The tenants of a Langley Township-owned rental house are now challenging an order to evict them in the courts.
The five tenants of an 80th Avenue home near 200th Street had challenged an April 30 eviction notice from the Township at the Residential Tenancy Branch, but the RTB ruled against them the week of May 10.
The RTB approved an order of possession for the Township to take control of the home.
Now tenant Maureen Brown and her roommates have asked the B.C. Provincial Court for a judicial review of the RTB ruling.
They’re not asking to stay in the house forever, Brown said. She’s hoping to receive four more months of notice before they have to leave, along with some help from the Township in finding another suitable rental property in a difficult housing market.
The tenants have been working with the activist group Eviction Defense Network.
READ MORE: Renters refuse to leave Langley Township owned home in face of Friday eviction notice
On Wednesday, Brown said she was on her way to court to present documents to the court, including affidavits.
She said there’s no reason for the Township to rush with the eviction.
“There’s no development proposal for that property,” she said.
The renters have argued that the only apparent plan for their current home is to turn it into more overflow parking for the LEC, which has been largely closed over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The house is on one of a number of properties near the Langley Events Centre that the Township has been buying up as part of broad plans for the possible future uses of the area.
In 2019, the Township took out an $85 million loan to buy land for various parks and amenities around the Township, including $67.67 million for strategic land acquisition near the LEC, as well as in the Smith neighbourhood to the southeast.
The Langley Advance Times has reached out to the Township for comment on the short-term and long-term plans for the lots on and around 80th Avenue.
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