Calgary residents cry foul after post-flood eviction

Some residents in a southwest Calgary neighbourhood that flooded last month say their landlord is using the disaster as an excuse to evict them to speed up a condo development.

Several homes along Macleod Trail, north of 25th Avenue southwest, were evacuated during the flooding.

It’s an area that has long been slated for urban renewal, as several lots have sat vacant for many years.

Vancouver-based Anthem Properties plans to build a mix-use development that will include residential towers, townhouses, office, retail space and a major grocery store.

Resident Jan Wiebe, who recently received her eviction notice, is upset about being forced out so quickly after the disaster.

"At first I felt abandoned, now I feel even worse. Where do you go in seven days when you just got back to your house," she said.

Rohana Rezel, another tenant, said the development company is treating people badly.

"I feel like I was asked to leave the place I was living in without proper notice, without any procedures being followed and they're just using the flood as a [cover]," he said.  

But in a statement to CBC News, company officials said they are going to great lengths to assist the tenants. They say the evictions are due to the flooding, not the upcoming redevelopment of the Erlton lands.

Rezel declined the company's offer to have his belongings removed from the property, officials said.

"Wiebe ... is the only other tenant on the Erlton lands who has contested our termination notice resulting from the flood. Her home is not safe for occupation and the landlord has returned her prorated rent for June and her security deposit, which she accepted," the company added.