‘It’s tragic’: Family waited seven months for fix after flooded apartment

Aden Hassan is at his wits' end.

For seven months, he, his wife and four young children have lived in a downtown apartment with chunks of missing drywall, loose electrical wires, shredded baseboards, black mould, exposed concrete, a leak under their kitchen sink and a hole behind their shower knob.

The conditions stem from an incident last September, when Hassan returned from a quick trip to the store to find his unit at 235 Rebecca St. flooded.

A few days later, Hassan said, his landlord sent workers in to make repairs that included draining excess water and removing large portions of affected drywall.

They haven't been back since.

This isn't a safe place to live," said Hassan, who's the sole income provider for his family. If one of my kids puts water on the walls with the (exposed) wires, they can die."

Beyond clear safety concerns with his living environment, the 27-year-old is now under threat of eviction from the apartment he's lived in for four years.

In January, Medallion Corporation filed an N5 eviction notice at the Landlord and Tenant Board, pinning the blame of the flood on Hassan and demanding he pay more than $11,800 in damages.

Medallion alleges in the application that during a city-ordered water shutdown on Sept. 22, 2022, Hassan left his apartment with the kitchen faucet on and a plug in the drain. Once the shutdown ended, water spilled out of the sink and onto the floor for hours," the eviction notice stated.

The application left Hassan with an ultimatum: either pay the requested damages or leave the apartment by March 28.

I pay my rent every month, I'm a good tenant, and I have done nothing wrong. Why should I have to leave?" said Hassan, who maintains he didn't leave the faucet on and. They have no proof, no evidence I left it on. It's an excuse they are making to get money."

Medallion didn't respond to several Spectator requests for comment.

In a statement to CBC Hamilton last week, the Toronto-based company said they like to handle tenant matters internally.

Between management and resident, and not through the media. That process of dialogue is ongoing between the resident and management."

Hassan pays around $1,500 a month in rent and worries about finding a similar rate elsewhere given the housing crisis.

Even so, in a bid to avoid conflict with his landlord, he recently took out a loan and paid them $5,000 to squash the dispute and make the repairs.

Still, nothing was done," Hassan said.

City bylaw director Monica Ciriello said an officer attended Hassan's apartment April 5 after receiving a property complaint. After working with the landlord to make the repairs, bylaw confirmed May 2 that a contractor had been retained, she added.

On Tuesday, Medallion left a notice at Hassan's door saying work on his unit would begin next week. It didn't make any mention of the pending eviction order or payment demands.

While welcome news, Hassan said his landlord's change of heart has come too late.

I'm still very overwhelmed," he said over a call Tuesday, adding he's unsure if he'll get back the $5,000 he paid to Medallion. Unfortunately, this has been very painful, stressful and unprofessional. It shouldn't have taken all of this difficulty for them to do this."

Indeed, when it comes to landlords ensuring a unit is fit for habitation in Ontario, the legislation is clear," said Douglas Kwan of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

The work has to begin immediately," said Kwan, the centre's director of advocacy and legal services. Whatever transpires in a unit, the landlord has a responsibility. They're obligated to do all the work that's necessary."

Kwan added that's true even in cases where the source of a unit's damage is in dispute, such as if the landlord believes the tenant is at fault.

Those are separate responsibilities and rights were talking about here. The work cannot be delayed because of who the landlord thinks is at fault," he said, adding if a landlord does want to challenge the source of any damages, they need to file a separate action at the LTB.

There's no excuse for that family to be living in a unit with exposed wiring for more than half a year. It's tragic."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com