Calgary News Watch

Tenants of a Mission - area apartment building have taken Calgary’s advice to heart. Unfortunately, they’ve received no satisfaction, not even an iota of sympathy, from the government.

Deanna Webb and Bradley Apps, both tenants at a building where the rent will skyrocket from $700 to $1900, heard the politicians telling residents to call the city with their housing concerns.

Both residents wrote their concerns and sent them to Service Alberta. Both received similar replies asking them to prove that their building was going to become condos.

Premier Ed Stelmach and Ray Danyluk, Housing Minister, have made announcements proclaiming that the government doesn’t want residents forced out of homes. Supposedly, they are willing to talk with residents who are caught in a such a situation.

Stelmach went so far as to say, “We’re following up with any renter, any person that would be displaced by either rent increases or any other issue. We don’t want to see families on the street.”

But how can these residents prove what they suspect? The building’s new owners are even offering money to help residents move out. And if Webb and Apps are forced to move due to the monstrous inflation to their rent, how will it help them when the condo move can’t be proven until after it’s a fact?

So the legislation addresses a one year notification with no allowed rent increases. But how about some rent control to protect Webb, Apps, and the other residents?

Source: Calgary Herald

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Calgary Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or Search Engine Friendly trackback (rel='external') from your own site.