Tara Smith doesn’t know where her family will live and worries her son will no longer receive the special programs and counselling he receives at his local school.

Smith, her husband Paul and sons Jaymz, 13, Nicco, 6, and Xxavier, 20 months, have been ordered to leave their cramped but comfortable home of nearly four years by Feb. 28, after a dispute over storage of the family’s property.

The Hamilton Fire Service says an order to remove or upgrade a storage space under a flight of stairs was issued to the building owner last month, and there was no intent for the order to be used as grounds for an eviction.

Landlord and Tenant Board spokesperson Susan Benger said the Feb. 28 date was set in an agreement consented to by the tenants at a hearing earlier this month.

But Paul Smith, who attended the hearing on his own, said he was told his family could be evicted within 10 days unless he agreed to leave on the later date.

He figured a few months would be better than a week, if those were his only options, and agreed to the delayed departure.

Benger said if the owner’s application had been successful, an eviction could possibly have been ordered within 10 days of the hearing. But she couldn’t say whether or not there were reasonable grounds for eviction. No ruling was actually made on the application and Benger was not in the room during mediation or the hearing itself.

“We don’t have a team of lawyers. We’re not millionaires. So my voice hasn’t been heard,” Smith said.

“We’re powerless. Someone has to let these corporations know it’s not acceptable.”

She said the board ignored compassionate issues, including her epilepsy and her husband's diabetes.

She rations her medication to save money while she and her husband both look for work.

More concerning to her is the potential impact a move will have on her middle son, Nicco, who will lose access to valuable speech therapy and learning resource programs he receives at Dundana School. The family struggled for some time to access the programs.

“I can’t afford for him to lose those services,” she said. “I’m concerned about where we’ll be in February. I’m concerned my son will regress. My kids shouldn’t be dreading Christmas.

“As a mother, I’ll do anything I have to for my children.”

Smith hopes someone in her community can help the struggling family in some way.

A St. Catharines-based clinic called Disability Advocate Gerard is attempting to assist the Smiths, help get Nicco properly diagnosed and obtain a letter from his speech therapist.

Karen Maziar, CEO of the clinic, is concerned about the impact of this upheaval on the entire family, but particularly the children.

“They’ve been through a wringer for their son,” Maziar said. “This (eviction) can cause more emotional stress, especially for the child. If a child doesn’t have stability, it can cause a lot of issues.”

Dominic Verticchio, executive director of the Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton, said the organization always advocates in support of its families. It’s his understanding that arrangements can be made to ensure Nicco continues to receive the speech therapy and learning resources help he currently gets.

“Once the child is identified by the school, they’re entitled to those services,” Verticchio said.

Staff at CAS have already been involved with the Smith family, writing letters in an attempt to get ceiling repairs in the apartment done. Verticchio said the organization can also try to advocate for some sort of better resolution of the Landlord Tenant Board order.

But Smith says Nicco is getting emotional counselling and support at school and a move could be very difficult for him.

"My school is really awesome and I don't want to leave," six-year-old Nicco told a reporter visiting his home last week.

Andy Cranbury, a resident of a Governor’s Road apartment building active in his building’s tenants association and multi-residential issues across the city, said tenants need to educate themselves more – rather than waiting until they are caught in the middle of a battle with a landlord.

“If (Smith) ever gets into mediation again and doesn't get what she wants, (she should) leave the table and go to the hearing with a member,” Cranbury said. “I have never seen a member award eviction without trying other remedies.”

Smith said her family would be happy to stay in their current home, but would also like to avoid future problems by buying their own house. Tough financial times and both parents looking for work make that search difficult.

The family acknowledged the entire episode started in 2008. They set off some fireworks in a sandbox, which Smith said they had permission to do the year before. A subsequent application to evict was made but stopped when a mediated agreement was reached. The family agreed not to do anything that would endanger the safety of other tenants.

Almost one year later, in October 2009, the building owner reopened the eviction application by claiming the Smiths failed to meet the requirements of the mediated agreement.

The owner suggested the Smiths were storing their belongings in the hallway and endangering other tenants in contradiction of the earlier mediated agreement.

The fire service ordered the building owner to remove, or upgrade, the storage area provided to the family under the stairs next to their apartment on Oct. 29. The fire department responded to an Oct. 19 complaint by inspecting the property on Oct. 27. The building owner’s request to reopen the eviction application was made on Oct. 15.

The Smiths say they were in the process of securing off-site storage, but the process moved directly to a hearing on Nov. 3. They applied to have their rent lowered as a result of the loss of storage space, but that was denied in the mediated agreement.

Benger said the order can be reviewed by the Landlord Tenant Board.

“If they feel they were coerced there may be grounds to review it,” Benger said.

Smith said her family will apply for a review, and has already made a formal complaint against the Landlord Tenant Board mediator they say was not impartial.

“We’re not bad people,” Smith said. “We’re good people. We’re a good family.”

She asked the Dundas Star News to include her phone number in this story (905-628-0615) in case anyone in the community can help them find a new home nearby.

CLV Group, which handles rentals and property management for Interrent Hamilton Inc., the owner of 8 Grant Blvd, would not comment.

Osbert Drewniak, director of marketing for CLV Group, said privacy protection policies prevent the company from releasing any information.