Renee Vidmar says she’s fed up with the condition of her apartment building.
“Windows get broken in the winter time, sometimes we can't even get in or out of our building because the doors are broken, and people come in and they use their needles in our building, squat in our hallways, our laundry room. It's unbelievable in this place,” she said.
There are holes in the floor in the hallways, garbage strewn about, stains covering the walls, and a strong smell of urine in some parts of the building.
Vidmar says the mailboxes are broken, so at one time mail wasn’t being delivered.
The place is 1817 22nd Street West in Saskatoon, and Vidmar says conditions have gotten worse since July of this year.
“I’ve never seen a cockroach in my suite, and then all of a sudden in the last couple months I've had them crawling on my walls in my bathroom, in my bathtub. It's just disgusting,” she said.
“I don't want to see that when I take a bath, and I don't want to live with it because those things carry diseases.”
Vidmar says in that same timeframe the company that manages the building, Mainstreet Equity, has been mismanaging her rent cheques.
“They were trying to say July and August rent wasn't paid and it directly came out of my account, and I took my bank statements in to prove it August 31,” she said.
“They said everything would be straightened out and no money would be coming out of my account and I could go into the office and pay them directly, and then they ended up still putting on payments from my bank account.”
Vidmar says Mainstreet has overcharged her on one occasion, and withdrawn money from her account for rent after she’s already paid it, causing her to have to pay an overdraft fee.
Mainstreet — a Calgary-based property management company — declined an interview, but in an emailed statement said it “strongly disagrees” with Vidmar’s claims.
“We have the lease she signed and have compared it against the withdrawn amounts, they correlate perfectly,” the email said.
Mainstreet says Vidmar chose not to renew her lease at an incentivized rate, and then changed her mind and wanted to sign a lease on August 31, far too late to stop the next day’s autodebit withdrawal.
“We also have her signed authorization for autodebit which states that any change to the payment requires 30 days notice,” the email said.
“At this point, she agreed to a six-month lease whose amount is reflected in what we have withdrawn each month. We have no notice from her to stop the automatic withdrawals.”
The 52-year-old says because of ongoing health issues—COPD, kidney problems, diabetes, skin cancer and a high risk of a heart attack—she can’t work and receives disability payments every month, and extra costs combined with living conditions are pushing her closer to death.
“I've had enough of it, I can't I can't deal with this. It's not good for my health and nobody needs to live in a place like this, it’s unfit for anybody,” she said.
“I can't sleep at night. I'm always pacing, and people are banging on my doors all hours of the night whenever it occurs, and it's happened lots. I've even had people trying to push the code into my door to get in, so yeah, I don't feel safe here.”
Mainstreet says a team was sent to Vidmar’s apartment on May 12 and left traps when there was a complaint of cockroaches, but did not see any evidence of pests, and have not received any further complaints from Vidmar “despite telling us she would let us know if anything is seen.”
Mainstreet says it strives to provide the most comfortable, quality, and affordable rentals possible.
“When it came to our attention this property was experiencing additional challenges, we stationed security there full-time. We immediately respond to vandalism and trespassing issues.”
Vidmar says she’s hoping to leave the building as soon as possible.
“I just hope other people that are going through the same situation with Mainstreet come out and talk about it because nobody needs to live like this,” she said.
“Somebody needs to speak up, and I'll speak up now.”
