The building owner, province and City of Langford should be doing much more to help the estimated 130 people who had less than 24 hours to get out of a high-rise rental building that was deemed structurally unsafe, says a legal advocacy group.
“Those landlords can then re-rent at market rates,” which are usually higher than what tenants currently pay, said King. The guideline defines a frustrated contract as, “without the fault of either party, a contract becomes incapable of being performed because an unforeseeable event has so radically changed the circumstances that fulfillment of the contract as originally intended is now impossible.”“The landlord says they have no obligation, but really they do,” said King. “We’ve seen some landlords after fires [in their buildings] put up residents for months. Clearly the landlord is at fault here.
Most residents interviewed this week as they were leaving the building with packed cars and trucks said they were staying with friends and family; others had booked hotels. “It’s a challenging situation for those families. … I really feel bad for them,” Kahlon said at the legislature on Wednesday. “It’s been a reoccurring challenge for them and many of of them are having some real struggles.”
Displaced residents said they don’t have much hope in getting anything from their renter’s insurance. Several residents said their insurance providers would not be reimbursing them for temporary accommodations and some expenses because of the building’s history.