Tenants have fungus, sewage problems

[Guest guest]

Tenants have fungus, sewage problems

Landlord says he's dealing with the complaints

ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada

By PAUL EVEREST

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/510916.html

There are mushrooms growing out of the carpet in Tania Long's

apartment in Middle Musquodoboit — and there's mould growing on the

mushrooms.

The fungus isn't the only problem for Ms. Long, 38, who has lived in

her one-bedroom apartment at 7830 Highway 357 since May 2005.

The bedroom ceiling is nearly covered by a giant stain from water

leaking from the apartment above, sewage bubbles up in a corner of

the basement beneath her and her kitchen floods when it rains.

She has had enough.

" I'm not paying rent so that someone can poison me with decay, " she

said Saturday in an interview.

Ms. Long pays $475 per month in rent and says she has asked her

landlords to do something about the problems since she moved in, but

little has happened.

Mike and Bonnie Chiasson, who live in the apartment above Ms. Long,

said water leaks onto their bed when it rains, and they've been

after the landlords about it since January.

" Nobody has been here to do anything — no plumbing, no nothing, "

Mrs. Chiasson said as she picked crumbling drywall off the bed.

Other tenants also said they have water damage in their apartments.

Kamoulakos and Mitchelmore have co-owned the building,

which is more than a century old, for just over a year.

Ms. Mitchelmore was not available for comment, but Mr. Kamoulakos

said he has often sent plumbers to the building to fix problems and

he has the receipts to prove it.

" When we found out there was a problem, we sent a plumber, " he said,

adding that new pipes were set up in the basement to deal with the

sewage. " What else can I do? "

The complaints, he said, come from tenants who fail to pay the rent,

throw garbage in the basement and constantly complain.

Ms. Long, who receives a disability allowance and does part-time

work for Meals on Wheels, said she has been paying her rent.

Mr. and Mrs. Chiasson, who are both asthmatic, acknowledge they have

been behind on their payments because of Mr. Chiasson's health

problems. He recently had double-bypass heart surgery.

They were served with an eviction notice on Saturday.

But they say it is not fair for them to pay full rent when the

landlords have not taken care of many of the problems in their

building.

" It's a small leak in the roof and a couple of leaky pipes, " Mrs.

Chiasson said. " If they had fixed it, none of this would have gone

on. "

Mr. Kamoulakos said he has hired workers to fix the roof, but the

quantity of rain lately has kept them from starting the job. He said

the repairs will be completed as soon as possible.

" The roof should be done in a week or so, " he said.

But Ms. Long said she's worried about her health because of the

leaks and fungus in her apartment.

After experiencing prolonged dizziness, nausea and fatigue, she sent

a sample of the mushrooms to the Department of Natural Resources for

testing and has asked for assistance from the provincial Community

Services Department.

She said she won't move out and that the landlords should value the

lives of their tenants, especially after a plumber told her that the

building's water system should be overhauled.

" I'm paying my rent; this is my home, " she said. " I shouldn't have

to be living like this. "

( peverest@...)