On Wednesday afternoon, workmen caulked plywood sheets over the glass at the entrance of a Centre Street apartment building and then an inspector put up a notice expressly prohibiting anyone from living there until further notice.

I talked to Marie Valérie, who represents the owners of two buildings that the city evacuated in February after deeming them unfit to live in. She says the city conducted a sort of a snap inspection after telling them in August they could rent apartments again. @Global_Montreal pic.twitter.com/zqTPVDGohG — Billy Shields (@billyshields) October 18, 2018

“It’s very disappointing to see this,” said Marie Valérie, who represents the numbered company that acts as the building’s landlord. Inspectors, she said, “are still coming back and in different ways.” That address and adjacent Chateaguay building were evacuated in February.

This is what the letter looked like that the landlord received. Their contention is that the city is singling them out. The city admits there were communication problems, but contends that they haven't corrected all the issues that were present in the building. @Global_Montreal pic.twitter.com/iAKIfzq08r — Billy Shields (@billyshields) October 18, 2018

Dozens of tenants were obliged to leave their homes in the cold after the city determined the buildings were unfit for habitation.

The city wrote the landlord in August to say that enough improvements have been made to allow tenants to return, but the city appeared to change its mind this week.

Story continues below advertisement

The city admits there were communication problems, but contends that they haven’t corrected all the issues that were present in the building.

The city ended up boarding the building up, with notices outside all the units and the buildings' entrances that people aren't allowed to live inside. @Global_Montreal pic.twitter.com/sh3IvsvAEk — Billy Shields (@billyshields) October 18, 2018

Although most of the apartments inside the buildings appear to be fully furnished, Valérie said the buildings haven’t been occupied since they were evacuated in February.

The city of Montreal boarded up two buildings in Point St-Charles on Wednesday. Billy Shields/Global News

The notices on the doors, however, clearly indicate that an “evacuation” had taken place. When Global News asked the landlord’s lawyer, Mélanie Chapéron, why the city would evacuate an empty building, she replied, “That’s a good question. I don’t know.”