A West Island man who wanted to do a favour for a down-on-her-luck childhood friend now regrets granting that favour.
Robert Campbell of Dollard des Ormeaux told the Journal de Montréal he ran across the woman, Annie Finkelstein, at a restaurant back in February. She was apparently going through a rough patch at the time, with nowhere to live.
Campbell offered to take her in rent-free until she could find an apartment, and she moved in, along with her boyfriend at the time.
Now, after eight months of rent-free living, the woman refused to leave Campbell's home, or find another apartment.
It turns out she's also is a hoarder, and has turned both the house and the back yard into a junkpile.
Finkelstein says she is broke, unable to work because of health problems, and is accusing Campbell of a lack of consideration in forcing her to move.
Campbell told the paper he had gone to both the police and the rental board in an effort to evict Finkelstein — neither ended up doing anything. Finally, he went to the courts to have her sent away.
Campbell won his case last week, and Finkelstein now has to the end of Thursday to clear out.
Campbell says his ordeal has cost him more than $10,000, and he has some advice to anyone thinking about offering a helping hand in this way: do a background check, and get the agreement in writing.
CJAD 800's Richard Deschamps contributed to this report.