Achi news desk-
Family in Cambridge, Ont. now homeless after being evicted from the house they were renting.
It all came as a big surprise because they signed a lease and paid their rent on time.
It was only after a sheriff arrived at their home to evict them on Friday morning that they found out that the landlord had not been paying rent and had owned the property since January.
“I had 10 minutes,” explained Rebecca Gray, recalling the rush to get out after the sheriff and police officers showed up at her door. “So all my beds, my sofas, all my clothes, all my children’s toys, all her toys, her birthday presents, their Easter chocolate. Everything is in that house.”
Tenants ‘totally blind’
Gray, her partner and three young children moved into the home on Short Street in January after signing a 12-month lease.
But a court order shows the landlord, Sarah Kon, lost the property to what appear to be two private lending groups days after the family moved in.
The courts sent a warning to Kon that the property would be confiscated, but no one told the tenants.
Gray’s realtor, Kim Butler, said her client was “completely blind.”
Rebecca Gray moved into the Short Street home on January 15 after signing a 12-month lease. Court documents show the landlord lost possession of the home four days later. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)
Appledale Property Management, which now manages the home, declined to comment.
Butler said the property manager told her they had visited the home in December and confirmed the landlord lived there. None of the property management team returned to the home after that, but it was listed for rent in December. That’s when Gray signed a lease starting on January 15. Court documents show four days later, the court granted possession of the home to the investment groups.
“She is [Kon] knew she was in this situation as a landlord and then she didn’t bother to call or advise my client in any way,” said Butler.
Landlord and tenant board regulations require tenants to have proper notice of eviction, but because it was the landlord who lost the property, it was up to her to notify the tenants.
“Notices were sent to the house in the name of the landlord. But my client can’t open that mail,” Butler explained.
A notice is seen on the Notice door of Rebecca Gray’s former rental home on March 25, 2024. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)
Since Friday, the Gray family has stayed at their realtor’s home, at a hotel and now at a friend’s empty home, sleeping on air mattresses.
They’ve bought new clothes, and have a GoFundMe page that has raised nearly $3,000 as of Monday afternoon.
“This is Village Value clothing. I had to buy a new playpen for it [my daughter] to sleep in,” Gray said. “Things that we already have in my house that I can’t have, I have to repurchase just to live.”
The landlord, Sarah Kon, did not respond to CTV’s request for comment.
Realtor says tenants need more protections
Butler said she understands the landlord was given a warning, but wants the provincial audit to change its policy to protect tenants.
“Yes, the notice is clearly sent in the landlord’s name, but I think it is very important for them to go through the notice post on the door, because in this case there was she no longer lives there,” said Butler.
Gray said her landlord told her after the eviction wasn’t due until July. She said Kon also told her the realtor should have known she was refinancing, but realtors can’t access that information without specific permission.
“We can’t ask for any of that. Legally, only their mortgage broker or bank can get that information. And we have no right to that,” Butler explained.
Gray said they would look into legal action, but with having to buy new items and find a new rental, the family doesn’t know if they can afford it.
“My tenant paid her first month’s rent and last month’s rent. Right now, I highly doubt we’re going to get last month’s rent back. And now she has to going to pay another last month’s rent to a new property,” Butler said.
Butler said she is in contact with the new property manager and hopes he will allow Gray to retrieve her belongings.
