Adami: Senior stuck with $11,600 hotel,
food bill incurred during condo repair
Ottawa Citizen
Hugh Adami
11 June 2014
A cash-strapped condominium corporation, facing a $15.3-million
overhaul at Las Brisas, a Bathgate Drive high-rise, refuses to cover a
senior’s $11,600 hotel and food bill after he was asked to vacate his
penthouse unit for repairs to the building’s plumbing system over his
ceiling.
Even though the building’s property manager initially promised to
reimburse him for being displaced, an anxious Gregoire Pagé says he was
told in February by the president of the condo’s board of directors to
go after his home insurance company for the money instead.
Unfortunately, the insurer seems to be turning him down, too.
the condo corporation would cover his hotel bills and give him a $50 per diem
Pagé, who lives on Canada pension and old-age security, says he was
approached by former property manager Josée Deslongchamps late last
summer and asked to move into a hotel while the work was carried out.
At the time, Pagé says, the repairs were expected to take two weeks,
and Deslongchamps told him the condo corporation would cover his hotel
bills and give him a $50 per diem. He says he suggested $45 for food
and other daily expenses.
Pagé, 78, moved out of his place on Sept. 12. Instead of two weeks, the
work took about 2 1/2 months. He moved back to the condominium in early
December and presented his bill to then-board president Peter Irani. It
was around the same time that the board was informed of the findings of
an engineering study on the 275-unit building and of the huge amount of
money it would cost to repair many deficiencies.
Pagé says Irani was taken aback by the lump sum of his bill and asked
him why he hadn’t submitted weekly invoices instead. Regardless, Pagé
says he was told it would be covered.
Irani doesn’t remember it that way. Because property manager
Deslongchamps was the one who dealt with Pagé, Irani says, the board
decided to have the condo corporation’s lawyer look into the matter.
Fortunately for Pagé, he no longer owns the unit
Pagé got the bad news in February after the old board was ousted by the
condominium’s owners and new board members elected. The owners revolted
because the old board did not consult with them before agreeing to go
ahead with the $15.3-million overhaul — which will cost each owner
between $40,000 and $65,000, depending on the size of their units.
Fortunately for Pagé, he no longer owns the unit, having sold it to a
friend after he retired and could no longer afford it.
“not our problem.”
Pagé says he was told by the new board president, Michel Bergeron, that
his $11,600 bill was “not our problem.” Pagé was told to go through his
insurance company instead.
But Pagé’s insurer told him the policy would not cover his lodging and
meals as he did not have to move out as a result of an “emergency,”
such as a flood. True, there wasn’t an emergency at the time, but
the plumbing work was deemed necessary as there had been flooding in
some units below Pagé’s last year. One resident was displaced for
weeks. The insurer told him the condo corporation was responsible as he
was asked to move out temporarily.
Pagé, who says the ordeal over the bill has been so stressful that he
has required medication, says he tried to speak to Deslongchamps on
numerous occasions, but was continuously thwarted whenever he went to
her office. He was always told she wasn’t in, he says, and she never
responded to requests that she call him. And then Deslongchamps
abruptly quit in April.
Deslongchamps could not be reached for comment. Three telephone numbers
for the woman at an Ogilvie Road address have been disconnected. As
well, Bergeron and the new property manager, Condominium Management
Group, did not respond to requests for interviews. Armand Beaulne, a
former board director at large who left the position last month, says
no one wants to comment as the matter is headed for litigation.
A lawyer friend of Pagé will try to have the issue of payment resolved
in small claims court. The lawyer, who asked not to be identified, is
not charging Pagé for his work. He says his client moved out of his
unit and into a hotel “out of good faith” on the promise that he would
be reimbursed.
A key witness, if she can be found to testify, will be Deslongchamps as
she is the only one who knows whether she told Pagé his hotel and food
costs would be covered. The insurer will also be challenged under the
same action over its interpretation of Pagé’s policy.
Is something bothering you? Please contact: thepubliccitizen@ottawacitizen.com
Comments
Gordon Hunter · Dalhousie University
Allowing this nickel-dime issue to become public information has
probably just cost each and every owner at Las Brisas that much on the
resale value of their units. No one with any brains would want to buy
in to a 'cash strapped condominium corporation'.
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