For rent: frustration, aggravation

For nearly three years, Quincy Houdayer and Avery Helm repeatedly pressed their landlord to address plumbing failures, water damage and other maintenance problems at their West Broadway apartment, with records showing some issues persisted until the couple turned to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Emails and text messages between the tenants, Clearwater Management and the RTB reviewed by the Free Press document recurring leaks and flooding, periods without heat or hot water, concerns about mould and basement conditions and repeated followups from the couple seeking repairs.

“Most of the experiences we’ve had with them can be boiled down to, like, they either are very dismissive about it, they act like it’s not their problem… or they will just fully, blatantly ignore you,” Helm said, adding that the only way to get Clearwater to respond was to threaten going to the RTB, a provincial government agency.

RTB data obtained by the Free Press also shows 13 orders involving the three-building complex at 193-197 Furby St. in 2026 alone. All but one favoured the tenant, while the remaining order ruled in favour of both the tenant and landlord on different items.

One order, dated May 6, noted the landlord had failed to complete repairs required under a previous order. The RTB did not provide details about the specific repairs or disputes involved in the orders.

The latest problem left Houdayer, Helm and other tenants at the complex without hot water for about a week in late September.

Hot water was restored Sept. 30, but only after what residents described as a chaotic repair effort that included an attempt to install used tanks that leaked once hooked up.

“Most of the experiences we’ve had with them can be boiled down to, like, they either are very dismissive about it, they act like it’s not their problem… or they will just fully, blatantly ignore you.”

One longtime tenant, who requested anonymity because she fears repercussions from management, said a plumber determined the existing hot-water tanks needed to be replaced.

She said work stopped before the weekend because Clearwater would not pay additional weekend labour costs, leaving tenants without hot water for several more days.

“All of the hot water tanks were sitting in the basement, all the pipes and everything, everything that needed to be done was all there,” she said. “They just refused to pay for the weekend.”

When work resumed, replacement tanks brought into the building had large orange Xs painted on them. Tenants were told the markings indicated scratches or dents and the tanks were otherwise in working order.

Video reviewed by the Free Press shows water pouring from one of the tanks after it was hooked up, including near electrical connections.

Text messages reviewed by the Free Press show Rahim Mirza, a Winnipeg realtor who residents say has become one of their primary contacts for Clearwater over the past six months, responding by saying the repair was close to $10,000, and that tenants “need to take it easy a bit.”

Mirza’s involvement comes as he faces an unrelated Manitoba Securities Commission proceeding that includes allegations he provided third-party property-management services despite not being registered to do so. The allegations have not been proven.

He was previously found by the commission to have committed professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a registrant in an unrelated real-estate matter and had his registration suspended for 30 days.

Mirza agreed to speak only off the record when contacted by the Free Press. He said he would provide a formal statement from Clearwater after talking to several people, but none was received. There was no response to multiple attempts for further comment. Attempts to contact the company separately were unsuccessful.

For Houdayer and Helm, the problems began before they had even moved into the complex in November 2023.

Records show holes and exposed plumbing remained in their bathroom despite assurances repairs would be completed by their move-in date. Within weeks, water was leaking through the ceiling and damaging walls in both the bathroom and adjoining bedroom.

“I had to explain that (water) was coming out of the light fixture in the ceiling and they said, ‘We’ll be there in half an hour.’”

The couple repeatedly contacted Clearwater before turning to the RTB. After months of correspondence and an RTB inspection, their rent was redirected to the branch in March 2024. They said Clearwater completed more substantial repairs later that month.

But the plumbing problems returned.

The correspondence documents that water was leaking through a bathroom light fixture in October 2024. In March 2025, water poured through the bathroom ceiling for more than two hours before the couple called 311 and the city’s water service was shut off.

Repairs were completed the following month, only for the bathroom to flood again days later.

“I had to explain that it was coming out of the light fixture in the ceiling and they said, ‘We’ll be there in half an hour,’” Helm said of another call to 311.

By August 2025, the couple reported water behind a bathroom wall, bubbling paint and what they described as mould and small mushrooms growing near an area repeatedly affected by moisture.

The records show maintenance concerns continued into 2026, including recurring hot-water outages and complaints involving heating, basement conditions, building security and laundry facilities.

Tenant Aga Wyskwar, who moved into the complex in 2024, described similar difficulty getting responses from management.

“Nothing gets answered. I get absolutely zero. Nothing, no answer,” she said. “It’s like I don’t exist.”

Wyskwar has previously taken Clearwater to the RTB over rent she says she was charged above the amount established for her former basement apartment and said she recovered money she had overpaid after the branch became involved.

She is now dealing with a repair order dating to August. Wyskwar said the RTB told her Clearwater claimed she had been difficult to reach and was refusing access for repairs.

Wyskwar disputes those claims and has provided the RTB with evidence she says shows she has neither denied access nor been unresponsive. She also contacted Clearwater seeking an explanation but said she received no response.

“Nothing gets answered. I get absolutely zero. Nothing, no answer… It’s like I don’t exist.”

In a statement to the Free Press, the RTB said it “encourages tenants to first discuss repair concerns with their landlord.”

“If concerns remain unresolved, tenants may submit a Tenant’s Request for Repairs to the RTB,” the statement said. “The Branch will review the request, gather information from the parties, and determine whether further action is required. Where appropriate, the RTB may issue a Repair Order requiring work to be completed within a specified time frame. The RTB monitors compliance with its orders and has additional enforcement tools available where necessary. Each matter is assessed on its own facts and circumstances.”

The Free Press also spoke with Mintu Sandhu, Manitoba’s Minister of Public Service Delivery, who is also responsible for the RTB.

