A boarded-up Douglas Street residential hotel is facing foreclosure, leaving the lone tenant, who has gone without heat and hot water for months, in limbo.
By the dim light of dusk, Bill Crack struggles to read his Tom Clancy novel in the tidy, small suite he’s lived in at 3025 Douglas St. for the past two years. When it’s completely dark, he’ll put on a headlamp and spark up the propane heater. He listens to a battery-powered radio and sparsely uses water from jugs he fills from outdoor taps.
“This is no way to live,” said Crack, 44, who works as a labourer. “It’s worse than camping.”
He refuses to leave on principle until the landlord refunds the rent he paid for the months he went without essential services. And until he gets his money, he can’t afford to leave.
The power and water at the run-down hotel was shut off in July and mail service was stopped by the owner, despite tenants still living in the building. This followed a number of eviction notices issued in April, which several tenants disputed. The reason given for eviction was renovations, but no building permits were in place — a violation of the tenancy act.
Until a few months ago when the landlord stopped collecting rent, Crack paid $750 for the motel room, which had a kitchenette.
“We’ve won every arbitration,” he said. “But I’m still stuck, with no money or place to go.”
The former Traveller’s Inn is owned by Victoria businessman Mike Kelly, who said he leased it out to another landlord to manage. He gave the landlord notice in March, when he planned to start a $1.5-million renovation — which was stalled when he couldn’t get the proper rezoning.
“I’ve never met the tenants,” Kelly said. “I’ve been drawn into this.”
In October, Jamie Peddle, the acting landlord, was ordered to pay $2,500 to Crack in a dispute resolution hearing with the Residential Tenancy Branch. Crack hasn’t received the money, and the issue is now before small-claims court. A Dec. 19 hearing was cancelled after Peddle could not be served a summons in time. He could not be reached for comment.
Peddle and Kelly were named in the varying disputes with the tenancy branch.
While Crack is aware his building is being foreclosed on, he said he hasn’t received any official notice.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen but I’m worried,” he said. “If I had that money, I’d just go and rent somewhere else.”
Kelly said that while his building is going through the foreclosure process, he has plans in place to refinance it.
“I’m going to clean it up and strip off the siding … turn it into rentals for university students,” he said.
According to court documents, Kelly and his partners must pay Cooper Pacific Mortgage out for the property’s $2-million mortgage or it could proceed into receivership and sale.
“Unfortunately, Bill [Crack] might have to leave,” said Yuka Kurokawa, a legal advocate with Together Against Poverty Society.
The non-profit organization helped three tenants in the building with tenancy board disputes and even looked into litigation against the landlord and owner with the Community Legal Assistance Society.
“The foreclosure really complicates things,” Kurokawa said. “They were offered help but advised to find a new place and be safe and healthy.”
The Residential Tenancy Act has provisions for administrative penalties when a landlord does not comply with a court order. To date, this has only been exercised once in B.C.
