Westwinds Communities may be in hot water as news starts to leak about their low income tenants allegedly being bullied, harassed and wrongfully evicted.

Low Income Housing tenant Amy Lee Goodison says the manager for Westwinds in Okotoks will have her and her two children on the streets unless something changes.

Goodison was blindsided when the Westwinds managers discontinued her lease based on assumptions she had illegal sub-tenants and was in violation of their lease.

"The Westwinds office in High River told me because my water usage had gone up, they were convinced that I had someone living there." she shares "They also said that they had reports of other people being here all time, which is correct, I do have my mom and my brother here a lot because I have health problems, and when I'm sick they help me with the kids."

Goodison says she was never made aware of these complaints until it came time to renew her lease, which is unfair and also against their contract at Westwinds.

Based on those terms, Goodison appealed the decision and proved that it was due to a medical condition, that her family was using more water. After winning the appeal, she went in to sign a new lease, this time for one month.  It was after her new lease was signed that Westwinds provided her with new conditions to their agreement.

"After I signed my lease, I received another letter stating that I had a number of new rules to follow, even though I had originally not even done anything wrong. One of these rules was that I am not allowed to have my mother or my brother here, which I couldn't agree with because I rely on them so much when I'm sick."

This new one month lease comes to an end at the end of September, and Goodison was told earlier this month that Westwinds communities would not be renewing her lease again, this time with evidence of being loud and partying, which her neighbours have written to say doesn't actually happen.

While Goodison is the only one threatened with homelessness at the moment, other tenants in the Westwinds communities building have come forward with complaints of alleged unfairness, forged evidence and documents. They say the management lacks compassion and the ability to communicate properly with the tenants.

Suzanne Macnab, also a low income housing tenant shares that tenants are terrified to stand up for themselves.

"So many people here are scared to come out and talk about their experiences because of who the manager is.  She will find a way to evict you, which she is very good at doing, or she just won't renew your lease, because technically that's legal." 

Macnab and her fiancee have been threatened with eviction after management believed they were running a business out of their rental unit, when an inspection found tool boxes stored in the couple's bedroom.

They say they are tired of being made to feel "less than human" stating "We're still people, just because we live in low income housing - doesn't mean our basic human rights are less than others."

More accusations which Macnab and Goodison say aren't true, stating there's no evidence to support these accusations.

Tenants believe this is all because Westwinds Communities has recently been awarded a government grant for renovations on their low income units, and need to get the tenants out.

Westwinds Communities refused any comment, stating that because of privacy laws protecting their tenants, they are unable to discuss any of the issues, but are aware of them.

The tenants have tried to take their array of problems and complaints to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service, but were told there's not much they can do as Westwinds Communities Low Income Housing is privately owned and operated.

The tenants have sent letters and complaints to the Westwinds Board of Directors only to find more running around and hassels, leaving many to call for laws and regulations to change for vulnerable renters.

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