The tenants of a Duncan Street townhouse in Halifax are licking their wounds and facing eviction after throwing a party that has left them in a tricky legal situation.
The six roommates hosted a party last Saturday night that was packed “wall to wall, front to back,” Andrew Zwicker, one of the tenants, told Metro Halifax yesterday. He said things got out of hand when some of the 200 or more party-goers started tearing down the dry-wall. When the hosts tried to shut it down, they claim they were attacked
“I got a three inch gash in the side of my head, another one back here, and my eyebrow was split open… right down to my skull,” said Mario, a tenant who asked his last name not be used. He and two of his other roommates went to hospital that night, with injuries ranging from broken ribs to stab wounds.
Both the landlord and the tenants estimate the damages cost about a few thousand dollars. The question now is who will pay, since the current tenants have no official lease agreement with the landlord.
“We have to leave,” Zwicker said. “(The landlord) said get your damages fixed and get out.”
According to the landlord, the current tenants have already been evicted.
“I never rented to them…I kind of inherited them,” said Steve Metledge.
The current tenants, he said, came to the house one-by-one over the past several months, as past tenants made deals under-the-table to sublet without his knowledge. He said he served the current tenants with an eviction notice a few weeks ago, shortly after discovering the dealings. The current tenants, however, say all their dealings were done directly with Metledge.
“We never were put on a lease,” Mario said. “(Metledge) took money from us individually and gave us individual receipts.”
Metledge said the matter could be settled as early as next week, at an emergency hearing before the provincial Residential Tenancies Board.
Halifax Regional Police arrested one party-goer for public intoxication.
