Sault tenant caught in legal battle over home owned by out-of-town owner

Maliyah Walls has started paying rent to a new landlord, but it’s not the landlord: Instead, she’s been ordered to pay a mortgage lender who claims the landlord is now in default.

It all started on May 16, when an employee of Spectrum Property Management showed up at her residence on Morin Street, claiming that the owner of the property – 13756327 Canada Inc. – had not paid the mortgage and could potentially repossess the house.

“He was wearing a bulletproof vest,” Walls said. “It was super weird.”

A few days later, she received what is called a tenancy bond notice, ordering her to pay Spectrum the $1,950 monthly rent on behalf of mortgage lender Olympia Trust going forward.

It’s just the latest glitch in Walls’ rental woes since she moved into her two-story rental home in April 2022. The home didn’t have a working heating system during its first winter there- down. There was standing water in the basement last summer which led to mold growth and fungus sprouting through the floor due to a faulty sump pump. Every number, Walls said SooTodayit took weeks, if not months, for CPM Properties to rectify.

A contractor employed by CPM Properties informed Walls that no work was being done on his home until he was paid by the company for previous work.

“I have an upstairs door that’s coming off the hinges. The back door is broken. My dishwasher is broken,” Walls said. “I have all this, and we have to wait for this guy to get paid – and he’s not getting paid, so the job isn’t done.”

Walls’ less-than-desirable rental experience prompted her to file two separate claims with the Landlord and Tenant Commission against the numbered company. Files retrieved by SooToday revealed that 13756327 Canada Inc. is a Hamilton-based company that names Nels Moxness as its sole director.

His name may tell you something SooToday readers: Moxness is also co-director of CPM Properties alongside Mathew Moxness, a relative believed to be his son.

At one time, 13756327 Canada Inc. owned seven properties in the Sault; these days, he claims five properties locally, including an empty lot where a vacant, boarded-up house once stood at 267 Huron Street — the same vacant house where two people died following a fire last December.

The numbered business was found guilty in provincial offenses court on March 26 and fined $50,000 for failing to comply with a remedy order issued by a bylaw enforcement officer municipal on the Huron Street property.

Moxness has since filed both a notice of appeal of the conviction and an extension of the appeal deadline with the Ontario Court of Justice. But a recent note from Ontario Court Justice John Condon requested that the appellant file an amended notice “in the absence of a valid and understandable ground for appeal” by June 14.

The company led by Moxness was also found guilty and fined $10,000 on March 26 for failing to comply with a repair order issued at 365 North Street for a vacant building charge under of the city’s Land Standards Bylaw, according to information provided by the Provincial Offenses Act office. .

The trial for the charges at 267 Huron Street and 365 North Street proceeded without representation from the landlord, although a number of people represented the numbered company in previous court appearances.

A week before the Provincial Offenses Court trial, Mathew Moxness, co-director of CPM Properties, appeared before city council to seek approval for a rezoning application that would pave the way for a five-story apartment complex of 47 housing units on the former Red Cross property. , located at 105, rue Allard.

City Attorney Karen Fields warned council that the denial of the rezoning request could be appealed on the grounds that it would not be fair and open-minded, or that it would be biased towards the applicant. An appeal would lead to an Ontario Land Court hearing, the city’s lawyer added, which could require significant resources at city hall.

Council reluctantly approved the application, but not without some choice words for the developer due to a number of vacant and boarded-up homes and abandoned properties in the city. Mathew Moxness downplayed his background as a real estate investor in Sault, while disdaining Sault for the neighborhoods in which he and Nels Moxness – director of at least 25 numbered companies owning more than 130 properties locally – chose to buy real estate. .

“We’ve faced some challenges, and I don’t think anyone can deny that certain areas of the city are facing challenges in terms of homelessness, drugs and other issues – and that’s really all I say,” Mathew Moxness told the city council. the weather.

Council’s approval of the rezoning request earlier this year disconcerted many residents, including Walls. “They shouldn’t be responsible for anything. That’s my personal opinion,” Walls said of CPM Properties.

The numbered company that owns his Morin Street home is also facing a civil suit, alongside its director, Nels Moxness, for allegedly defaulting on a $240,000 loan taken out against the property in June 2023, according to a statement of claim filed on behalf of Olympia Trust in the Ontario Superior Court last month.

The plaintiffs are seeking repayment of the loan and possession of the property, in addition to interest and legal costs. The total owed on the mortgage as of April 4 was $243,524, according to court documents.

The allegations have not been tested in court and no statement of defense has yet been filed. A message left for Nels Moxness by SooToday Wednesday was not returned.

Olympia Trust has now begun collecting monthly rent from Walls’ home, which she and her boyfriend worked to maintain in CPM Properties’ absence. “I’m just shocked that we have more interest in keeping it in good condition when it’s not even ours – they’re the ones who put money into it and actually invested in this property,” he said. Walls said. “We do a lot for that, because we love where we live. We really do.

“It’s just unfortunate that we’re in these circumstances.”

On Wednesday evening, a real estate agent working on behalf of the owner advised Walls that his rental home be listed on the market in an effort to attract potential buyers.