When my wife Brittany and I finally had saved enough for our own condo, it was like a dream we never thought we could reach as millennials. However, shortly after moving in, It became a nightmare….

Brittany suffers from Fibromyalgia, a condition that causes a person’s nervous system to go haywire and can have a wide variety of symptoms. When we moved into our condo in January 2024, we quickly found that even when temperatures outside in our Alberta area would be below freezing, the temperature inside our unit would often be around 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 Degrees Fahrenheit) on every day except, and often higher, except when it would get down to around -30 degrees Celsius outside (-22 Degrees Fahrenheit).

The issue would only get worse towards the summer. This high temperature would cause Brittany to have terrible flares of pain, and constant debilitating migraines which would prevent her from enjoying her home, and her family. It would cause her to miss days of work and keep her from pursuing her favourite hobbies, such as crochet, video games and writing. She was simply in too much pain as a direct result of the heat.

We would spend the next 8 months attempting to work with our condo’s Board of Directors, who run the board, hereafter referred to as “HOA” in the complex, while my wife and I troubleshooted everything we can think of to prevent the heat. The ultimate answer that had been discovered with the “HOA” was that heat from the garage below was entering into the unit and raising the temperature. Other solutions such as adding insulation in the garage would have cost quite a large amount. On a visit in September 2024, the board’s own contractor suggested installing an air conditioner as the best potential solution.

However, taking that advice was apparently out of the question for the board. There was nothing in the bylaws that prohibit the installation. Many units, including ours, had been using the louder, less efficient, portable A/C units that can only go in certain windows and can’t be used in lower temperatures. They said it was unfair for us to have a mini-split when other people were hot too. But they were the ones who had the power to fix it for everyone.

Despite Brittany expressing the constant pain the heat was causing for many months, the board would not move forward on installing an air conditioner.

Despite us offering to pay for it as a show of good faith, though the law says it’s their problem to fix, they refused to allow that.

When reminded of their obligations to maintain the property and accommodation of Brittany’s disability under the law, they remained stubborn. The HOA was simultaneously refusing to allow us to fix the problem or correct it themselves.

Unfortunately, our dream home had become a nightmare, and a trap. We couldn’t leave and were unable to tolerate it as hot as it was. We were forced to engage legal counsel to get the attention of the board. Now, many months later and with no end in sight to Brittany’s suffering, we find ourselves in substantial debt during a time of rapidly increasing cost of living.

We’ve both had to push ourselves hard to keep up with our very mortgage payment, and had to postpone other life events while this plays out. The wheels of justice turn slowly, and if we can’t have justice for another year or more, we will have to make hard choices such as cutting down to beans and rice on our grocery budget, or let go of family pets. All just to have the ability to fight while we continue being uncomfortable, but we have a roof over our heads.

The banks won’t help us, and none of our options are good. To drop the matter would bury us in debt with nothing to show for it, and make us lose our home, not to mention the Board may come after us for their costs. We’re at the point we need to believe in the kindness of strangers and keep hope that we can still have justice.

Any donations would assist us in paying legal debt to assist the fight for Brittany’s dignity and health. We’re currently at roughly $35,000 CAD in legal fees, with more to come, and if by some God given miracle we should surpass our ultimate legal fees in donations, any excess would be donated to Vecova, a charity that has helped Albertans living with disabilities since 1969.