Seniors intimidated by landlord

74-year-old Marie-Rose Cormier has been living in a Chomedy apartment for the past three years, sharing the living quarters with Pierre Éthier, 56, who suffers from a serious illness. A few months ago, the two tenants had to seek help from DIRA Laval, an organization which has as one of its mandates the tracking and counteracting of abuse of the elderly.

"We're supposed to heat our apartment with an oil furnace, but it's defective, and our landlord says we have to change it ourselves and insure it as well," Mr. Éthier recounts.

"For the past three years we've had to heat the living room with little electric heaters and it's freezing in the bedrooms and bathroom. Last year, we had to wash dishes in the bathroom for six months because the landlord didn't want to fix the kitchen sink," Mr. Éthier tells Courrier Laval.

"We also had to put up with an outside door handle that didn't lock. Our ceiling is badly damaged by a water leek that dates back several years. There must be a lot of mold in there. Since I've been living here, I'm always sick, I have frequent sore throats and I cough," Mr. Éthier adds.

According to the two tenants, the owner of the apartment building has always been very intimidating towards Marie-Rose Cormier, to dissuade her from persisting too much in her demands.

"Whether he just speaks loudly or shouts at me directly," she relates, "he shouts, he's rude, and he speaks to us only in English."

"I work on these kinds of files five days a week, and I still can't keep up," he states. "People can't imagine how numerous these situations are. I often come across what I would consider psychological harassment by the landlord, but it's difficult to prove. Last year, I estimate that I intervened in more than 300 different situations involving elderly tenants."

France Desroches, counselor at ACEF (Association coopérative d'économie familiale de l'Île Jésus – The Île Jésus Cooperative Association for Family Economy) fully endorses Mr. Cooke's impressions.

"We also get requests from elderly people, but not as many as we would like," she explains. "Many seniors won't go looking for help because they don't know about the resources (at their disposal)."

"At the beginning of each year there are many of them who are threatened by their landlords, for example, with repossession of apartments or with rent increases," she adds. "And (these landlords) aren't shy about raising their voices at the elderly to get what they want."

At the Rental Board there are no statistics regarding the harassment of elderly tenants but there are concerted efforts to reduce the frequency of these instances.

"It's a major preoccupation and we're in contact with certain groups that intervene in situations involving the elderly," explains Rental Board spokesperson Jean-Pierre Leblanc. "We're talking about a clientele which is at times captive, fearful, and reluctant to get the help to which they are entitled."

Photo: Rose 1

(Photo: Martin Alarie)

Photo:Cooke

(Photo: Martin Alarie)