LIAR-LIAR

Before the words were even out of her mouth about how the Board of Directors abused her at a meeting designed to evict her, the Property Manager belted out, 'It's a lie!'  Other Board members quickly piled on the abuse - LIAR!    The President of the co-op, who Chaired the meeting, also attested to the fact that what the member was saying didn't happen.  He hadn't attended the Board meeting, but said that he had read a 'transcript' of the Board minutes.  The meeting was electronically  recorded and of course, the expletives were conveniently deleted.  The woman crumpled into tears.  With her permission I will tell her story.

The member is vulnerable - a victim of domestic violence.  She is also on a disability pension and is coping as best she can given her circumstances.  She was late on several occasions in getting her subsidy renewal application in.  To further complicate matters the Property Manager insisted that her son apply for OW and things unravelled from there.  The member was never late paying her housing charges because it was paid directly by ODSP.   

In December she received a letter from the Property Manager saying that she was overhoused - that she would have to downsize to a 2-bedroom unit.  She submitted two letters from an orthopedic surgeon that she had had surgery, needed a year to recover and also needed a downstairs washroom.  Up to that time no arrears were mentioned.  If so, the co-op would not have consented to downsize her.

The Property Manager refused to acknowledge her medical letters and out of the blue, she received a notification that the co-op had retracted her subsidy retroactively to May, 2013 and that she was now $2,400. in arrears.  The reason:  Incomplete subsidy information.  And the piling on began.  There was extensive damage to her unit - holes in walls:  FIX THE WALLS in a very short time span - the co-op would re-enter the unit to assess.

A Notice of Hearing was sent to the member - attend a Board Meeting where a decision to evict her would be considered.  The member attended the Board meeting, along with a lawyer from a community legal aid centre.  At the Board meeting she was berated - she was told that she had brought the abuse on herself, that her physical disability wasn't a disability at all - she could walk down stairs no problem, just like another Board member.  The lawyer didn't defend her, just quickly touched her not to respond.  The member left the meeting in tears.

The very next day she received the Board's decision in her mailbox - evicted -  to leave her unit in a couple of days.  She appealed the decision and set about to tell her story at the Special Meeting last night.  She had no lawyer representing her - I was her support person.  The co-op's lawyer was there to fortify the Property Manager.  No help was needed in that regard, so he didn't say a word for the entire meeting.  The sum of $1,500. was budgeted for legal fees for 2013-14.  The reason being is that the member being evicted will be charged for his services.

A member sitting next to me wanted the Property Manager voted out of the meeting.  The Chair asked how this would be possible.  He missed the point.  The Property Manager is known to roll her eyes, smile sardonically when challenged and many members don't even want to be in her presence.

The member up for eviction in a very quiet voice, trembling and in tears continued reading her notes to the membership.  TIMES UP! Now it was the Property's Manager's turn.

For over one hour she went on and on and on.  In a dreary monotone, she read every date of every email to the member and vice versa. She had control of members.  They were stuffed into this very small meeting room and for all intents and purposes just wanted her to stop droning on.

I then spoke, saying that I had helped the member through this ordeal.  I stated that CMHC deferred overhousing to co-op by-laws, that our by-laws allowed for the use of discretion in deciding whether to postpone a move, or not move a member at all.  That the co-op had a Domestic Violence By-law and instead of showing empathy and compassion to the member who had suffered domestic violence, that they were abusing her even more. 

I stated that the member received approximately $1,000. in disability benefits, that she now had to pay full fee for a unit because her subsidy was taken away, and to completely annihilate the member, the Property Manager had imposed a Performance Agreement on her to repay $600. per month for 4 months until her 'concocted' debt to the co-op was paid off.  I stated that it was preposterous to even think that the member would sign such an agreement - it was designed specifically to entrap her.  

I then read out the Performance Agreement in our by-laws which was flexible according to the financial means of the member being asked to sign.  This and other statements I made incensed the Property Manager - she went to the office to get the by-laws to prove me wrong.  She stated that it was a by-law or policy that anyone owing arrears over $2,000. would have to repay it in 120 days.  I said that's ridiculous - that my husband and I couldn't even do it - how could someone on ODSP or OW pay that amount of money.  A long-standing member spoke up saying that the Performance Agreement I had read out was the one which had been used in our co-op since its inception.  How convenient that the member being evicted owed $2,000.  

A member who attended the meeting spoke empathetically about victims of violence - that the trauma affects one's very being and coping skills for a very long time.  Members finally came alive and gave her a subdued round of applause.  

My husband then spoke up and began his sentence with, 'In the 24 years we've been living here, the co-op has been ...  He was then drowned out by a very coarse voice yelling back at him. Someone yelled out, 'Call the question!'  And with that it was time for the vote.

Strips of paper had not yet been prepared for the vote.  Some were roughly ripped into such thin strips, you could curl them up and flick them in the air.  During the break one woman who was actually evicted and miraculously is still here, said that she couldn't vote, because her unit number was not listed anymore on the sign in sheet. H-m-m-m.

The vote was tallied - 26 for eviction, 21 against.  The Property Manager had won another battle.  Victory was palpable in the air - subsidized, well housed Board members rejoiced at having crushed their opponent - a vulnerable woman completely at their mercy.

I walked over to my friend and told her how proud I was of her for holding up under such stress.  Other members felt the same way and we held each other up.  Tomorrow is a brighter day for my friend and her dignity will be upheld.

In closing I would like to say that several Board members have had abusive relationships and have had damage to their units as a consequence.  In general there are many units occupied by members in a gross state of disrepair, so why focus in on this member.  Why hound her to distraction - letters arrived in her mailbox anytime of day or night, the Property Manager entered her unit on very short notice - alone. Why humiliate her as though she didn't even exist.  It certainly was not about good corporate governance.  It was out and out bullying.