B.C. single mother faces eviction after landlord refuses money from nonprofit subsidy | 24CA News
Playing together with her younger son in her lawyer’s workplace, Kate Power’s obtained a narrative to inform about making it in Vancouver as a single mother.
“I was looking for something that was going to be affordable — a very small space,” she mentioned.
Pregnant together with her son in the summertime of 2021, Power landed an residence in a downtown Vancouver constructing and deliberate to make a go of it, when an sudden monetary downside left her unable to make lease.
She scrambled and she or he managed to cowl the shortfall with assist from some nonprofits.
“I was granted a subsidy towards our situation, which is essentially money that comes from these amazing donors, which goes directly to the landlord,” Powers instructed Global News.
The single mom mentioned she obtained a subsidy to pay the lease from the YWCA.
What occurred subsequent shocked her and upended her life.
She mentioned the owner refused to just accept the help cash she’d lined up, which put her in arrears and able the place she may very well be evicted, simply days earlier than she gave delivery.
“She flat out, initially refused, ‘I will not be accepting these payments’,” Powers mentioned.
Lawyer Ashley Syer mentioned landlords in B.C. can’t create a scenario the place a tenant results in arrears as a result of they gained’t settle for cash.
She managed to stave off Power’s eviction by taking the case to the BC Supreme Court. The listening to is ready for June.
“I haven’t seen this before,” Syer mentioned. “The BC Human Rights Code prohibits landlords from discriminating based on a lawful source of income.”
Court paperwork establish the owner as Susan Wong of Bonnihon Enterprises.
Global News reached out to the workplace for remark.
As for Power, she mentioned she’s a reluctant litigant however one which scrambled to attempt to make good on her finish of the deal throughout a tricky time in her life.
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