The Year of Hell - Part IV - Know Your Rights...Or Lack Thereof

Welcome Back to the Galactic Shit Show, Persistent Readers!

In previous entries of this series I've talked about my prior residence of 25+ years, the fire that drove me out of there back on July 12'th 2022 and the scary days of uncertainty, shock and fear that followed.  

But, before I go any further with this story, I feel compelled to talk about something that happened to me back on July 14'th, literally two days after the fire. On that day, while blearily trying to salvage whatever scant belongings I might need from my ruined apartment, I was required to sign this charming document:

At the time, I signed it with scarcely a second thought. Why? Because:

1. It was presented to me by a trusted source.
2. It was self-evident that the fire had indeed rendered my apartment uninhabitable.
3. I was still in shock.
4. I thought it was standard practice.
5. I wanted my damage deposit back.
6. It was my first fire. #noobmove

But, if I had my time back (or any time at all for that matter) I would have consulted with a lawyer before I even looked at this fucking rag. Because, by signing it, I pretty much pissed away every single earthly right I had to the place where I'd lived for over a quarter of a century.

I'm not going to bury my lead for this story quite yet. Just suffice to say that I received a piece of news on August 3'rd of 2022 that made me feel like a fool for signing this document so cavalierly. To the point where I sought out help from provincial Legal Aid at the end of October. 

Here what they told me:

"Thank you for your email. Legal Info Nova Scotia is a non-profit charity.  We provide information about the law in Nova Scotia.  We do not give legal advice. Legal advice would include recommending the best option for you - telling you what you should do. Only a lawyer can do that.  The following general legal information may help, although we're afraid we don't have good news. 

"In some cases a fire (and the associated clean up and repair) can be so severe that it has the effect of rendering the entire building uninhabitable. It sounds like that might have been what happened in your situation. In those scenarios the landlord is allowed to evict all of the tenants by giving them Notice to Quit in Form F. That has the effect of ending all of the tenancies. You didn't mention whether your landlord provided you with notice in Form F, but even if they didn't it would be too late to contest that eviction as it has been greater than 12 months since it happened (that is the limitation period for contesting an eviction at Residential Tenancies). 

"After a fire the landlord is not obligated to relocate the displaced tenants. If the landlord does relocate tenants to other units in other buildings then those would be new leases with new terms. The rules about rent increases wouldn't apply to those new leases and so the new lease terms could include a new, higher rent and the new leases could be fixed-term, rather than periodic. 

"Overall, although you obviously have a very sympathetic situation, it wasn't actually clear from your email that your landlord has done anything that you could successfully dispute at Residential Tenancies." 

Look, I'm not one to overshare on social media. If I share anything at all, it's usually about my interests, never personal details.

So consider yourself forewarned: I will definitely be oversharing during this series, as well as for a one-shot entry dealing with a completely separate (though no less infuriating) issue. 

I'm not doing this for attention: I'm writing this as a warning. A warning to let you know that your life can be annihilated within the span of a few short hours due to the reckless act of some crazed psycho. 

And, despite the fact that you have clearly been victimized, people who have the power to help you will still do the wrong thing. People will take advantage of the situation and of you. You will discover - the hard way - that the rules aren't in place to help you...they're in place to help rich people get richer.

Sadly, there seems to be precious little empathy, recourse, safeguards or compensation in our society to assist people who have been wronged by circumstance, even if only to  restore the status quo.

Apologies in advance. I didn't want to be the one to tell you these things.

EPIC: More sound legal advice if your find your tenancy interrupted by fire. 

FAIL: Property owners like this galloping prick don't even need fire or similar catastrophe as an excuse to reno-evict people; he just wears his greed like a proud badge. But the good news is that people are fighting back!