Send this page to someone via email

An Abbotsford woman who is living on disability is wondering what happened to compassion after being ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines for living in her late mother’s condo.

Turns out, Coralee Stevens, who is 48 years old, is too young to live there.

Her mother, Agnes, left her the 1,400-square foot condo when she passed away. But the building’s strata council imposes a strict age limit of 55 years or older, and has fined Stevens more than $13,000 for living there.

When Coralee tried to sell the condo she was slapped with $90,000 in legal fees.

Coralee is now living in a trailer and is not sure what to do. The apartment is currently sitting empty.

“She wanted me to finally have a home that was mine,” Coralee told Global News. “[This] would kill her, my mom loved her kids.”

Story continues below advertisement

Some of the residents say Coralee should be allowed to stay.

“She has no children, she’s a very quiet person, you don’t even know she exists,” says neighbour Emma Rad. “It’s not fair to make a homeless person out of anybody.”

But strata members say rules are rules.

“The rules here are 55 and up, and she’s not 55. So we [told] her she can’t live here anymore,” says council member George Kettering.

Coralee says this whole experience has left her feeling like she’s been hit by a bus.

“I’m lying on the ground with one finger up saying ‘help me’ and they turn around or back up and run over me again,” she says.