Nearly 200 late on payments

Evictions aren’t happening yet in the community, but they’re on the table for housing mortgage clients that are in arrears, announced Council chief Ryan Montour, the lead on housing.

“Responsible home ownership should apply to everyone. There’s nobody above anybody else,” said Montour while at a press conference hosted last Friday at the Kahnawake Peacekeepers’ station.

There are currently 186 homeowners in the community that are in arrears, according to figures shared by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) Housing Unit. That figure only includes those with housing mortgage loans of up to $60,000. 

A total of 246 homeowners are currently paying off those loans, meaning a significant portion are currently behind in payments.

“We’re taking into consideration peoples’ financial situations before moving forward in any type of enforcement policy with somebody’s mortgage (an eviction),” said Alan John Rice, the executive operations officer at the MCK.

Some of the 186 homeowners in arrears include those that were impacted by the misappropriation of the Housing Unit’s funds.

“Some of them are due to the fact that, yes, they were protesting the MCK in the past,” Montour said. “The lack of communication from the MCK, obviously, and the misappropriation of funds, were all factors.”

A total of 41 have been identified as victims of the 2018 housing scandal, when close to $700,000 from the unit went missing.

Wade Lazare is among those that have been told they still owe money on their mortgage.He’s received multiple letters, as recently as this past fall, claiming he owes roughly $28,000 - an amount he disputes.

“They said they couldn’t find my payments from 1990 to 2011,” he told The Eastern Door. “I said, ‘You guys have them.’ I said, ‘I paid cash, there was no debit back then.’”

He made sure to keep records of all his payment stubs over those two decades, he said. The problem is they were destroyed after his basement flooded.

“If I was missing that much money on my mortgage, they would have taken my house,” he said. He borrowed $45,000 in 1990 and has already paid back about $98,000 since then.

“I’m certainly not paying that $28,000,” he said. “It was their fault all this money is missing, not my fault.”

The Housing Unit recently carried out a second audit of those known to have been impacted by the misappropriation of funds.

“We knew that in order to gain the trust and confidence back from the community after what took place, that we really had to dig deep and get it right,” said Onerahtókha Marquis, executive director at the MCK, while at the press conference. “I truly believe that when you’re rebuilding a new, stronger foundation, it takes a lot of time, so I understand maybe some of the frustrations that community members have experienced, but I truly am confident of where we are now.”

The unit is now looking to have one-to-one meetings with each of the 41 victims identified so a resolution can be found. Lazare said he’s willing to take part.

The Housing Unit also wants to do more to support those who fell victim to the misappropriation of funds, Montour said.

“With that, on a case-by-case basis, the Council of Chiefs has authorized potential (interest) write-offs for people in good standing, elderly people first, and some sort of compensation for the true victims of fraud,” Montour said.

A handful of homeowners with housing mortgage loans of up to $175,000, offered under the unit’s revolving loan program, are also in arrears, Montour shared. A total of seven renters are also behind in making their monthly payments. 

Up until now, no one has been evicted, but it’s something the MCK is considering.

“We’ve taken the steps that are needed for compassion with our rental clients, meeting with them, having them come in, sit down, making sure they’re comfortable, giving them a repayment plan if they were in arrears that fits within their financial means,” he said. “We’ve had arrears as high as $20,000 on rentals that cost $430 a month.”

“There are people who are ready, willing and able to pay, who need a place, and they’re being held up,” said MCK grand chief Cody Diabo.

Payment plans being offered to renters and homeowners in arrears can go as low as $350 per month, Rice said. Homeowners can also re-adjust the terms of their loans if that helps, he said. 

“What we’re doing is presenting them with cases on how to speed up the loan process, so that they can be finished in good time,” Rice said. “We’ve put together a financial analysis and payment plan, which we believe is more than affordable for people.”

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