safety hazards due to icy stairs. Despite an order for snow removal in February, the issue was only addressed in early March following intervention by CBC News.
Additionally, Atkinson experienced water service disruptions multiple times, including a two-day period without water due to the town utility cutting off service. Fraser admitted that the company fell behind on water bill payments, while the Town of Truro stated that multiple notices are typically issued before water service disconnections.
As a form of compensation, Frame received a rent abatement equivalent to one month’s rent, totaling $945, as part of the residential tenancy order. Despite this, she emphasized the need for more accountability and enforcement by the tenancy board to ensure landlords comply with orders effectively.