Latest news with #AssiniboineLinks
CBC
20 hours ago
- CBC
Son recoups $10K for dad who was forced from Winnipeg home
A man who was forced to move out of the Assiniboine Links assisted living facility in 2023 has been awarded just over $10,000 after Manitoba's Residential Tenancies Commission ruled that his former landlord owed him compensation.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senior recoups $10K after being forced out of Winnipeg assisted living facility for renos that never happened
A landlord that ordered over a dozen seniors out of a Winnipeg assisted living facility for renovations in 2023 has paid back thousands of dollars to one resident, after the building was vacated and sold without any renovations ever being done. James Beckta was awarded just over $10,000 after the Residential Tenancies Commission ruled that his former landlord owed him compensation for nine months of additional rent and tenant services he'd paid for after moving out of a Winnipeg assisted living facility in 2023. Beckta, now 80, moved out of the Assiniboine Links, an assisted living facility housed in the historic Odd Fellows Home at 4025 Roblin Blvd., in June 2023, according to the decision by RTC's chief commissioner Nunziata Masi dated July 25. Beckta and other tenants of the assisted-living facility received notices telling them to move out within months for major planned renovations, the decision says. Under legislation, landlords can order residents to move out if planned renovations require the building and/or units to be empty. Paul Beckta, James' son, says they scrambled to find another assisted living facility. The facility that his father moved to in June 2023 had considerably higher fees because it was being run by a for-profit organization, according to the decision. Beckta later moved into a more affordable facility in June 2024, after being on a waitlist for a year. Paul says the moves impacted his father, who suffers from dementia. "Every time you move someone who's progressing through dementia, they take a decline," he said. Before it closed, the Odd Fellows, an international fraternal group, operated Assiniboine Links as a non-profit offered rent and tenant services at a reduced cost thanks to a heavy reliance on volunteers, but the building's ownership group sought a developer to take over the complex after deciding to retire, Masi's decision says. Running the facility became "unsustainable" for the group after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a drop in volunteers, the decision says. There were 17 residents in the building when tenants were notified of the planned renovations and told to leave, CBC News learned at the time. The building was sold in 2022 to the same developer who had planned to build a 199-unit apartment complex next to it. The City of Winnipeg approved that project, but the Manitoba Municipal Board — a board of provincial appointees that was given expanded powers in 2021, allowing it to reverse Winnipeg city council decisions on a variety of land-use decisions — overruled the city's approval after nearby residents complained. The ownership group later struck a new deal with the developer, but the developer was no longer willing to accept the group's condition that said the assisted living facility should be maintained for at least a year after taking possession of the building, according to Masi's decision. The new agreement required the building to be vacant, and the developer told the landlord they would renovate the complex, the decision says. "The developer ultimately did not renovate and instead sold the building to another landlord, who is now operating the complex as an independent living complex, without having done the renovations," Masi wrote. Masi ruled that the ownership group owed Beckta money for nine months of rent and tenant services after he moved into a different facility. Legislation that allows landlords to remove tenants for planned renovations is not "intended as a tool to provide a purchaser with vacant possession," she wrote. 'A battle' Paul, who acted on behalf of his father during the hearings, says an initial claim against the landlord seeking compensation for rent was dismissed, but his father was granted compensation for moving expenses and an unreturned damage deposit. Paul later appealed the decision to the Residential Tenancies Commission, asking it to decide whether a tenant — who exercises their right to terminate a tenancy after a landlord ends their lease agreement for extensive renovations — is still entitled to compensation for moving expenses and to seek additional compensation if the landlord fails to renovate. Paul said he's relieved that the commission ultimately sided with his father. "I think he gets it. He remembers what happened," Paul said. "I told him, like, 'Hey, we won.' He smiled." Paul described the process as "a battle," even for someone like him, who has experience working in government and reading policy. "Hopefully, the former tenants that were there can use this as a means to go and argue and win." His advice to others going through the residential tenancies process is to "know the rules and ask questions." "It's been about two years since all this happened, [and] by the end — however it was going to go — I was glad it was done," he said. "But for me, it also came down to my parents [who] instilled in me at a young age, strong values of what's right and what's wrong." CBC News has reached out to Assiniboine Links' former ownership group for comment.
