Fort Liard (July 02/04) - Raymond Kotchea says he hasn't made a mortgage payment in almost five years and he won't make another until the Housing Corporation fixes problems that existed when he and his family moved into their house.

Raymond Kotchea holds a measuring stick near a crack above a door frame in his Fort Liard home. Kotchea says until the Housing Corporation fixes his house he won't make his mortgage payments. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

Larry Campbell, manager of housing for the Nahendeh region, said Kotchea stopped paying his mortgage prematurely and the repairs he's seeking won't be done until his instalments resume, in accordance with Housing Corporation policy. Campbell also warned that those in arrears could soon lose their homes to foreclosure.

"We try every other option... but we have to protect our interests. It's public funds," Campbell said of potential repossession. "For the amount of outstanding mortgages we have out there, it's time to focus our attention towards collecting and putting the money where it's really needed, for the needy."

In 1999, Kotchea moved into his previously occupied house, built through the Housing Corporation. He said he and Campbell did an inspection at that time and they drew up a long list of repairs to be addressed.

Three months after that, Kotchea said Campbell informed him that the repairs wouldn't be covered under warranty, so Kotchea decided to cease paying for the house, where he lives with his wife and three children.

"If he (Campbell) fixes it all then I'll keep the mortgage paid up," he said.

Among the defects is a basement that floods and sewage consequently backs up every spring, there's a leak in the ceiling, a living room window was falling out, there's no polyurethane in the foundation, a crackling noise can be heard when the lights are turned on and the faucets leak.

'Really bad'

"It's really bad," Kotchea said of the situation.

Campbell said he's aware of the original list of items in need of repair, but suggested that other problems may have developed in the meantime due to insufficient maintenance.

Asked why he just doesn't move elsewhere, Kotchea replied, "There's nowhere else to go in Liard. There's no rental housing or nothing."

He added that he had less hassle when he lived in the bush up until 1989.

"If I lived off the land then I wouldn't have no problem," he said.