A story finally told

I decided to take pen to paper and tell my story of what transpired at the old space on Fairview St. Some of you know, but many of you don’t know what propelled the move to the new space and why.

It’s therapeutic to tell a story, and my goal is not to throw shade on the individuals involved, therefore some names will be omitted from my story below.

It started in June of 2021. There was a leak from one of the pipes from the unit above. The leak dripped onto the floor of one of our private rooms and we had to mop it up, which at the time felt like no big deal. I advised my property manager and my landlord at the time and a plumber was sent to look into it.

The plumber came, the plumber left and the issue was never resolved. In this process, I learned that the water was coming from the neighbour’s toilet which I felt was unsanitary. I wanted to seal the pipe but was told that it could cause an issue and that I shouldn’t touch anything. So we hung a bucket to the pipe and monitored that it wouldn’t fill up.

In the meantime, June was a rainy month and we started getting water coming in from the windows and dripping onto the floors of the reception and the classroom.

In August, I started to reach out again and advise of the unresolved plumbing issue and the water coming in from the windows.

My landlord told me I had to reach out to the upstairs neighbour and advise them of the issue so they could deal with it. So I did. It turns out, it wasn’t my direct neighbour upstairs, it was the unit that stood kitty corner to my unit and these owners were away a lot. So the request went back to the property management to have them look into it.

My contact at the property management company wasn’t responsive and it eventually led to his leaving (cause unknown). My new contact came on board in October and they decided that they would not deal with me because I wasn’t the owner and refused to answer any of my email requests to come fix the issues and my landlord also never came.

I foolishly made the decision in November to stop paying my property management fees hoping to get the matter resolved. November and December were then left unpaid and this resulted in lawyer fees and threats to evict me if I didn’t pay for the lawyer fees and the overdue monthly fees.

I contacted the Burlington Chamber of Commerce and my Burlington MPP for guidance as I thought as a small business owner in Burlington, I might get support. Both said they couldn’t help me, but that I should get my own lawyer. That defeated the purpose as I obviously didn’t have the means for a lawyer. I decided to pay the overdue management fees and the lawyer fees they incurred and continue to pay my property management fees. This time proved to add stress and anguish to my already difficult situation.

Note that by this time, we were approaching December and a new issue surfaced. The building had shifted and the caulking around the front door needed to be redone. The water was getting in to the basement causing the blanket insulation to peel off the walls due to the moisture as the water was leaking into the basement which caused a moldy humid smell to come into the unit.

When I mentioned this issue to my landlord, he proceeded to tell me this was my responsibility as I was the tenant, to which I refused. I mean I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure than the building shifting is not a tenant’s responsibility.

Fast forward to February 2022 and nothing has been resolved. I am making do with my bucket hanging from my pipe in the private room

a makeshift  solution to the building shifting issue that my landlord came and corrected (thanks? I think…) and the wet basement walls, well we’ll stick to essential oils to mask the smell.

After 2 years since the issues started, and no resolution thus far, my lease was coming up for renewal so miraculously in May of 2023, a plumber came to the unit to resolve the leaking pipe and the solution was to seal the pipe. Yes… that was the solution.

The windows got sealed properly so that the water would stop coming in and we negotiated the new lease. I was willing to sign for another 5 years as I wanted the stability of my business to remain and I didn’t really know that this situation was not common and that I had been dealt the short end of the stick, being a first time small business store front owner.

I asked that a clause be added to my lease that stipulated that rent would always be paid on time if any repairs that needed prompt attention were taken care of right away. I sent my request and he didn’t respond until after the lease term renewal date had expired. He then responded by telling me the offer was off the table and that I had to relocate. I hadn’t signed the new lease in time and had to leave.

I was burnt out, emotionally, physically and spiritually drained by this relationship where I felt unsupported and quite honestly confused as hell.

I then made the decision to move. When I advised him that I would be moving he then proceeded to tell me I should have come back with a counter offer. Wait…what?

In the following months, as I prepared to move, we had to make time for engineers to come into the space so the building shifting issue could be resolved for the new tenants to not have to deal with it, be there for the appointments, sometimes come in earlier or have to be disrupted during our sessions with our clients.

The move came the last weekend of September and the new space has been a blessing. I wonder if this is the norm and I had a really bad experience or if the previous place was normal and I am beyond grateful for what I have now as I have nothing to compare it to

I am forever grateful for the clients that followed us to the new space and that never gave up on us, even if things were different and there was a need for adaptation. Not a lot of people like change, but sometimes change is required. Like the Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said (or so the internet tells me he did) “change is the only constant” …. and we have learned to embrace it.