During the month of June, Saskatoon experienced extremely heavy rainfall. Shortly after the rain, my basement suite became extremely humid (100% humidity) and began to smell like mold, mildew, and (cat) urine. EPM (Elite Property Management) was informed of this, among other issues, beginning mid June. EPM's response to the issue was that humidity was normal in a basement during the summer, and they attributed the urine smell to a cat that previously lived in the suite before myself. No attempt at resolution was ever made on their behalf, even when I contacted EPM twice a week for a period of time. There is mold in multiple parts of the suite, which again they denied even though I have photographic proof plus many eye witnesses, not only to the mold, but also to unbearable conditions within the suite. I considered this to be a health and safety issue, causing respiratory issues including sore throat and violent coughing, as well as headaches (something that is quite unusual for me). I decided on June 25th to move out, while still keeping my belongings in the suite. I would periodically stop by to check up on the situation, which only seemed to degrade in the months of July and August. The humidity never dissipated, and EPM refused to install a dehumidifier or work on removing smells of urine. They even had the audacity to say the smells were coming from garbage; my garbage cans were empty and I was not living in the suite at the time!! The rugs were constantly damp, walking on them with or without socks was very uncomfortable. The furniture was also damp to the touch. It is such an old house that there may possibly be cracks in the foundation, which is a common occurrence.
There were often leaks in the roof of my bathroom and kitchen, which seemed to randomly drip. I know the upstairs occupant and she has told me she also has leaks in her roof, which leads me to believe water may be seeping through the walls and creating mold. The house is not sealed properly.
There are also mice present every spring and fall, and until recently I always had my requests for an exterminator ignored. It seemed to be our responsiblity to set mice traps and dispose of them, both upstairs and downstairs occupants. I'd often find rodent feces in my cupboards and especially in my pantry. I've had to throw out a good amount of food that they chewed through.
On August 26 (I believe it was that day, time unknown) EPM entered my suite with absolutely no permission, and they did not even attempt to contact me in any capacity whatsoever. They plugged a large dehumidifier and fan into my power outlets, which I absolutely did not give them permission to use; I consider that theft. Had they asked (before they illegally entered my suite) I'd have refused any request to use my power.
On this same day they also held a showing, and did not contact me within four hours, nor left me a letter of notice that they had shown the suite, which is in direct violation of the contract I had signed with them.
The four days before I was scheduled to move out, EPM contracted someone to do roofing work on the house. The roofer set up a very large and obstructive scaffolding DIRECTLY in front of the only door exiting my suite; I was unable to move my larger furniture. When I brought this to the attention of EPM, they said they'll "see if they can have it moved soon". It took over 48 hours from when I brought it to their attention to have it moved so I could move my furniture from the suite. This was very disruptive to my schedule and once again created a stressful situation for me that should never have happened in the first place. read more