Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 26/05) - A family that lost their Dettah home to a fire are facing more than $200,000 in debt.

The home, which was estimated to be worth $500,000 and was uninsured, was destroyed in a Sept. 15 fire.

Peter Stiopu and his daughter Katrina sift through the remains of their Dettah home after a September fire. The family owes more than $200,000 in loans on the house. - NNSL file photo

But even before the fire, owners Peter Stiopu and his wife, Mary-Anne Stiopu, had been in court after the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce called in a loan amounting to $200,000, plus interest, in 2000.

Loan assistance

The Stiopus, who are now separated, claimed that money was guaranteed by the Housing Corporation through a program that helps families become homeowners by giving them downpayments or loan assistance.

In court documents, the Housing Corporation denies the Stiopus were part of the program.

This week, Supreme Court Justice J.E. Richard sided with the Housing Corporation.

In court affidavits, the family says they thought they were accepted into the Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program (EDAP). When the bank called in the loan after the Stiopus ran into tough times, the Housing Corporation said they had never been approved.

"Had we been told that the Housing Corporation had not accepted us into EDAP and that they were only acting as guarantors, we never would have borrowed $200,000," says a 2003 affidavit by Mary-Anne Stiopu.

The cash was used to build the 4,000-square-foot family home on the shores of Great Slave Lake on the Dettah access road in 1997, along with $150,000 of their own money.

Peter Stiopu wasn't in court for the ruling against him, but when contacted with the news, said it's going to make rebuilding his life "a little more difficult."

He and his two children plan on rebuilding on the property as soon as they can, despite their growing debt and the fact they lost everything they own in the fire.

"It's something we can work through," he says.

After sleeping on a friend's couch for a couple of weeks, Stiopu and his children are now living in a Yellowknife apartment. He is also working part time.

As for an appeal of the summary judgement and where to go from here, Stiopu says he has to contact his lawyer.

The NWT Housing Corporation would not comment on the case because it is a legal matter.