News Release
Councillor Urges Landlords to Show Compassion
(Friday, January 26/2001)-- District 17 Councillor Linda Mosher today appealed to local rental property owners and managers to "show some compassion" in their dealings with those left homeless last week by a fire at an apartment building at 36 Abbey Road in Armdale.
Councillor Mosher said some tenants left homeless had no alternative but to sign one-year leases with other landlords in order to secure alternate accommodations, because they could not get a firm date from the Abbey Road building owners as to when fire damage would be undertaken and completed.
The Purcell's Cove/Armdale Councillor was instrumental in helping the 370 tenants bring pressure to bear on the owners of the Abbey Road building to provide some short-term assistance to them and to have repair crews work round-the-clock so those left homeless could move back into the building as soon as possible.
The lawyer for the landlord, Top O' the Mountain Apartments Limited, told a public meeting of the tenants and others last night that the building should be ready to accept tenants in about three weeks-the week of February 12. Earlier accounts indicated it could be months before the tenants could move back home.
Councillor Mosher said she recognizes that the leases some of the tenants signed with other landlords are legally-binding documents, but she urged those landlords to show compassion for the plight of these tenants and release them from their new leases if the tenants wish to return " to their homes" at 36 Abbey Road.
At the same time, she said tenants in that situation should appreciate the position of the landlords and provide them with as much advance notice as possible in order for the landlords to find new tenants to replace them in their rental units.
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Linda Mosher
Councillor-District 17
(902) 477-8618
(902) 476-4117 (cell)
John O'Brien
Corporate Communications Officer
(902) 490-6531
