Just more than a week after the City of Leduc told 150 Bellavera Green condo residents to be out of their homes by the end of March because of "critical life-safety concerns," it appears as though the order may not be final.
At a receivership hearing held Friday morning, 10 lawyers for different affected residents said the priority must be fixing the building so that people can continue living there. A receiver has been appointed to oversee upgrades and an appeal of the evacuation order has been filed.
"I'm hopeful that the residents will look at today's development in a positive way," said Jeremy Hockin, a lawyer representing the Condo Board.
Not all residents do, though, in part because the repairs that are needed could come with a $1 million dollar price tag. Some are concerned that the cost will only get added onto their mortgages for homes which they can't even live in.
"I'm the one that has to foot the bill for what looks like corporate fraud," said Darryl Short. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe get a second job to try and pay a mortgage."
Others simply want nothing more to do with the property.
"People have moved and if they fix these immediate problems over the next few weeks and say ok you can move back, who's going to move back?" said condo board member, Wayne Beaton. "They've been burnt once, they're not going to come back."
Many of those affected are owed a lot of money and expect years of litigation. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of outstanding questions. The receivership hearing will try to answer some of those, including how the safety upgrades will be paid. Some lawyers also describe a complex series of transactions involving lenders, lawyers, developers and builders that many worry may have been fraudulent. Tens of millions of dollars are believed to be at stake.
Neither the condo developer, who spoke exclusively to Global News a day earlier, nor his lawyer appeared in Friday's receivership hearing.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News
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