A couple in their eighties is being kicked out of the home they have lived in for more than 50 years, and instead of selling the house to someone else, a local realtor is trying to keep the Bishops in it.
Eric, 86, and Jean, 83, moved to Edmonton from the United Kingdom 52 years ago and bought a home in the Fulton Place neighbourhood.
The Bishops said there was a disruption with their monthly mortgage payment in 2017. They didn’t know the payments were not being taken for nearly a year until they started receiving letters from a lawyer.
“In all this the bank never really talked to us about it,” Eric said. “We should, I suppose, have checked more carefully.”
That debt snowballed and continued to grow when the Bishops moved to a senior’s home temporarily, which unknowingly put a stop to the provincial program that helps seniors pay their property taxes.
One of the couple's sons told CTV News his parents have remortgaged their home a number of times over the years. Court documents show they still owe over $240,000 on their mortgage.
In July 2018, they were asked to pay nearly $40,000 in arrears within six months, but the Bishops didn’t have the money.
“I feel devastated that we’ve got to get out,” Jean said.
In January, realtor Ken Morrison was tasked with selling the house, something he was conflicted with when he learned the details.
“I’ve done many foreclosures; I’ve never had one like this where it’s someone in their 80s basically being kicked out their home,” Morrison said.
Morrison told CTV News he hopes the house doesn’t sell. Instead, he created a GoFundMe in an attempt to raise enough money to allow the Bishops to stay. He set the goal at the $325,000 list price.
“I’ve had people tell me raising $325,000 is unrealistic and probably impossible, but it’s even more impossible if we don’t do anything.”
The Bishops’ sons have rented them an apartment in case they have to leave their home.
With files from CTV Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg
