Lack of housing options leaves Saint John family in leaky, mouldy apartment

In the first week in his family's new apartment, Cory Hamilton was awakened in the middle of the night by water dripping onto his bed.

Bubbles started forming in the freshly painted ceiling and before long, chunks of plaster began raining down.

Now, six months later, bowls and buckets have to be scattered around during every rain storm to catch the drips in several places in the bedroom and living room, and all of the electronics in the living room have to be unplugged since most of the outlets are on the leaky exterior wall.

Hamilton, who pays $1,500 a month for his three-bedroom apartment, was surprised at the amount of water that poured into his bedroom. After all, he lives on the second floor of a three-story building and his sister-in-law lives on the top floor, so he knew it was her living room directly above them.

He eventually realized the water was coming through the side of the building. He immediately complained to the local property management company, which oversees things for the building's owner, AEY Industries, Ltd., which is listed on property records as being located in Amherstburg, Ont. Jeff Levy, the founder of AEY has not responded to interview requests.

That was last November and by early December, he filed a complaint with the province. When asked about the case, Rebecca Howland, a spokesperson for N.B.Housing, said she couldn't discuss specific cases for privacy reasons.

WATCH | Take a tour of this leaky, mouldy apartment:

She said if a tenant doesn't agree with a decision of the tenant and landlord relations office, they can appeal it.

Hamilton's landlord started exploring the problem — opening up the ceiling and tearing the siding off the front of the building.

After building houses for more than a decade, Hamilton knows what to look for. But he wasn't expecting what he saw — three separate ceilings, one on top of the other, and a completely rotted support beam at the front of the building.

He and his wife repeatedly have to clean piles of rotted wood that fall onto the window ledge in his bedroom.

Knowing it's a structural beam that has rotted away, he worries about the safety of his family. Walls are bowed, crown moulding is warped, windows don't close properly and light shines in around them. He said none of these defects were apparent when he moved in.

"So this has been Band-Aided, Band-Aided and Band-Aided for quite some time. And now it's to the point where you can't Band-Aid it anymore," said Hamilton, who manages online sales and marketing for Vintage Pursuit Hobby Shop, which sells trading cards and other memorabilia.

Hamilton shows the rotten wood that keeps collecting on the window ledge in his bedroom. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

In the upstairs apartment, a section of the kitchen ceiling collapsed on his teenage nephew as he cooked himself a meal.

With four children between the ages of five and 16, Hamilton is also worried about his family's health. He said his six-year-old son has been sick more in the last six months than he has in his entire life.

"It's not right to have to pay to live in these conditions. These kids don't have a choice ... they're innocent in all this. They're the ones getting sick," said Hamilton.

Opening up the ceiling exposed the extent of the mould in the apartment. He worries about the impact that had on his family — particularly during the winter months when they were forced to spend more time indoors with the windows closed.

Workers removed the vinyl siding at 119 Guilford St. to expose a lot of rotted wood underneath, particularly around this second-floor window. (Submitted by Cory Hamilton)

The province eventually issued a compliance order to fix the leak and the mould problem, but the deadline of March 29 has come and gone without any of the work being done.

Hamilton said it appears that someone who previously owned the building simply added new ceilings instead of fixing the bigger leakage issues. As they explored each layer, the mould problem became worse, he said.

Before he moved in, he said the landlord mentioned a minor leak in the bedroom. He now wonders how much the owner was aware of — and how much previous owners knew.

The wood around this window frame is mostly rotten. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

In 2020, when the building's assessed value was $85,800, the man who owned it for 17 years sold it to a woman from Kelowna, B.C., for $103,000. She only owned the building for 16 months before selling it to AEY Industries for $150,000, although the building was still assessed at $85,800.

Since then, the assessment has gone up to $153,800.

According to online records, AEY Industries was founded in 2016 by Jeff Levy. Messages left at his Dartmouth, N.S. business, where employees said he was present last week, have not been returned.

A worker lifts the siding off 119 Guilford St., Saint John, to explose the rotten wood beneath. (Submitted by Cory Hamilton)

Peace of Mind Management handles the property management for the out-of-province owner. General manager Brent Lawson said they were made aware of the leaks by the tenant and got a quote to fix the issue.

That quote, however, "snow-balled several times" as the issue became more serious. Lawson said "the costs have become astronomical."

He said "we're committed to fixing it" and said they're currently working with the owner's insurance company.

Rotten wood surrounds many of the windows at 119 Guilford St., including this second-floor livingroom window. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

In the meantime, he said they offered to release the tenant from his 12-month lease, to return the damage deposit and to help him find a new place to live.

Lawson said his client did not install any new ceilings.

He declined further comment.

Workers patched the hole in the kitchen ceiling of the top unit with a large piece of fibreboard that has swelled in the middle because of the moisture. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

When reached by phone on Thursday, the man who owned the property from 2003 to 2020 said he wasn't aware of any leaks when he sold the building in 2020.

He said he put in a "drop ceiling" about 15 years ago because of a "plumbing issue" in the kitchen. He also said he put a new roof on the building while he owned it.

The woman who owned the building for 16 months — and sold it for $47,000 more than she paid for it — could not be reached for comment.

Few affordable options

Hamilton said he's already started looking for a new place, but hasn't had any luck. He said there aren't very many options — at least not that his family can afford. Before the pandemic, they had a three-bedroom unit that was larger than their current Guilford Street apartment and paid $750 for it — half of what they're currently paying.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's annual rental market report in October 2023, the vacancy rate for apartments in Saint John was 2.3 per cent.

So while politicians talk about "accelerator funds" and modular housing and rezoning, low-income families struggling to afford the basics are left with few choices.

This is the water that poured out of the ceiling in the kitchen of the top-floor unit of 119 Guilford St. during the last rain storm. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported average rents in New Brunswick in April were up 10.8 per cent from one year earlier.

That is the second-largest increase among provinces, behind Alberta, over the 12-month period and triple New Brunswick's overall rate of inflation of 2.9 per cent.

Hamilton says it's frustrating to hear about proposed and promised changes to increase housing units because he has no hope they will arrive in time to help his family.