We are being Evicted!!!!

StickyMobile home news

Google (or the dictionary, whichever you prefer) defines ‘evicted’ as being forced from a home or land. It’s now happening to the homeowners of Twin Pines Mobile Home Park!!!

When I say ‘homeowners’, I mean just that. We own our homes, we just don’t own the land, unfortunately, and that seems to give the Region of Peel and Peel Housing Corporation (PHC) (a Corporation mandated to provide affordable housing), the right to make us homeless.

Back in 1996 we tried to own the land, purchasing it from the owners of the Park, Mr. and Mrs. Pallet, but CMHC wouldn’t give us a mortgage, so we went looking for help. PHC agreed to purchase the Park to prevent the residents from being homeless, assisted by a $1,000,000 loan raised by the residents themselves.

Let’s look at the irony of that – in 1996 they purchased the Park to prevent homelessness and in 2026 they are going to make us homeless!!

You might say: “Nothing is permanent and you only rent the land, so you didn’t know how long you would stay there, anyway”. That may be true to a certain extent; however, when many residents purchased their homes they were assured that as the property was owned by PHC, whose mandate was to provide affordable housing, and when the councillor for this Ward, Maja Prentice, affirmed at each AGM that ‘as long as she was here, Twin Pines was here to stay’, the level of comfort was there that this would be a ‘forever home’.

I think at this point, it’s worth noting that we are NOT subsidized housing, we pay our taxes and rent for our piece of land. We pay for the upkeep and repairs of our homes. We pay for our utilities. We are a caring community, look out for our neighbours (not only in the Park but those adjacent to it) and we moved here with the idea of living out the rest of our lives in this tranquil space. In fact some have been here for over 60 years, having lived here since a child. The majority of our residents are seniors now, living on a pension. Twin Pines is manageable on a pension.

You might ask – why don’t we just move our homes to another park? There are many reasons. First and foremost, the majority of parks will not take older homes – they want you to purchase either a resale in their park or a new home. Secondly, due to additions having been made to our homes over the years, removing the wheels etc., it’s not possible to move them. Thirdly, residents are close to their doctors, dentists, grocery shopping, places of worship, hospitals, etc. (and as you know, it’s almost impossible to find a new doctor, which is very important for seniors).
Now the Region of Peel and Peel Housing Corporation have given us 2 options:

1) take $50,000 and leave. As a point of reference – to purchase another home in another park currently costs in the neighbourhood of $300,000 – $400,000. Rent in the Mississauga area for a 1 bedroom apartment (and most of our homes are 2 bedrooms) is $2,441.00. If you do the math, that will pay for approximately 1 3/4 years’ rent. Oh, and I forgot to mention, that some residents still have a mortgage on the home they purchased, which they will still have to continue to pay, even though the home has been demolished.

2) the 2nd option is a Portable Rental Housing Subsidy – this is a program requiring participation by private landlords and based on eligibility. It is for a period of 5 years. What if there are no private rentals available? Where will we go? What will happen after 5 years? Who knows? Guess we will be back paying market rent of $2441/month on a pension of $2100/month. Somehow that doesn’t seem to work!!!!

We have been given to the end of the year to decide and then 1 year to leave.

I have just one question to all the fortunate persons who own their own homes –

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE OFFERED YOU $50,000 FOR YOUR HOME AND TOLD YOU TO LEAVE?????

Telephone Scams

Uncategorized

Once again the ‘scammers’ are out in full force!  Now that income tax time has come around, they are working the phone lines claiming to be calling from the Canada Revenue Agency and demanding money for ‘supposedly’ back taxes owing.  This scam has been increasing in the past couple of months.  If you receive such calls, please report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.  Below is an article from the Canada Revenue Agency website to make our readers aware and to beware of any calls received asking for money or threatening legal action and/or arrest.

Beware of new telephone scams

Ottawa, Ontario, … The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is noting an increase in telephone scams where the caller claims to be from the CRA but is not, and is asking Canadians to beware—these calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft.

Some recent telephone scams involve threatening taxpayers or using aggressive and forceful language to scare them into paying fictitious debt to the CRA. Victims receive a phone call from a person claiming to work for the CRA and saying that taxes are owed. The caller requests immediate payment by credit card or convinces the victims to purchase a prepaid credit card and to call back immediately with the information. The taxpayer is often threatened with court charges, jail or deportation.

If you get such a call, hang up and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

These types of communication are not from the CRA. When the CRA calls you, it has established procedures in place to make sure your personal information is protected. If you want to confirm the authenticity of a CRA telephone number, call the CRA by using the numbers on its Telephone numbers page. The number for business-related calls is 1-800-959-5525. The number for calls about individual concerns is 1-800-959-8281.

To help you identify possible scams, use the following guidelines:

The CRA:

  • never requests prepaid credit cards;
  • never asks for information about your passport, health card, or driver’s licence;
  • never shares your taxpayer information with another person, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization; and
  • never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing your personal information on an answering machine.

When in doubt, ask yourself the following:

  • Is there a reason that the CRA may be calling? Do I have a tax balance outstanding?
  • Is the requester asking for information I would not include with my tax return?
  • Is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
  • How did the requester get my email address or telephone number?
  • Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?

The CRA has strong practices to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information. The confidence and trust that individuals and businesses have in the CRA is a cornerstone of Canada’s tax system. For more information about the security of taxpayer information and other examples of fraudulent communications, go to www.cra.gc.ca/security.

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

For information on scams or to report deceptive telemarketing contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online atwww.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or toll free at 1-888-495-8501.If you believe you may be the victim of fraud or have given personal or financial information unwittingly, contact your local police service.