2 cities, 2 buildings and 1 fugitive landlord leaves tenants in unlivable conditions

A wanted fugitive accused of being the ringleader of a grandparent scam has near tenants successful 2 southwestern Ontario cities with a big of attraction issues and nary 1 to crook to for help. 

Gareth West, 45, owns 2 flat buildings successful London and St. Thomas, according to spot records obtained by CBC News. He's been astatine large since U.S. authorities issued an arrest warrant for him in February for the alleged scam telephone centre helium operated retired of Montreal, defrauding American seniors retired of much than $21 cardinal US. 

Tenants astatine some of his buildings accidental they haven't been capable to get a clasp of West in months. In that time, they've dealt with sporadic powerfulness and water outages, garbage piling up, their units successful request of important repairs and now, without a landlord, they're unsure of what comes next. 

"We're benignant of near successful limbo. Gareth is missing successful enactment and cipher knows wherever helium is," Audrey Knight said, who lives at 14 Holland Street, a three-storey walk-up successful St. Thomas wherever she pays $1,900 successful rent each month.

"We have 1 email [contact] and it doesn't get replies, so we're conscionable trying to navigate wherever we spell adjacent and unluckily cipher truly has large answers for us," Knight said.

Despite residents keeping up with their monthly rent, power was chopped disconnected for respective hours connected Tuesday due to the fact that their landlord hasn't paid the hydro bills. Garbage besides hasn't been collected since April and immoderate residents person taken it upon themselves to bash tract attraction and cleanable the building, Knight said.   

"It's precise stressful erstwhile you don't cognize from 1 time to the adjacent if I'm going to person h2o oregon energy due to the fact that we paid each our bills," said Wendy Nichols, 70, who has lived astatine the gathering for astir six years. 

The residents said they won't beryllium paying rent until the concern is resolved, with immoderate saying efforts to marque their payments person been unsuccessful. A fistful of residents said their deposits weren't accepted, though others said the wealth was withdrawn from their accounts. 

The City of St. Thomas has issued spot standards orders, which allows bylaw to enforce the Residential Tenancies Act. Tenants believe the adjacent measurement volition beryllium the slope seizing the spot and it going connected merchantability again.

Property records amusement West purchased successful the gathering successful 2022 and Nichols said she is among the fewer residents who person met him. She said helium offered her a $20,000 buyout to determination elsewhere, truthful helium could renovate the spot and rise rent, which she declined. 

West has branded himself connected societal media arsenic a existent property builder and wellness enthusiast, and made respective Instagram videos lasting extracurricular his properties, including successful St. Thomas, where he'd springiness tips connected flipping properties and utilizing the "cash for keys" exemplary to renovict tenants.  

He and 25 others are facing wire fraud charges successful the U.S. for the alleged grandparent scam, and if West is convicted, helium could spend 40 years successful jail.

West's London, Ont. property

It's a akin concern for tenants implicit astatine his different rental connected 308 Egerton Street successful London. 

Residents astatine the flat person banded unneurotic successful efforts to hole their h2o heater but are told they mightiness person to incur those costs retired of pocket, which astir radical can't afford, said Cheyenne Lamieux, who has lived determination since September. 

"We've been without blistery h2o for astir a-week-and-half now, our garbage hasn't been taken retired successful implicit a month. There's garbage everywhere, immoderate of us have been keeping it successful our units due to the fact that we don't cognize what to bash with it. We're drowning successful it," said tenant Andrew Foster. 

"It's been a beauteous unsmooth situation, particularly since I person 2 young kids."

The tenants said they're frustrated due to the fact that they've been forced to take connected responsibilities they didn't sign up for. 

"We're conscionable expected to wage rent and that's wherefore idiosyncratic moves into an apartment, truthful they don't person to woody with the different worldly with having a location but we're worrying astir the garbage, writer and cleaning the building. It would beryllium bully to interest astir my ain flat and not each the different things that person travel with it," said Knight. 

City officials successful London and St. Thomas didn't respond to requests for remark successful clip for publication.