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The clock is ticking and the wrecking ball looming at a two-storey apartment building in London’s SoHo neighbourhood, with residents hoping an upcoming hearing will stave off its demolition and allow them to keep their homes.
But the wait, like his personal financial reality, health issues and uncertainty around finding a new home, is wearing down Ken Thomson as he and his remaining neighbours await a Landlord and Tenant Board sit-down on Jan. 24 that will decide whether they can all be evicted from 435 Nelson St.
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“I’m having a hard time finding a legal lawyer,” Thomson said. “And looking for a place is still expensive. What can I say? It’s hard.”
Thomson and other tenants at the Nelson Street apartment building had a deadline of Sept. 30 to leave their apartments after receiving an N13 eviction notice in May from their landlord, 435 Nelson Inc., which intends to demolish the two-storey building with 23 units.
Unable to pay his phone bill and eating fewer meals per day, Thomson, a 62-year-old diabetic with a heart condition that prevents him from working, said he’s “just trying to live but it’s getting worse.”
He added: “Right now, I haven’t packed anything because I’m praying, you know, that they say this building is still qualified to live (in).”
Thomson’s partner, Karan Lumsden, who needs a walker, said her health has deteriorated in the past few months. “I should’ve been in the hospital over a week ago but I can’t walk and I can’t afford bus fare,” she said.
Nelson tenants have been getting help from Acorn Canada, an organization that advocates for tenants. “They push and they do their best but there are too many people” in need of their resources, Thomson said.
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Acorn spokesperson Robin Slade told The London Free Press in October tenants are not obligated to vacate their homes until the hearing before the Landlord and Tenant Board is completed.
Some tenants have moved out, taking the offer of three months’ rent in compensation from Amanda Bouck of Elite Rental Management Inc. and 435 Nelson Inc., but other residents, like Thomson, haven’t found a place to go.
Bouck declined to comment on the tenants’ current situation.
Thomson is eyeing the tribunal hearing with cautious optimism that he and his remaining neighbours will be treated with “respect” in the process.
“The way I look at it is that I didn’t ask to live like this,” Thomson said.
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