A 93-year-old man says he has been forced to take the stairs in his Cote-Des-Neiges apartment building because the elevator has been out of service for two months.
"No elevator for the past two months. And the people are suffering," Bertram Danne said.
The building at 4005 Bourret Avenue in Côte-des-Neiges is home to many seniors, but they're not the only ones struggling.
"It's hard for me because every time we have some groceries and we are carrying, especially the one that's heavy," he said.
Danne says deliveries are a problem, too.
"The people come to deliver food. The people turn back. Come with groceries, the people turn back. Nobody is going to climb up to make a delivery," the tenant noted.
The building manager told CTV News that they are working diligently to resolve this situation. He said the pieces required to repair the elevator are still unavailable and that they've spent $40,000 on repair bills since April.
He added they are willing to offer a temporary reduction in rent as a goodwill gesture.
With so many old apartment buildings in the city, housing advocates say it's important that tenants get what they're paying for when it comes to accessing their home.
Moreover, they say there are steps tenants can take when essential services like elevators break down.
Tenants must start documenting problems as soon as possible and be able to prove that they have notified the landlord.
Project Genesis' Margaret Van Nooten recommends contacting city inspectors if the problem isn't resolved in a timely manner.
"One of the solutions is to really nip these kinds of problem in the bud, because many tenants will tolerate, the landlord will say' I'm looking into it. I'm making phone calls,' and they'll tolerate it already for week and weeks," Van Nooten said.
Danne, meanwhile, is working with his neighbours to get things moving.
