Halifax, NS (October 31, 2022) – On October 25th, municipal officials notified tenant Stacey Gomez that landlord Marcus Ranjbar (4364812 Nova Scotia Limited) had been issued an HRM Order to Vacate Unsafe Property for his Church St. building due to elevated levels of mould detected in an air quality test. Ms. Gomez and Mr. Ranjbar are in an ongoing renoviction battle. While the landlord claims that Ms. Gomez’ tenancy is immediately terminated as a result of the HRM Order, videos shared with media tell a different story.
The videos were recorded on October 25th, 2022, the day HRM officials came to notify Ms. Gomez of the HRM Order. The videos show Ms. Gomez and two of her guests having a conversation with HRM officials Shawn Kennedy (Assistant Building Official), Adam Sadler (HRM Building Official) and Officer Bing with HRM Compliance.
“Everything under the Landlord tenancy act, all those rights, that all still applies. This has nothing to do with that,” said Officer Bing in one video clip.
Later on, he states: “Under these orders, you are still allowed to come back in, like if you decide, ‘Oh, I forgot this,’ or ‘There is something I need.” So, it’s not like you have to bring everything with you. The landlord still does have to allow you access in and out, you just can’t reside in here until the mould issues are fixed.
However, on October 27, 2022, Mr. Ranjbar told Saltwire: “I could have had the sheriff go there on the same day of order to vacate and forcefully took her stuff out, but I didn’t do that.” The landlord’s statements are not in line with what is stated by HRM officials.
When Ms. Gomez asked HRM officials how long the HRM Order would be in effect, Mr. Kennedy said that there would be more clarity on this once the restoration crew came in to do an evaluation. He expected to have a timeline within 2 to 3 weeks.
“As it was explained to me by HRM officials, the municipal order issued to the landlord means that tenants like myself aren’t able to stay in the building for extended periods of time, until the problem is fixed. However, they said that I didn’t have to move out under this HRM Order and assured me multiple times that my tenancy rights would remain in effect, including the landlord needing to give me proper notice to enter my unit and me being able to return to my unit.
Tenancy rights are provincial, not municipal. Landlord’s must go through the proper channels with the province, including a Residential Tenancies hearing and the granting of an eviction order before they can evict someone legally. I have spoken to the Residential Tenancies Program and they confirmed that there aren’t exceptions to these rules. Currently, my tenancy rights are being violated. I’ve been locked out of my home by the landlord, without an eviction order,” said Ms. Gomez.
On October 28, 2022, Ms. Gomez spoke with an official from the Mayor’s office who reiterated: “You still do have your tenancy rights.”
On October 30, 2022, the landlord removed Ms. Gomez’s possessions from the unit, without her authorization. Ms. Gomez says that her tenancy remains in effect.
