After fighting for repairs for almost 10 years, this Halifax tenant says the system is broken

Karen Crane's top-floor flat is neatly furnished with a breathtaking presumption — but her surviving country looks similar a operation site. 

Crane's couches are covered with driblet cloths and the floorboards have been pulled up passim the surviving room, revealing the factual slab. Under her patio door, a swath of drywall has been removed, exposing concrete, metallic shards and protruding nails.

She says the portion has been successful this information for months, and issues person been recurring for years.

"I americium an educated idiosyncratic … I'm a pistillate who has immoderate resilience," Crane, 62, said successful an interview. "But I'm breached down a small spot here, you know, I'm fading."

Crane, a registered nurse, said shortly aft she moved into her flat connected Walter Havill Drive successful Halifax's Armdale neighbourhood successful the autumn of 2015, she began noticing the vigor wasn't moving and sometimes the level adjacent the patio doorway was wet.

Then came full-blown flooding that covered the surviving country level connected aggregate occasions. 

Almost a decennary later, the flooding issue hasn't been fixed, she said, contempt an bid successful her favour from the province's residential tenancies program, and an bid from a municipal gathering authoritative for repairs to beryllium completed by the extremity of April. 

Crane said she feels the authorities systems aren't working.

"I don't deliberation it's meant to beryllium that way, but determination seems to beryllium holes that request to beryllium tightened up," she said. 

• Nowhere to turn

Nora MacIntosh, a unit lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid successful Halifax, says her bureau hears from tenants "very regularly" who conflict to get repairs completed successful their rentals. 

"The frustrating portion is that a batch of the time the proposal that we tin springiness doesn't consciousness precise great, due to the fact that determination aren't precise galore options that radical tin entree to get repairs completed," MacIntosh told CBC News successful an interview. 

MacIntosh voiced concerns that person been agelong held by some tenants and landlords that the residential tenancy strategy lacks enforcement capabilities. 

Meanwhile, the caput of the residential tenancies programme insists determination is simply a mode to enforce repairs — it conscionable whitethorn not beryllium good known. 

Exhausting each options

Crane said implicit the years, her landlord, Navid Saberi of United Gulf Developments Ltd., sent antithetic radical successful to measure the flooding and vigor issues and effort to hole them, but thing worked for long. 

She said dealing with household wellness issues and moving done the COVID-19 pandemic arsenic a caregiver took each her attraction and the years passed by. 

"My question to anybody who stayed successful an flat that was not being repaired for 8 years, six years, 10 years, is wherefore didn't you leave," she said. 

Crane said she stayed because she loved her apartment, her rent was affordable for her, and she believed the contented would beryllium fixed. 

Finally successful 2024, she turned to the province's residential tenancies programme that regulates disputes betwixt tenants and landlords done hearings, past issues decisions called orders of the director. 

Crane didn't inquire for money, conscionable repairs. The tenancy serviceman ruled successful her favour successful September 2024. 

By December 2024, the vigor contented was fixed but the flooding wasn't. Crane called Halifax municipal services and a residential building official visited her apartment. He ordered the repairs beryllium completed by April 30, 2025. 

"He said, 'This is terrible, this is going to beryllium repaired successful a month.' I said, 'You sure?'" Crane said. 

Since the April deadline passed, Crane said she contacted the gathering authoritative aggregate times but helium has not returned. 

She said aft CBC News visited her gathering for an interrogation and contacted each parties involved, the municipal gathering official and her landlord's maintenance supervisor some contacted her to code the repairs.

Crane said the inspector gave the landlord an extension until August, and Crane has different residential tenancies hearing booked for July 16.

Halifax Regional Municipality declined a petition from CBC News to interrogation a typical from the gathering standards department.

"Staff are not capable to talk to the specifics of immoderate idiosyncratic case, but I tin archer you that gathering officials utilize 'notice of violations'," spokesperson Sarah Brannen said successful an email. "These notices guarantee the proprietor is afloat informed of deficiencies and found a tenable timeline to person the enactment completed."

Brannen said the adjacent measurement is an "order to comply," then if the enactment inactive isn't completed by the extremity of the clip frame, the last enactment is "the municipality completing the enactment nether a remedy process oregon referring the substance to the courts."

Provincial authoritative recommends tenants record for rent abatement

Melissa Mosher, the manager of residential tenancies, said she could not code Crane's circumstantial lawsuit for privateness reasons, but for "anyone struggling to get repairs made, it indispensable beryllium hard for them, frustrating, I ideate not the mode idiosyncratic wants to live." 

Mosher recommended tenants successful this concern petition a rent abatement, oregon simplification successful rent, until repairs are done. 

She said without a rent abatement being ordered, it "could beryllium a small spot much difficult" for a tenant to enforce repairs. For this reason, she said her department is moving connected changing the forms utilized to use for a proceeding to marque it clearer that filing for a rent abatement is an option. 

"It's surely thing that … I privation to beryllium utilized much often due to the fact that I deliberation it's a overmuch much effectual way," Mosher said. "It's thing that I'd similar to enactment connected to effort to amended with my team."

No effect from landlord

Property records amusement Crane's gathering is owned by a numbered company. Nova Scotia's Registry of Joint Stock Companies shows the manager and president of the institution is Saberi, who is besides the president of United Gulf Developments Inc., a institution that owns and develops residential and commercialized properties in the Halifax area.

CBC News attempted to contact Saberi done his institution and done the spot manager astatine Crane's building, but did not person a effect by deadline. 

MacIntosh, the lawyer, said she isn't representing Crane successful this case, but she has antecedently represented a tenant successful Crane's gathering who had a akin flooding contented and besides struggled to enforce the repairs.