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Senior recoups $10K after being forced out of Winnipeg assisted living facility for renos that never happened
A landlord that ordered over a dozen seniors out of a Winnipeg assisted living facility for renovations in 2023 has paid back thousands of dollars to one resident, after the building was vacated and sold without any renovations ever being done. James Beckta was awarded just over $10,000 after the Residential Tenancies Commission ruled that his former landlord owed him compensation for nine months of additional rent and tenant services he'd paid for after moving out of a Winnipeg assisted living facility in 2023. Beckta, now 80, moved out of the Assiniboine Links, an assisted living facility housed in the historic Odd Fellows Home at 4025 Roblin Blvd., in June 2023, according to the decision by RTC's chief commissioner Nunziata Masi dated July 25. Beckta and other tenants of the assisted-living facility received notices telling them to move out within months for major planned renovations, the decision says. Under legislation, landlords can order residents to move out if planned renovations require the building and/or units to be empty. Paul Beckta, James' son, says they scrambled to find another assisted living facility. The facility that his father moved to in June 2023 had considerably higher fees because it was being run by a for-profit organization, according to the decision. Beckta later moved into a more affordable facility in June 2024, after being on a waitlist for a year. Paul says the moves impacted his father, who suffers from dementia. "Every time you move someone who's progressing through dementia, they take a decline," he said. Before it closed, the Odd Fellows, an international fraternal group, operated Assiniboine Links as a non-profit offered rent and tenant services at a reduced cost thanks to a heavy reliance on volunteers, but the building's ownership group sought a developer to take over the complex after deciding to retire, Masi's decision says. Running the facility became "unsustainable" for the group after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a drop in volunteers, the decision says. There were 17 residents in the building when tenants were notified of the planned renovations and told to leave, CBC News learned at the time. The building was sold in 2022 to the same developer who had planned to build a 199-unit apartment complex next to it. The City of Winnipeg approved that project, but the Manitoba Municipal Board — a board of provincial appointees that was given expanded powers in 2021, allowing it to reverse Winnipeg city council decisions on a variety of land-use decisions — overruled the city's approval after nearby residents complained. The ownership group later struck a new deal with the developer, but the developer was no longer willing to accept the group's condition that said the assisted living facility should be maintained for at least a year after taking possession of the building, according to Masi's decision. The new agreement required the building to be vacant, and the developer told the landlord they would renovate the complex, the decision says. "The developer ultimately did not renovate and instead sold the building to another landlord, who is now operating the complex as an independent living complex, without having done the renovations," Masi wrote. Masi ruled that the ownership group owed Beckta money for nine months of rent and tenant services after he moved into a different facility. Legislation that allows landlords to remove tenants for planned renovations is not "intended as a tool to provide a purchaser with vacant possession," she wrote. 'A battle' Paul, who acted on behalf of his father during the hearings, says an initial claim against the landlord seeking compensation for rent was dismissed, but his father was granted compensation for moving expenses and an unreturned damage deposit. Paul later appealed the decision to the Residential Tenancies Commission, asking it to decide whether a tenant — who exercises their right to terminate a tenancy after a landlord ends their lease agreement for extensive renovations — is still entitled to compensation for moving expenses and to seek additional compensation if the landlord fails to renovate. Paul said he's relieved that the commission ultimately sided with his father. "I think he gets it. He remembers what happened," Paul said. "I told him, like, 'Hey, we won.' He smiled." Paul described the process as "a battle," even for someone like him, who has experience working in government and reading policy. "Hopefully, the former tenants that were there can use this as a means to go and argue and win." His advice to others going through the residential tenancies process is to "know the rules and ask questions." "It's been about two years since all this happened, [and] by the end — however it was going to go — I was glad it was done," he said. "But for me, it also came down to my parents [who] instilled in me at a young age, strong values of what's right and what's wrong."
