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Occupants of second Our Home Kikinaw house evicted for not making mortgage payments

Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, which owns the building, asking city to forgive unpaid property taxes and water bills
our home kikinaw second house 335 juniper dr dec 12 2018
The Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation has asked the city to forgive unpaid property taxes and water bills on this property on Juniper Drive. The home was one of two built as part of the Our Home Kikinaw affordable housing initiative and the family chosen to live there has been evicted for not making mortgage payments to the TNRC.

Occupants of the second house that Our Home Kikinaw built on Juniper Drive – construction of which took about five years – were evicted in August and the Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, which owns the home,  is asking the City of Thompson to waive unpaid property taxes and water bills that it has been stuck with.

Modelled on Habitat for Humanity, Our Home Kikinaw selected families to occupy homes based on their composition, current living conditions, willingness to partner, level of community involvement and willingness to pay. The families selected were expected to contribute 500 hours of volunteer work in lieu of a down payment. The interest-free mortgages on the two homes that the project completed in Thompson are held by the Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (TNRC) and mortgage payments were set based on the family’s annual income and not the value of their home.

Our Home Kikinaw built its first house beginning in June 2010 and finished in March of the following year, with the family moving in April 1, 2011.

Construction of the second home began in September 2011. It was initially intended to become the residence of a couple and their five children, but they decided to walk away from the project in June 2014, so a second family was selected in April 2015. They moved in that December and lived there until they were kicked out this August for not complying by the terms of the partnership agreement with the TNRC.

Among the examples of that non-compliance, said a letter from TNRC board president Dee Chaboyer, were failure to pay biweekly mortgage payments, which resulted in the land title not being transferred to the family, which meant that property tax and water bills were not being issued in their name. They also didn’t get house insurance, so the TNRC had to to add the structure and its appliances to their own insurance policy.  The occupants also did not keep up with Manitoba Hydro payments.

“As a non-profit organization with limited funding, the TNRC does not have the financial resources to pay for any outstanding amounts owing on the property nor maintain the ongoing expenses of the property such as house insurance, property taxes and water bills,” said Chaboyer’s letter. “After many attempts to resolve the issues with the homeowners and lengthy discussions at the board meetings it was decided at the June 20, 2018 TNRC board meeting that the partnership agreement with the family be dissolved and that the homeowners be provided a notice of eviction. The house has since been vacated and secured by TNRC staff and discussions are currently taking place at the board table regarding future plans for the house. At this time the TNRC would like to respectfully request the City of Thompson’s consideration in waiving the outstanding property taxes and water bills for this property.”

The property was assessed as having a value of about $230,000, with the land valued at about $40,000 and the building at about $189,000.

The adjacent lots on which the two Our Home Kikinaw houses sit were previously vacant and were donated by the city as a way of supporting the affordable housing initiative back when it started.

 
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