Linda Chong continues to battle over a set of stairs constructed by her landlord last year.
The original external staircase leading down to her basement walk-out apartment at 44 Drury was removed, because it was not up to code, and was in the way of planned repairs to the retaining wall along the north side of the property.
But what was rebuilt was a ramshackle free-standing structure, with uneven risers ranging in height from about seven inches to over 11 inches, and a rough wooden handrail.
Chong, who has a disability and is on ODSP, noted, “For a disabled person, the riser plus tread should not be over six inches and the railing, 34 inches.”
When Chong complained, the owner claimed the structure was just a landscape feature, and that the actual entry to the back apartment was a narrow walkway from Drury St.
“That was never a walkway,” said Chong flatly. “It’s never been an access at all. In fact, that was the first time I had heard of it. It’s just a space between the house and a fence.”
She also noted that the ‘walkway’ is not maintained. After a recent winter storm, snow drifted up against the house, and in the past, a leaking eavestrough created icy conditions. A plastic drain pipe extending from a downspout presents a tripping hazard.
It’s all part of a lengthy back-and-forth battle that has seen Chong receive what she calls “illegal” eviction notices – hand-printed and shoved under the door – and complaints by Chong to the Landlord and Tenant Board, over issues that include the owner’s alleged failure to replace a stove with a broken oven, or maintain the property.
When the upstairs tenants were evicted, their belongings were allowed to sit for a month – and then thrown out onto the yard that serves Chong’s apartment, she said. She then received an eviction notice, blaming her for the mess.
Chong said she has received text messages from the landlord’s representative at 4:18 a.m., and has repeatedly had to fight eviction.
“I have had 22 eviction notices – 22 illegal eviction notices,” Chong said. “I’m under doctor’s orders to avoid stress,” something that has been impossible, under the circumstances.
She’s not even sure who her landlord is. “To date, I have not met the landlord nor been given his contact info,” despite a 2018 court order that the information must be supplied, Chong noted.
She has an explanation for the ongoing fight with the current property manager or owner: She is the only tenant with a disability, and “I am the only one who tries to get the landlord to meet some of the legal obligations.”
She added, “If they would fulfil their obligations, there’d be no problem.”
Chong has even been dragged into small claims court by the landlord – an action that she says was thrown out by the judge.
“What they are doing is trying to make my life miserable,” she said.
The town has taken the property owner to court over the separate matter of the retaining wall. A court date earlier this year has been put over to April 29.
In the meantime, Chong received a letter from the owner’s lawyer, dated Feb. 25, claiming that “all necessary steps” have been taken to correct the stairs, and citing a January 9, 2020 incident.
On that date, workers arrived to replace the steps, but Chong blocked them because she had not received advance notice that they would be there. Police were called.
The lawyer’s letter, which Chong shared, stated, “It is your landlord’s position, and mine, and the law's, that no notice must be provided to you about the work being done outside of your rental unit as the backyard and yard around the property is not for your sole use.”
Chong defended her actions, insisting that the backyard is for her sole use, and noting that previous actions by the contractor have “made the stairs worse.”
She added, “I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel’s not built.”