“I am listening to renters, and that’s my focus, that’s my highest priority,” Sandhu said. “This is from the premier as well, and this is also my priority to my department, to make sure there’s a solution.

Other concerns documented by tenants on Furby include periods without heat, overflowing garbage, missing recycling bins, exterior lighting and the condition of common areas.

Houdayer and Helm said a basement storage area where residents had previously found discarded needles, garbage and an unconscious person was boarded shut after complaints rather than cleaned out. An RTB case on that has been closed as tenants haven’t been able to check the state of it since it was boarded and locked up.

They also said their apartment became so cold during a heating outage last winter that they resorted to running their oven for warmth while waiting several days for the problem to be addressed.

The mounting issues at the apartment complex highlight growing frustrations for renters, who say the RTB is giving the upper hand to landlords and leaving tenants — literally — in the cold.

Melissa Kuhn thought she had already made the responsible choice.

Nearly five years ago, she and her husband left a newer two-bedroom apartment and moved into a smaller, older one-bedroom unit at 277 Wellington Cres. after facing a rent increase they felt they could no longer afford.

“I was tired of living paycheque to paycheque, and I needed to change that,” the 35-year-old said. “So one of the biggest ways I could do that was to move into a smaller, cheaper rental unit.”

Now, Kuhn is wondering how much smaller she can go.

Tenants at the Rivard Group-managed building received notices Sept. 30 seeking above-guideline rent increases of roughly 10 to 12 per cent, depending on unit size. For Kuhn, the proposed increase amounts to another $172 a month, pushing her rent from about $1,600 to nearly $1,800.

The Free Press has reached out to Rivard for comment.

That has Kuhn once again looking at what she can give up to get her housing costs down — a balcony, a second bathroom or other amenities she increasingly considers luxuries.

“You are in business, yes, but it’s not just a business. You are in the business of housing people.”

But looking at cheaper apartments has also left her confronting another question: if she needs to move into a less-expensive unit to make the numbers work, what happened to the person who could afford to live there before her?

“Who was here before? Who was priced out of this unit?” Kuhn said. “Where did they go? Because they have to go somewhere for me to get into this.”

It is a question she increasingly asks herself.

“I’m 35 years old. I’ve been to university. I work for the government, and I have been priced out of buying a home,” she said.

Kuhn said she and other tenants have collectively objected to the proposed increase through the RTB and are seeking more information about the costs Rivard is asking tenants to absorb.

“Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand that everything costs more than what it used to,” she said. “You are in business, yes, but it’s not just a business. You are in the business of housing people.”

Last month, the Free Press reported tenants at eight Winnipeg apartment buildings owned by Alberta-based Wingspan Properties were fighting proposed increases ranging from 54 to 125 per cent. Manitoba’s annual rent increase guideline is 1.8 per cent for 2026 and will rise to three per cent in 2027.

Dozens of Wingspan tenants protested outside Premier Wab Kinew’s constituency office, arguing they should be able to challenge the increases before being required to pay them. Some tenants have already moved because they feared they could not afford the higher rents, while others face increases scheduled to take effect as early as Nov. 1.

The tenants argue the increases do not reflect capital expenditures or higher operating costs that would justify such large hikes. Landlords can apply to the RTB for increases above the annual guideline based such factors.

“The injustice to me is that they haven’t been given the opportunity to fight this, challenge it, and stay in their homes,” said Aidan Wilson, a tenant at 152-154 Maryland St. who is challenging his own increase.

Sandhu said he’s now met with the West Broadway Tenant Committee twice since their complaints surfaced.

The committee wasn’t left with any firm commitments.

“Seeing as the rent increases in at least three of the buildings are slated to take effect Nov. 1, no news is very bad news, indeed,” said Maggie A. Clark, an organizer with the committee.

Or as Wilson puts it: “It gives me great concern that every day we hear nothing is another day closer to the rent going up on this building.”

Kinew, who has been questioned multiple times by Free Press reporters on the concerns of tenants, has said broader protections are coming once Bill 13 passes in the Manitoba legislature. The legislation — The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act — proposes the largest expansion of renter protections and rent-control regulations in decades and the legislation aims to curb high rent increases and increase accountability for landlords.

Kinew has said the opposition Progressive Conservatives are blocking the bill, but both the Tories and tenants say regulatory changes, including freezing rent increases, don’t require legislation changes.

Despite the problems on Furby, Houdayer and Helm said they don’t want to leave.

They love their apartment, neighbours and West Broadway and resent the idea that tenants should have to abandon their homes because of problems they believe their landlord is responsible for addressing.

“We shouldn’t have to move because our landlord’s bad,” one said. “Our landlord should simply fulfil the obligations that they’re legally supposed to.”

Wyskwar expressed a similar attachment to the century-old building and its community, but said constantly fighting over repairs is taking its toll.

“I honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can stick around,” she said. “It’s really taking a toll on every single person.”

“We shouldn’t have to move because our landlord’s bad… Our landlord should simply fulfil the obligations that they’re legally supposed to.”

For Houdayer and Helm, the experience has also exposed what they see as weaknesses in the system meant to protect renters. They said navigating the RTB process requires tenants to research their rights, repeatedly contact the branch and sometimes spend months pursuing basic repairs.

“It’s very taxing on a resident to have to go through all this work to just try and get the baseline of these repairs done,” Helm said.

“It would be great to see an RTB that has a bit more teeth to deal with these landlords… because some tenants don’t have the time to do that… and are getting taken advantage of.”

If there’s sliver of macabre-laced solace to be had, it’s that tenants are not alone.

“The problem is that as long as these regulations remain in place this will keep happening in buildings across the city,” adds Yutaka Dirks, senior policy and outreach adviser with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. “It’s not a rare occurrence, unfortunately. Tens of thousands of units have received these kind of increases every few years.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca