‘It was a dead end’: More tenants come forward about absentee Winnipeg landlord

More concerns are being raised about a Winnipeg landlord renting what some claim are low-quality rentals at high prices creating problems for vulnerable tenants, but the landlord says Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch is the body to rule on concerns tenants have brought forward about the properties.

Last week, CityNews reported on Winnipeg mother Samantha Zebrasky’s experience with Ember Realty Group Ltd. after she says the landlord used fake ads to deceive her and tried to put her and her family into a home she says was in a state of disrepair.

Now, others have come forward to share their experiences of rental woes, saying something must be done to prevent what they claim is predatory behaviour by the landlord who they allege is more than willing to take cash for rentals, but is absent when there’s work to be done. 

“It was a dead-end,” said Janet Parliament, describing what it was like trying to get help from the Winnipeg landlord and property management company during her tenancy, which started in April 2024.

Parliament and her daughter are now out of the troubled suite on Lansdowne Ave. which she leased under the promises of extensive repair and cleaning, as there were some issues with the place from the start.

“She had to get maintenance to take the screws out of the door, because it was screwed shut,” she said. “There were boards on the front window. There was a huge mess inside and she had told me: ‘It’ll be clean. It’ll be painted. It’ll be fixed when you move in.’”

However, when she actually started living in the residence, problems with the property remained, including a flooded ceiling in the kitchen, but instead of responding to the issue quickly, Parliament says emails and requests for repairs were ignored.

“I’m a very upfront person. I went to Ember and said: ‘Look, my ceiling has been leaking every night and it’s not just leaking, it’s flooding,’” but even her in-person request went unanswered, a person at the office saying: ‘You just have to wait for maintenance.’” 

It was only after saying her ceiling was caving in, did she get a response, eventually being told it was plugged fixtures upstairs that resulted in the water in her suite. 

“So I was getting disgusting toilet and sewer water leaking into my kitchen,” she said, adding she feels the conditions at the apartment were contributing to making her ill, as she lives with a compromised immune system. 

“Then, the flooding got worse,” she said.

Within days, she claims the water was pouring out of the ceiling and into the basement where the master bedroom is located, forcing her to shut off water to the house, or see her property destroyed. 

In a video sent to CityNews shot by Parliament’s partner, a bucket collects water from what appears to be a large hole covered with drywall in the kitchen, the ceiling badly stained.

“You want a long-term tenant there, then you need to fix things,” she said.  

Information from the City of Winnipeg Licensing and Bylaw Enforcement indicates, generally speaking, it’s been involved in all of the Ember Realty properties listed for rent on the firm’s site, with five cases currently open. 

CityNews spoke with Daniel Unruh, one of the listed directors of Ember Realty Group Ltd. on Wednesday, and said if there’s a breakdown on repairs between the landlord and tenant, it’s there’s bodies to deal with the matter. 

“If the tenant has maintenance issues and they can’t sort it out with the landlord, then it’s absolutely the RTB’s responsibility to issue an order,” he said.

However, when asked specifically why several tenants have had to resort to the RTB to get repairs done, instead of Ember doing the repairs voluntarily, he failed to answer, declining to answer further questions on camera. 

Parliament says she hopes awareness is brought to Ember’s behaviour and they properly fix their homes.

Over the course of CityNews’ reporting, Ember Realty’s website has also experienced several changes, as while there were numerous rental listings on the site earlier this month, all of them appear to have been removed. 

Other attempts to reach officials with Ember Realty have gone unanswered.