Topper Drive homeowners seek compensation in court

Topper Street property owner Dale Scott has launched legal action against the District of Mission and the builders of Heritage Marketplace. He claims his property has slipped and his house has been damaged after a retaining wall was built in 2010. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

image credit: Carol Aun

A house a Mission man bought as an investment property more than eight years ago is now bankrupting him.

Dale Scott invested in a home on Topper Street with his mom in 2006, but neither of them ever lived in it. Instead, they rented it out and received some income from it annually.

But the rent Scott is receiving now is not enough to pay for engineers to help fix the property and lawyers to conduct a court challenge to those who he alleges were responsible for the damages done to his house and land.

Scott and two of his neighbours allege a retaining wall built just below his property for Heritage Marketplace in 2010 was not properly designed, inspected and constructed.

The defendants in the case are the District of Mission, the builders of the shopping mall on Stave Lake Street and 11 Avenue, and the engineers of the project.

According to the civil claim, the slope has slipped, which has caused the three properties above it to settle.

Scott and his neighbour Finn Nielsen claim the settlement of the slope has caused structural damage to their homes.

"Inside, the walls have cracked and the foundation has cracked in the back (of the house)," said Scott.

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Topper Drive homeowners seek compensation in court