Over 100 people who were forced out of a condominium in Hillhurst over a week ago met on Sunday to figure out their options and what action could be taken to recover their belongings.
Residents were told to leave their homes on November 24 when an engineer found serious structural issues in the building, located in the 300 block of 10 Street N.W.
Many of the people had no place to go after they were told to leave.
On Sunday night, the displaced tenants met with members of the Renters Action Movement, a group that advocates for tenant’s rights.
They discussed a number of issues about what the next steps could be, including when they could get back inside the building to move their belongings out and whether or not they’ll be compensated for their losses.
Residents who attended the meeting learned that the city has been shoring up the supports and it could be as early as Wednesday before residents could get back inside.
The bad news is that residents were also told they might not have much time to pack up; only about eight hours in total.
As for compensation, residents think that a class-action lawsuit may be the only way to get anything from the building’s owners.
“They were not put up anywhere, they were not giving any sort of other compensation and we basically think that this situation is wrong because we believe there is this gap that exists in the existing legislation that means no one is responsible for the lives of these tenants or for housing these tenants,” said Kate Jacobson with the Renters Action Movement.
According to the tenants, the management company had offered them $250 and a 25 percent refund of their rent for the month of November as a gesture of goodwill but the funds have yet to arrive.
Meanwhile, the city says that the measures that are being taken right now are only temporary and it will be some time before the building could be habitable again.
