THE woman on the phone was angry and distressed.
Her landlord evicted her from her Sherbrook Street suite without warning, she said.
George Bibik: ‘They were crawling all over everything... it was awful.’
He threw all her belongings in the trash. Everything of value was gone.
She lives on social assistance and has a disability. She wanted help pulling her life back together.
She doesn't need much, she said, just someone who would rent her an apartment. She's looking for a decent place where a single woman on a limited income could feel safe.
She's living temporarily in the downtown Quest Inn, having no luck securing a suite that would be covered under welfare's laughably low rates.
Would I help her? she asked. Would I find a way to make her landlord return her possessions, compensate her for the lost bits and pieces that make up a life and maybe, just maybe, find a way to punish this unfeeling man?
I called George Bibik, owner of the 30-suite Sherbrook Street apartment.
On the surface, it sure sounded like he'd done something awful to a woman who was already down on her luck. But as most of us know, scratch the surface and you'll find another version of the truth.
Here's Bibik's version:
He did evict the woman. He did so on the advice of the health department which, acting on a complaint from other tenants, found her one-bedroom apartment infested with bedbugs. Officials ordered the apartment sealed, the contents destroyed and the entire block fumigated.
The problem, Bibik said, is that the woman has a mental illness that causes her to "dumpster dive" -- that is to scour trash bins for anything of interest -- and to stockpile her findings in her home.
After she received her eviction notice, Bibik said, the woman removed scores of boxes from the apartment. It still took him 13 trips to the dump to clean out the 600-square-foot, one-bedroom suite.
"The health inspector said it was one of the worst things she'd ever seen," Bibik said. "Bed bugs usually only come out at night. They were crawling all over everything during the day. It was awful."
When the floor-to-ceiling boxes were removed from the bedroom, the building's owner discovered the walls were coated with mould.
"I had to wash everything down with Javex," Bibik said. "Now I have to paint the entire suite."
Then Bibik said something surprising: He's angry too, but not with his former tenant.
He's angry that the social services system does such a poor job of helping people with mental illness to find safe housing where they'll be looked after.
He's angry there was no one making sure the woman wasn't in trouble.
"I can only go into an apartment so often," he said, "and I can only go in if the tenant has a problem. Why isn't there someone taking care of her? She's ill. Her social worker knows she's ill. We have to have housing in this city where people get proper care."
This is the second time Bibik has had a tenant with a noticeable mental illness, one that led to compulsive behaviour. That time, he spent ages on the phone trying to find help for the woman.
He failed.
"I know there are a lot of people out there on social assistance with mental illnesses. No one wants to help them. They just find a place that welfare rates cover and leave them there."
Bibik's two-bedroom suites rent for $440 a month. A one-bedroom is $354.
To clear up the problem, Bibik had to have his entire block fumigated. That cost him $80 a suite. Then he had to scrub down the place. Thursday, he was painting.
"I know she's in a bad position," he said. "I understand that. But the health department came because of the bugs. Someone else called the fire department because her entire floor was covered with paper and they were afraid she'd accidentally drop a cigarette.
"I am trying to do my best but there is no one else out there willing to take responsibility. She definitely needs help. She needs to be checked frequently."
And that's not the job of a landlord. George Bibik did everything he could. The comfort of his other tenants was affected. He feels nothing but pity for his former tenant.
He's saving his anger for a bureaucracy that turns its back on vulnerable citizens.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Lindor Reynolds blogs
at www.winnipegfreepress.com
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