A Brampton, Ont., couple is relieved to have entry to their house again lastly, 11 months after a tenant stopped paying his lease and utility bills quickly after he was requested to maneuver out.
“This is what I was waiting for,” mentioned Yvonne Folkes inside her reclaimed Brampton house on Friday.
“A clean slate.”
Folkes and her husband notified the tenant in writing they needed him to go away nearly a 12 months in the past, citing their intention to maneuver again into the house. As soon as they did that, he stopped paying lease and utilities — however refused to go away.
“We were at the point where we almost lost the house because we have to pay the mortgage while he’s in the house not paying rent, not paying utilities,” she instructed Ontario Chronicle.
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“It was just very hard. Financially stressful, mentally, physically, emotionally — everything,” Folkes mentioned, describing an ordeal involving the household’s solely rental property, situated a few blocks from the place they had been dwelling.
The tenant, Hermann Founiapte Dakono, was paying about $3,200 a month in lease. Folkes described him as initially a “good tenant” till he was served discover to maneuver out.
As Ontario Chronicle found in Could, Founiapte was adamant he wouldn’t go away till he was pressured to take action.
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“Why (do) I have to leave? You cannot come and tell me,” Founiapte instructed Ontario Chronicle throughout an interview on the driveway that passed off after he made a 911 name to police to complain concerning the presence of the tv information crew exterior.
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Founiapte defined that he would go away finally as soon as his household’s new house in Hamilton was prepared for occupancy within the fall.
Within the meantime, the tenant employed a variety of delaying ways to postpone an eviction order. These included asking for a landlord and tenant tribunal board listening to in French, though he had been speaking always with Folkes and her authorized counsel in English.
“Unfortunately, everything that he did use was given to him by the Landlord and Tenant Board,” mentioned paralegal Joey Rizzuto, who has represented Folkes and her husband for the previous eight months.
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“If someone knows what they’re doing they do have the ability to delay the process,” mentioned Rizzuto, who mentioned Founiapte possible might have lived rent-free for an additional few months though he’d been served an eviction order that took impact September 20.
In Ontario, a authorized eviction can solely be carried out by a neighborhood Sheriff who is permitted to implement an eviction order. There’s a important backlog of instances in Peel Area, the place Brampton is located.
Founiapte elected to maneuver out voluntarily simply because the eviction order took impact.
Ontario Chronicle requested Founiape, the tenant, for an interview, however he declined.
“No…because I don’t trust you, that’s the reason,” he mentioned in a cellphone name, referring to Ontario Chronicle’ unique reporting on the difficulty.
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The proprietor of Hermann Trucking in Etobicoke claimed Folkes “didn’t do what she’s supposed to do as a landlord” and mentioned he plans to pursue two claims with the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Founiape mentioned he didn’t go away Folkes’ property due to the eviction order, however as a result of “my house was ready, that’s why I left.”
Founiape mentioned in Could he was having a house constructed and would transfer out when it was accomplished.
As for the $32,000 in unpaid lease and utilities, he mentioned he’d pay if ordered to take action.
“I owe the money,” Founiape mentioned.
After nearly a 12 months of coping with the system that governs landlords and tenants, Folkes says the system wants reform.
“It needs to change a lot, ” mentioned Folkes.
© 2024 Ontario Chronicle, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
