News

When the province's Homeowners Protection Office approved $650,000 for a condo upgrade of The Swans last fall, residents of the Victoria apartment building were delighted and relieved.

Eight months later, the building is in the midst of a major facelift, the contractor is demanding payment, there's still no sign of the provincial money and those same residents are worried. "If the contractor doesn't get paid, people could lose their homes," said 79-year-old Cynthia Goff, who has lived in the building with her husband Raymond for six years. "If we have to pay this money ourselves, we're going to lose our home."

Eight of the building's 16 strata owners received HPO approval last October for loans of about $83,000 each to cover their share of the renovation's estimated $1.3-million tab. The other eight owners were deemed ineligible based on need and must pay the $83,000 out of their own pockets.

Based on written approval from the province, the strata council put the project out to tender, hired a contractor and submitted plans to the government for approval.

Work started in May and the deadline for the first round of payments is today at 4 p.m., but strata council president Jeff Taylor said yesterday that HPO officials have informed him there's no money in the agency's coffers. "They've said, 'You're still approved but we don't have money for you right now,' " said Mr. Taylor, who also received HPO funding approval. "They can't give us a time frame as to when we can get our money."

Once the deadline passes, the contractor will have the legal right to place liens on individual properties or simply stop work until payments are forthcoming.

"As president of the corporation, I may end up having to place a lien on my own property," Mr. Taylor said, glancing at a row of crumbling, mould-ravaged 2-by-6 studs on the ground floor. "There's a contract with the builder here and it needs to be fulfilled or we will be in breach of contract."

NDP Leader Carole James held a brief news conference to publicize the residents' plight yesterday.

Standing outside the building, in her home riding of Victoria Beacon-Hill, Ms. James called on Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman to support other homeowners across B.C. whose loan applications are being denied because the HPO has run out of money.

Later, Ms. James noted that the HPO's leaky-condo loan program is funded by a levy from new condo construction, a source of funding that has dried up during the global recession.

"It really points to bad management when you are only funding programs based on what the economy is doing," Ms. James said.

Ms. Goff and her husband, who survive on a fixed income, said an HPO manager assured them last week that funding for The Swans is at the top of the priority list.

"It's supposed to be in the bank by 4 p.m. [this] afternoon, but he said it could be a little late," Ms. Goff said. "We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed. At our age it's a terrible worry."

Messages to the HPO head office in Vancouver were not returned yesterday. Mr. Coleman did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Taylor said it's almost impossible to sell a leaky condo, and the rock-bottom market has robbed many residents of the equity they need to secure a bank loan for the renovations.

"We tried to sell it. Realtors won't touch a leaky condo until it's been fixed," he said. "There's no way I can get a bank loan."