Essex man sleeping in scooter after town's order to leave 'hazardous' apartment

His apartment contains black mould, caved-in ceilings and cracked walls — yet John Kobelnak is more than happy to call it home.

The 70-year-old Essex man has taken to sleeping in his electric mobility scooter after being issued an order by the town to immediately vacate his apartment. Now, he has been left to tackle a climate of rising rental rates and long wait lists for affordable housing.

The town deemed his apartment "hazardous to the health and safety" of people in and around it after complaints prompted an inspection on Feb. 24. The order also applies to the other two apartments on the upper floor and the dining hall on the lower level.

As for the landlord, the town's order requires him to "retain an Ontario Professional Engineer" who will review the building after appropriate fixes have been made and submit a report to the town's building department by March 24.

Kobelnak has lived in the unit at 18 Talbot Street North for about 12 years — and said with rental prices rapidly rising and no family in the area, he has nowhere else to go.

"You have to go out. You can't stay here. You have to get out now," said Kobelnak, recalling the words of the inspectors on Feb. 24.

He adds town officials informed him he's allowed to "come and go" for two weeks from that date to move his belongings out of the unit. For Kobelnak, "that ain't going to happen" since he doesn't have the money to afford a storage unit.

"Who's going to pay for all that? I can't pay for storage. No way," he said, adding town officials informed the tenants it would be the landlord's responsibility to provide alternate accommodations. "We already know he's not going to put us up."

Despite the town's order, most of Kobelnak's belongings remain stuffed in a room with wooden pillars precariously holding up part of the ceiling. That same room also contains a large hole in another part of the ceiling, caked in black mould.

You have to go out. You can't stay here. You have to get out now.- John Kobelnak recalls the inspectors' orders

When it's time for bed, the 70-year-old said he resorts to sleeping in his electric mobility scooter. But there's one thing that keeps Kobelnak returning to the apartment everyday.

"I've got a cat to look after. He's my family. He's like a kid — but he's my kid," he said, adding he doesn't have any friends or family in the area who can assist him with finding a proper place to sleep.

May be 'months' until securing affordable housing, says city

Essex officials said they received one complaint about the building from a tenant back in 2013, which concerned "smaller issues" that were quickly rectified by the landlord.

A second complaint was received by the town two weeks before the Feb. 24 inspection. According to the town, "significant issues in terms of structural framing, access to safe exits, and fire separation between units" required the building department to take swift action.

"As the organization responsible for enforcing the Ontario Building Code, we must balance the needs of multiple parties, but the protection of life and safety of the public is our number one priority," the town said in a statement to CBC News.

"While we understand the frustration of the tenant and difficulty in finding alternative housing, we believe the proper recourse and/or remedy would be a question for the Landlord Tenant Board."

Immediately after receiving the town's order to leave, Kobelnak submitted an application for subsidized housing to the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation — which the organization said it has expedited in light of his situation.

However, it still may be "months" before Kobelnak makes it to the top of the wait list, according to the city's executive director of housing Debbie Cercone, who points to a 50 per cent increase in the need for affordable housing since 2011.

According to Cercone, the wait list sits just shy of 6,000 people. Of that, more than 400 people have also had their applications expedited like Kobelnak.

"We used to be able to turn people around fairly quickly, within weeks," she said. "We are now months and years for wait times."

"Our one-bedrooms make up about half of the list. The wait can be fairly long for those particular units."

One option Kobelnak has, she said, is to seek emergency shelter. That would require him to relocate to Windsor — specifically, The Salvation Army.

"In terms of any other options, we have support agencies in the community that would help individuals who require help in searching for available units," said Cercone.

"They would be able to work with this gentleman in order to address his needs on the short-term if he required a unit immediately."

Rising rental rates keeping Kobelnak out of the market

Nolan Hennin, case work manager at the Essex MPP constituency office, said the number of rental units — and their values — on the private market has seen a significant increase throughout the past five years.

"I've seen bachelor's [apartments] as high as 1,200 dollars," he said, adding affordable housing stock is a "growing need" in Essex.

According to Hennin, the majority of people who come into the constituency office with housing problems are seniors who have occupied their unit "for a long time."

These photos were taken by CBC News during a visit to Kobelnak's apartment on Mar. 5:

"An individual is in a building. He's been in there for 20 years and is paying five to six hundred dollars a month rent. Maybe the building gets condemned or somebody wants to sell the building," said Hennin. "All of a sudden they need to find a new place."

"Then, they look into the market rate and they have to shell out another five to six hundred dollars for their rent."

In terms of options for people who end up in these situations, Hennin said many either stay with family or move into an emergency shelter, adding affordable housing stock is a "growing need" in Essex. 

"It's really about what their support network is like. Some people may have access to family who would take them in, whereas other people wouldn't — and then don't really have any other resource than trying to use a shelter service or something along those lines."

Kobelnak said his main source of income is old age security, which amounts to $1,500. He adds the search for affordable rental properties in Essex is a significant challenge with that income.

"It's $1,300 for a one-bedroom. Plus, you've got to pay for your heat and hydro," said Kobelnak. "I only get 15 [hundred]. What am I going to eat?"

Landlord says he bears no responsibility

Building owner Earl McCormick spoke with CBC News on Friday and acknowledged the ceiling needs to be completely redone. He added a contractor would be called in that same day to start repairing the roof.

"I'm hoping they'll have everything fixed where they wouldn't have to leave. It'll be all fixed, say, within a week or so. That way they can stay," said McCormick, adding he doesn't believe he bears "any responsibility" for the condition of the building.

When asked about Kobelnak's claim that he's only attended the apartment about five times in 12 years, McCormick didn't dispute that. However, he said weather conditions have made it difficult for him to apply fixes.

"I've always kept up on everything. You can't very well repair [the roof] ... in the winter. My hands were tied," he said.

McCormick adds the reason why he hasn't been able to fix the large hole in Kobelnak's storage room that appears to be caked in black mould — along with a nearby portion of the ceiling being held up by two, wooden planks — is because there's been too much stuff in the way.

"I'm getting prices [from contractors] to get it all fixed," McCormick told CBC News on Friday.

As for Kobelnak, he said all he can do now is take a "wait and see" approach, as he considers the possibility of facing legal action for continuing to spend time in his apartment.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody because it sucks. That's the truth of it."