MONTREAL - A 79-year-old NDG landlady has been forbidden to clean a filthy apartment left filled with garbage by a tenant who has not been seen since the end of November.

Tenants have been complaining of the stench and city health inspectors have said that the unit should be cleaned, however the Rental Board has told the landlady not to remove any items within the apartment for at least another three weeks.

That is when the landlady's complaint for non-payment gets its hearing at the board.

When the landlord noticed the foul odor emanating from the apartment, she received a go-ahead from local police to enter the unit.

That is when she saw the horrific site of weeks of accumulated garbage, dirt, detritus and various junk strewn knee-high on the floor and over every other surface of the home.



"It is unlike anything I've seen before," said the landlady's daughter Giulia, who asked that her last name be withheld.

Hans Brouillette, President of the CORPIQ landlord's association described the Rental Board instructions to leave the mess untouched as "absurd."

A neighbour living directly across the hall from the unit said that the odour caused by the mess left by the young male tenant is a serious health threat. The neighbour wrote to beg that the unit be cleaned, as the "unbearable stench" is particularly challenging those with a compromised immune system.

The landlady has hired a professional cleaner to deal with the festering filth. The cleaners will do the work starting next week at the cost of $8,000.

But tenants' rights advocate Arnold Bennett said that the landlady and cleaners must be careful not to throw out anything of value.