The city of Montreal is taking steps to help tenants living in a rundown apartment building in Cote-des-Neiges.
On Friday the city held a meeting and ordered landlord Robert Sebag to start repairs within 48 hours.
Urgent work is needed to exterminate vermin, remove asbestos, and repair leaks and cracks throughout the building.
"Cockroaches coming in the food and also mice jump on the bed," said one tenant at the building on Vezina St. What's more, they haven't had heat for three days.
If Sebag does not do the work, borough mayor Michael Applebaum says the city will do the work, then charge the landlord, or put a lien on the building.
Applebaum told CTV reporter Rob Lurie that Sebag has actually been on the city's watchlist for years, and called the owner "one of the worst landlords in the city."
Despite the building's decrepit state, a non-profit group wants to buy the structure and turn it into social housing.
They've offered Sebag $4.3 million, but the city says it will not approve the transaction until all the repairs have been completed.
