Letter to the Editor

We made our dreams come true when we bought our farm in 2017 with big goals of greenhouses, gardens and a sustainable farm and lifestyle for our family. We have three beautiful daughters and are proud to have built our lives in the East Kootenay. We sell produce grown out of our greenhouses, as well as bedding plants and herbs. We have horses, cattle, turkeys, guineas, chickens, dogs and cats – an almost perfect Kootenay life.

However, our lives were turned upside down when our bank called to announce there was a program error and our payments would skyrocket. Worse, they were asking us to back pay $20,000.

Initially we were promised an attempt at refinancing, but after involving the bank’s internal Ombudsman, we were served with foreclosure papers. The bank refused to remortgage at the agreed payment amounts and we were left with no options. The bank dismissed additional obstacles and pushed for a forced sale.

We had nowhere to go and we’re on the verge of losing our home. The situation was unbearably stressful and caused so much pain for our family. We were bone tired of the fight to keep our farm, and posting our story to social media, in the hope that someone could help, was our last deep breath out on the matter.

We were overwhelmed by the outreach of support, including from our Member of Parliament, Rob Morrison, who went to bat for us, even calling and messaging over weekends and a holiday.

As a result of that effort, we are happy to share that our lender has presented us with a contract wherein payments would be as initially agreed when we closed on the property. After months of major anxiety, we can be at peace and focus on long-term plans for our farm. We are still in shock but so grateful this burden has been lifted at last.

So many happy tears!

Laura Wilder,

Ta Ta Creek

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