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SYDNEY, N.S. — A lot can happen in two years.
Two years ago, Charlene MacIntyre was living in a home she was renting in Whitney Pier with her mother Margaret “Margie” MacIntyre, who has multiple health issues.
Charlene, 45, is her 69-year-old mother’s caregiver and when they were told they had to find a new rental in 2021 they had one in about two weeks.
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When the same situation happened in August, the MacIntyres became painfully aware of how bad the housing situation has gotten in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in two years.
“I’ve been searching for two and a half months and it’s either rooms (for rent) or it’s gone as soon as it’s posted,” said Charlene.
“Or you think you have it, then the landlord calls to tell you this guy came in after you with damage deposit, first and last months rent so they gave to the place to them.”
COSTLY ROOMS
Many landlords are so inundated with prospective renters, they are slow to reply to inquiries. Charlene said some of the landlords showed her the long list of people who applied for their rental, which she said appeared to be a hundred or more for each one.
Other rentals don’t allow animals and Charlene has two; a cat and a senior dog with arthritis in his legs.
Many others are no longer single-family homes but essentially rooming houses, with each room in the house turned into a rental. The cost for these rooms, which sometimes include a kitchenette and sometimes have shared common areas, can be quite costly.
Charlene said out of desperation she went to view what she thought was a one-room apartment in the north end of Sydney.
The cost was $1,500 and Charlene said it was a room with a kitchenette built in it and a bathroom. She originally thought the room next to it was part of the rental, but was told it was being converted into a rental unit for another person; thus, too small for the family and their pets.
Charlene feels at a disadvantage looking for rentals because it feels as if the units are going to the person who shows up with cash in hand for more than just a half month’s rent for the damage deposit.
“Financially being hit like this is hard,” said Charlene. “I don’t just have $1,000 in the bank.”
AFFECTING HEALTH
When asked about how the housing situation is affecting her, Margie can’t answer. Tears fill her eyes and she struggles to find the words to explain how stressful the situation is.
Along with breathing problems which require her to use an oxygen machine at times, Margie is prone to developing blood clots and has a non-cancerous tumour in her brain.
“She has been very sick over the past couple of weeks,” said Charlene. “She usually only needs her oxygen machine at night, but I brought it down here because she’s been needing it in the day.”
The situation is also negatively affecting Charlene.
“I am stressed to death. I don’t sleep. My anxiety is through the roof. I cry all the time,” said Charlene.
“If it was just me, I’d be okay. I’d couch surf. But I’ve got Mom and my dog. And we have 30 years’ worth of furniture and family stuff in here.
Without a home to move their things too, the MacIntyre’s have found a storage unit which will cost $230 a month. The cost to move their things to the unit is $800.
DIDN’T KNOW
The MacIntyre’s were informed of the sale of the property by the property manager on Aug. 8, which Charlenes thinks was around the same time the for sale sign was put outside the home.
Although the home was on the market since May, the MacIntyre’s didn’t know it was being sold.
In an email, Service Nova Scotia spokesperson Geoffry Tobin said under the Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies Act a landlord has no obligation to tell a tenant they are selling the property when they put it on the market as outlined in section 10 of the act.
“Under the Residential Tenancies Act, when a building is sold, the leases for existing tenants remain intact and the new owner assumes the landlord’s rights and responsibilities associated with those lease agreements until the end of the leases. The leases effectively transfer over,” Tobin explained.
“If the buyer wants to move into the property, then the current landlord will have to end the tenancy. The landlord must give the tenant at least two months’ notice, and share a copy of an affidavit swearing that the buyer intends to move in, or allow a family member to move in.”
Since the MacIntyre’s lease was to end on Sept. 30, the landlord issued a notice that it wouldn’t be renewed through the property manager they use.
However, this notice was dated and received on Aug. 8, which was less than two months from when the MacIntyres’ lease ended.
Believing they were entitled to more than seven weeks’ notice to move, Charlene filed a form with the Residential Tenancies Board who ordered a hearing.
The hearing took place on Oct. 10 and the board ruled the MacIntyres had until Nov. 7 to vacate the premises.
Since they haven’t found a rental, Charlene said the former property owner Brett Poirer of Prince Edward Island, who is still listed as the owner on the provincial property registry, offered to pay for them to stay in a motel for two weeks after Nov. 7.
While Charlene and Margie appreciate the landlord helping this way, it doesn’t alleviate the fears they have that they won’t find appropriate housing.
– Nicole Sullivan is a multimedia journalist with the Cape Breton Post. Follow her on X (Twitter) @CBPostNSullivan.
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