Handicapped tenant allowed to keep his apartment

By P.A. Sévigny, October 31st, 2012

Following weeks of anxiety and a long negotiation that took up most of the morning in Quebec's Rental Board located in what used to be Montreal's Olympic Village, Joseph Basciano and his two dogs will now be allowed to stay in his Décarie St. apartment.
“It took us a while,” said Arnaud Le Chatelier who was representing Basciano on behalf of Mtre. Laura Brochu who is Basciano's lawyer. “They [the OMHM] were more than reasonable but we still had to work out a few details.”
As first reported in The Suburban, OMHM, (Office Municipal d'Habitation de Montréal) housing authorities were determined to evict Basciano from his subsidized apartment because of what they described as the 'insalubrious' state of the premises which they blamed upon the severely handicapped tenant's two old dogs. While anxious about the housing authority's intentions, Basciano told The Suburban that he decided to fight back because, “...after all, this is home.”
As a result of his dystrophic dysplasia, Basciano must also deal with a severe hernia which hampers his mobility and his ability to get around in his motorized wheelchair. Nevertheless, he maintains as much of his autonomy as possible with the help of his two devoted caregivers who make sure that his apartment is cleaned and that his two little dogs are cared for. While The Suburban's investigation indicated Basciano has had more than a few problems with both the building's staff and his neighbors, it also indicated that there was little (if any) evidence to justify the housing authority's efforts to evict Basciano and effectively put him on the street.
As of last week's meeting at the rental board, lawyers for the OMHM backed off from their initial intention and offered Basciano a deal that (after some negotiation) he couldn't refuse. Aside from all the rights and obligations that are normally expected from any one of the housing department's tenants, Basciano agreed to nothing more than the right to let the housing department's authorities visit his apartment on a monthly basis in order to see if he was well and that his apartment was in some kind of acceptable order. While everybody, including the housing authorizes, are happy with the outcome, Basciano told The Suburban that he is still annoyed with the situation which brought about a lot of stress and aggravation that only aggravates his health issues. Only a day after he won his fight to keep his apartment, he told The Suburban that he was still nervous about the outcome and that he feared the OMHM would once again try to build a case against him and his little dogs.
“All I want,” he said, “…is for everybody to mind their own business and to leave me alone.”n