Langley float home owner in a jam after eviction
CBC
Ross MacLeod, a 74-year-old retired school teacher, bought into the float home lifestyle in 2015. MacLeod found what turned out to be a dream at Grants Landing near Fort Langley, about 50 kilometres east of Vancouver, in the form of a three-storey home floating on the tidal waters of the Fraser River.
For a few years, the lifestyle and community brought a satisfying mix of social occasions, peaceful relaxation and relative affordability while housing prices continued a dramatic rise in the Lower Mainland.
"I just fell in love with this place," said MacLeod, who added that he didn't even bother setting up his television for about a year after moving in — he was content to just look out the window and watch the Fraser River flow by.
Tug boats hauled barges past his patio, and once in a while a large sturgeon would appear in the water. He could fish right outside his door.
But the peaceful life was disrupted at the end of May, when one of the new owners of Grants Landing knocked on his door and handed him an eviction notice. His annual lease would not be renewed and he had 30 days to move his home from the slip, where he was paying $1,100 per month for rent.
"I was shocked for the first two weeks. I couldn't function. I couldn't move. I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on," said MacLeod.
Float home owners don't have the protections provided by the province's Residential Tenancy Act or Manufactured Home Tenancy Act that land-dwelling renters have. Eviction notice can be given without cause if an annual lease has run its course.
The Minister of Housing's office sent CBC News a statement that said the only recourse in a dispute for a float home owner renting space at a marina would be a Civil Resolution Tribunal or the B.C. Supreme Court.
"I just felt so vulnerable, so powerless," said MacLeod.
He said after the period of confusion, he got to work trying to find a new place to live. MacLeod said he began driving to marinas all over the Lower Mainland. None had space for his 25-by-50 feet home. He said he began calling every marina he could in the Gulf Islands and on the Sunshine Coast.
"There was nothing," he said.
MacLeod even enlisted the real estate agent he worked with when he bought the home — a specialist in the float home market. She told CBC News that she has also been unable to find a place for MacLeod to go.
According to MacLeod, he had no choice but blow the eviction deadline.
He said the marina owner then threatened to cut off services — water, sewage, and electricity — a threat that turned into a reality at the beginning of September.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
Just a block away from the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan there's a garden uniting green thumbs in Lloydminster.
Shelley Lindaas has long dreamed of seeing a Kermode bear cub in person.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report outlining the events leading to the death of Erixon Kabera answered some questions for his family and friends, but many remain.
Syed Hassan says he doesn't like to complain much. But when his wife told him she got a parking ticket on Thursday night, he knew he needed to speak out.
Following the public outcry over the Jian Ghomeshi case, some legal scholars and sexual assault survivor advocates lauded changes made to the Criminal Code that would prevent defence lawyers from surprising complainants at trial with past emails or text messages with the defendant.
The Waterloo Region District School Board has been talking a lot about the word "family" this month.
At Pedro's Island Eatery in North Rustico, owner Pedro Gameiro has long been not a fan of using seed oils for frying
The parking lot of the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse was full on Friday, and the building surrounded by well-dressed young people and their proud families. Despite the smoky conditions in the city, there was much to celebrate.
Toronto has moved one step closer to allowing fiveplexes and sixplexes in neighbourhoods across the city.
Warning: Some readers may find photos in this story distressing.
Fifty years ago this fall the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States met in a castle outside Paris for three days of meetings, at the conclusion of which they issued the Declaration of Rambouillet, a 15-point statement of principles and commitments.
An Iranian woman living in Newfoundland and Labrador says she's watching attacks between Israel and Iran with worry for her family back home.
Chase Valiant was in the middle of making an afternoon snack when his day took a dramatic turn.