Province takes steps to assist tenants affected by sudden eviction

Source: Wpg Sun

The Manitoba government has taken steps to assist tenants affected by a sudden eviction, it was announced Friday.

Manitoba Consumer Protection and Government Services reports, the Residential Tenancies Branch (RTB) has issued several orders to the landlord of 285 College Ave. in Winnipeg and is helping tenants return to their units immediately.

The province will have security officers at the apartment starting at 8 p.m. Friday and will provide 24-hour security until midnight on Monday. The security team has been given a list of tenant names and there will be new keys available for tenants to access their apartments. Identification matching the tenancy list or proof of tenancy will be required.

Dozens of tenants were given cash and told to immediately vacate the Stratford Hall three-storey apartment building on College Avenue on the weekend after a notice saying the building was shut down was posted at the front entrance.

Tenants came back to the apartment building on Monday to signs that the locks on the building would be changed in 24 hours. Many of their belongings were strewn on the lawn outside of the building.

At a news conference Wednesday, Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Bernadette Smith said the government was “outraged” at the eviction.

“These events are unacceptable, and they’re roadblocks to our efforts to end homelessness in our province,” Smith said.

Smith said evictions without due cause, entering a tenant’s suite without notice, as well as disposing of their belongings are all illegal. She added changing locks on an apartment without due process is also illegal.

Smith added the province is working to help rehome tenants and compensate them for the loss of their belongings.