Pregnant Maple Ridge woman says strata’s 55+ change is forcing her out

A pregnant woman in Maple Ridge says her strata council plans to force her out of her building after voting to become a 55+ complex.

The woman’s story comes after the B.C. government recently made changes around housing age restrictions.

Razan Talebian tells CityNews she and her husband bought their unit late last year. Initially, she says the complex was limited to people who were 35 and older. However, after changes brought in by the government last year, that changed, allowing the couple to finally put in an offer and finalize the purchase.

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The pair was able to spend a few months in their home. But then came word that their strata was going to hold a vote to make the complex 55+.

“So me, I’m thinking, ‘I’m so grateful that I got pregnant before this vote change,’ but there’s nothing online telling me that I’m fine. I’m searching for hours and hours,” she recalled.

Talebian says at a special general meeting this month, she had an opportunity to share her concerns with others in the building.

“I said, ‘What does this mean for my future children?’ And somebody said to me, ‘Well you have to put your house up for sale,'” she said, adding she had told someone on council she was pregnant at the time.

Ultimately, Talebian says council voted to bring in the age restriction, leaving her in a tough spot.

“They’re putting me in a position where I have to choose over home security or lifetime, possibly, debt because of the market changing right now … or having my child. They’re putting me in a very awkward position,” Talebian told CityNews.

The B.C. government’s website says that strata corporations may have bylaws that limit the age of owners, tenants, and occupants to 55 and older. There are also provincially mandated exemptions, one of which applies to “all persons who were lawfully residing in the unit before the bylaw was passed.”

However, this doesn’t apply to Talebian’s situation.

“It doesn’t really seem like the government has put the proper information out there to make me feel protected or know the information so I don’t have to spend hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars on this legal advice that I need to get now,” she explained.

‘Strata council needs to give their head a shake’: B.C. housing minister

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon has indicated stratas are entitled to make this kind of age restriction change. However, he feels the strata in this case should reconsider its decision.

“First off, we’re in a housing crisis. We know families need housing. In my opinion, this strata council needs to give their head a shake. Here you have a young family that’s already living in the house. To change the rules to not allow this person to continue to stay with a child, I think they need to rethink their decision,” he said Monday.

“When we made the changes, we aligned it with the human rights code, we ensured that the seniors advocate recommendation of leaving 55+ was represented in the legislation. We haven’t seen many stratas actually make the move to this direction, but it has real impacts on people and this is a clear example of it. In this case, I think strata council needs to rethink their decision and allow this young person to keep their child with them.”

Kahlon doesn’t believe this was an oversight, saying advice was closely followed to ensure the human rights code was followed.

“Again, it’s a shame that the strata council didn’t think through the implications on the residents when they made this decision and now I think they need to modify that to ensure this family can stay in the unit,” he said.

In a statement to CityNews, the company that provides strata management services to Talebian’s strata says it would not comment on the issues around the recently approved age restriction change. However, it did say it would be recommending the corporation seek legal advice “regarding this extremely complicated situation.”

Meanwhile, though Talebian says she’d like to stay in her home, she feels everything has changed.

“[I felt] humiliated, discriminated. Even [if I] find out that I’m allowed to stay here with my future babies — I’m hoping for that — I don’t feel wanted here. So it’s really changed the experience of being pregnant right now,” she said.

With files from Liza Yuzda