‘It’s ruining people’s lives’: Amherst man forced to move into RV, denounces Cumberland County rental situation

AMHERST, NS — Dwayne Hawkes, age 56, now considers himself homeless after being forced to move into a caravan on a friend’s property.

Hawkes believes his situation poses a bigger problem with housing in his community. He says higher rents and fixed-term leases are driving long-term residents of Amherst, NS, from their homes in the city they grew up in.

A native of Amherst, Hawkes said he was forced out of a house he had been renting in the community since October 2021, after the fixed-term lease he signed in October 2022 expired in April 2023.

Hawkes said he paid his landlord rent for May on April 27, assuming his lease would roll over from month to month.

“He didn’t see it that way,” Hawkes said, referring to his landlord. “I paid rent for May and June, but on June 6 my power went out.”

Hawkes said the electricity cut was a result of a dispute with his landlord over whether utilities were included in his total rent payment or not.

‘Toronto housing prices’

With no power in his current unit and unable to find a suitable alternative in his price range, Hawkes was forced to quit his job and take himself and his four cats to a trailer on a friend’s property in Fort Lawrence.

“We live in a city of less than 10,000 people and we pay Toronto prices for housing,” Hawkes said.

“The cost of housing should be reduced to our wages; no one downtown is making $25, $30 an hour,” he said. “Regular Joe makes $14.50-$17 an hour, you can’t get by on that.”

A small claims court settlement of the dispute ruled in favor of Hawkes, ordering his landlord to pay him $1,066 and return power to the building.

However, a follow-up rent tribunal ruling confirmed that Hawkes would be evicted under the fixed-term lease and was ordered to vacate the Amherst property before July 17. He is appealing the decision.

“This hassle with a fixed deadline has to go. It ruins people’s lives,” he said.