HOUSING CRISIS: Senior facing homelessness after housing rental scam
A woman in Kelowna is facing homelessness after falling victim to a housing scam.
Kimberley Robinson, 60, has until the end of the month to find a place to live or she’ll be living in her car or on the street. She is currently waiting to hear back from local shelters to see if a space is available.
“I’ve spent the month looking everywhere, posting on social media, phoning BC Housing constantly and now time is running out and I’m terrified,” she said. “I don’t know what to do, my anxiety is off the charts,” she said.
Robinson is on disability and has a 10-year-old dog. She was living in a one-bedroom house at Lake Okanagan Resort that was a temporary off-season rental. When that agreement came to an end, she found another place to rent in Kelowna and moved in on May 1, but something unexpected happened.
“A lady was showing this place to a bunch of people but she let me have it,” Robinson said. “She gave me a tenancy agreement, disability paid my pet deposit and I paid my damage deposit and moved in.”
At the beginning of this month a man showed up at the property.
“He said he is the real owner and I had to get out, I started crying,” she said. “I wasn’t going to get my damage deposit back and he let me stay for this month but my time is running out.”
Robinson doesn’t know where the woman who initially rented her the house is now, but there were some clues something wasn’t right.
“She has a bunch of names on the mail that has been coming here for her and when I first rented from her she said her name on the agreement was different than her Facebook name because she was being stalked,” Robinson said. “At one point the cops came by looking for her but I didn’t know what it was about.”
Robinson moved to Kelowna from Alberta in 2013 and has a few family members who live in Ontario. She used to be a care aide and did some work at shelters.
“I’ve worked most of my life, I’d done shelter work since 2009 and was a care aide for awhile but I had to manhandle a patient when he had a stroke and hurt my back.”
Robinson said she lives minimally financially and doesn’t require much, but the income she makes on disability doesn’t come close to the costs of the room rentals she’s found in Kelowna. She’s been on the housing list with BC Housing for six years.
“I’ve been calling BC Housing constantly and extended my search criteria for all BC except the Lower Mainland and Prince George,” Robinson said. “You’d think with my age and disability they’d find something for me.”
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She is currently waiting to hear back from shelters, specifically a woman’s shelter where drug use isn’t allowed and where she’ll feel safe.
“I can’t just up and go (leave Kelowna), it isn’t feasible, I wouldn’t have the money for gas and motels,” she said. “Where am I supposed to go? If I can’t get into a shelter I’ll be living on the street.”
Robinson is living on very little for groceries and relying on the local food bank to get by.
“My pantry is depleted, I don’t even have a can of beans. Food Banks are overloaded and I understand that and I’m grateful for what I get.”
READ MORE: Demand for food doubles in three years at Central Okanagan food banks
Robinson can afford $700 per month for a rental room and can be contacted here.
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