It was a story that went viral: Five orphans from Abbotsford who had to deal with the murder of their brother, homelessness, the death of their mother and their father’s passing due to cardiac arrest.
When their father died last May, the family was handed an eviction notice from their landlord.
The St. Ange children – aged 15 to 22 – were told they had to pack up and be out by the end of July.
When retired arbitrator Lee Murphy caught wind that an eviction notice was being served to the St. Ange children, he felt the need to fight and keep the family together.
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“I contacted them and offered my services in any event they had disputes with the landlord.”
Shortly after the children were served, Murphy disputed the eviction notice with the province’s residential tenancy branch.
On Monday the tenancy branch cancelled the eviction notice, allowing the family to stay in their home.
“The good part is that they now have some stability in their housing situation and they are able to continue in a home where they’ve lived for in a while and that’s a good outcome, and that’s all we were looking for.”
He said when he first got involved with the case, the landlord had a change of heart about the eviction, but Murphy wanted to cover all his bases by going through the Tenancy Branch.
Murphy said he’s pleased with the outcome.
A GoFundMe page set up back in May for the children has raised more than $150,000.
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