NORTH BATTLEFORD - A GoFundMe page has been set up to establish a legal defence fund for tenants of Valleyview Towers II since their landlord has appealed a judgment that awarded a rebate on rent to a tenant who was sexually harrassed.
The tenant of Valleyview Towers II in North Battleford won a claim against the Battlefords Housing Authority after a hearing by the Office of Residential Tenancies in August. The claim included allegations of sexual assault and harassment by a fellow tenant, and the hearing officer awarded the claimant a refund of 40 per cent of the rent paid over two years, stating “the terror and trauma that the tenant endured during two of the years of her tenancy does constitute a breach to her right to quiet enjoyment.”
The Battlefords Housing Authority has appealed that decision to the Court of Queen's Bench. The appeal does not address the content of the tenant's testimony. It instead maintains the hearing officer denied the housing authority the right to procedural fairness. An affidavit accompanies the appeal claiming BHA was not given enough time to prepare for the hearing, did not receive all the paperwork needed, and they were not allowed to address the hearing on procedural issues prior to the claimant's presentation. The tenant and the Director of Residential Tenancies are named as respondents on the appeal.
The appeal is to go to Court of Queen's Bench in Battleford on Nov. 4.
In the GoFundMe page text, it is stated by the tenant whose case is being appealed, “In the past three years, this housing authority has turned from being an advocate for the poor, disadvantaged and elderly, to putting the safety and security of the senior residents at risk of physical and frightening events from the party lifestyles of the various tenants. The North Battleford Housing Authority has been sued from a host of various legal suits from lost wrongful dismissal cases, to a skyrocketing numbers of Office of Residential Tenancies (ORT) cases, to now, appealing cases into the Court of Queens Bench when the ORT finds the Housing Authority breached the tenants’ rights to quiet enjoyment of their homes.”
The tenant goes on to say, “It is extremely hard for an elderly person on a subsistence level fixed-income to come up with the fifty dollars it costs me to file an ORT Application; let alone to find the thousands of dollars it takes to hire a lawyer to fight the government’s Regina law firm to enforce the ORT’s decisions. The Housing Authority would rather appeal than accept the ORT’s decisions and make lasting policy decisions that protect their senior residents rather than placing vulnerable seniors at risk of physical, mental and emotional harm.”
The text concludes, “I am asking everyone who cares about justice, compassion, fair-play and community to dig into your pockets and help. Those of us living in social housing simply don’t have the financial resources we need to preserve the little bit of independence and dignity that we still desperately hang onto.
"Your help - any amount of help - would be greatly appreciated.”
The GoFundMe page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/valley-view-towers-seniors-lefal-defense-fund?qid=6a14dd2408ed1290889c424f4288976f
