A Halifax tenant who was evicted from her Gottingen Street apartment last year is waiting to hear how the Residential Tenancy Board will rule against her former landlord.

Christina Murray was one of the people living at 2179 Gottingen St. in October, when the city declared the property to be unsafe and evicted the tenants.

The property's registered owner is Hasan Yildiz, who is also listed as the owner of eight properties in Halifax. Yildiz did not appear at Thursday's hearing into Murray's complaint.

Prior to the October eviction, inspectors toured the structure and found deficiencies with the wiring, structural problems and fire code issues.

"Horrible," Murray said Thursday in describing her old room. "It's like never cleaned. You couldn't use the washroom. The toilet overflowed with feces."

Dalhousie Legal Aid helped Murray prepare her complaint to the Tenancy Board.

"Low income tenants in particular don't have the resources to gather evidence to fully pursue a tenancy complaint and we intervene in situations like this because regardless of someone's income status they deserve access to justice," Evan Coole said in explaining his involvement in Murray's case.

He is asking for $25,000 in compensation for his client.

"Really, what we're looking to get out of this is send a message that landlords can't get away with treating their tenants like this," said Coole.

Coole spent about an hour explaining Murray's complaint to the officer hearing the case. She indicated she will take the full 14 days allowed under the law before announcing a decision.

Murray is glad she made the complaint.

"I didn't realize how bad it really was, because you're living for the moment in there, just trying to get by," she said. "I knew it was bad. I don't know why I stayed."

Murray said she is now living in a much better place.

"Don't let your life get stuck on stupid like I did," she said.