Hatter facing homelessness after house he rented foreclosed

By COLLIN GALLANT on March 10, 2023.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

A Medicine Hat man is looking into his rights as a renter and hoping new options will open up after the home he rents was foreclosed upon in late February, giving him weeks to secure a new place to live by March 1.

Now, unable to afford it, he faces eviction next week and says he doesn’t know where to turn.

“It’s just a very painful situation that’s caused a horrible amount of stress,” said David Campbell. “I can’t find a place and can’t afford to move.

“I’m afraid that I’m going to be homeless next week.”

Campbell has lived at the home in the Connaught community since 2016, and doesn’t fault the former owner for the predicament.

But, he says leeway should be afforded to renters like him and others who experience similar situations.

“It’s just cruel,” he said.

Campbell claims he was served with the 30-day notice to vacate Feb. 17 from a Calgary-based mortgage company.

That left him with just 11 days to secure a new unit before the beginning of March.

Now, he, his roommate and a couple that rents the downstairs suite must leave the home by noon on March 17.

His only income comes from medial disability payments he receives, and Campbell says the least expensive suite he’s seen is $900.

He is having trouble finding another roommate on short notice, and will also have to move his personal property from the home soon or risk losing it.

Kathy Parsons is the executive director of the Centre for Public Legal Education in Alberta, a non-profit group that holds clinics in Medicine Hat and has a tenant advocate on staff.

She said the law could be on the side of the property owner, in this case the mortgage company, but it is important renters should have a better understanding of their own rights.

“There typically is not a remedy, but there are ways to connect people to supports,” she told the News, specifically stating that recovering damage and cleaning deposits can be critical for anyone seeking new living accommodation.

She recommends tenants get involved in the judicial process of the bankruptcy as soon as possible, but that can be difficult to know.

In general, such disputes are not uncommon, she said, but her group hasn’t dealt with many recently, but that could change in an environment of riding interest rates.

“I suspect that it is a situation that will increase, considering the state of the economy,” she told the News. “If people are struggling to pay rent, landlords will be struggling to pay mortgages.”

There is no easy way to determine the number of home rentals in Medicine Hat, but competition for apartment units is very tight.

Medicine Hat’s rental vacancy rate is the lowest of any mid-sized city in the province, according to a survey by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation survey, last published in October.

It states Medicine Hat’s vacancy rate sat at just 1.6 per cent at that point, its lowest rate since 2007

The current rate is less than half the provincial average and one full point lower than already low rates in Calgary, Lethbridge and Red Deer.