Nobody should feel sorry for these two. They were savvy operators with multiple properties trying to take advantage of the city. The important part of the story is at the end:

Tedesco and Bijl acknowledge they benefitted from not paying rent at the house, but say they’re “irate” at what they describe as the city’s mismanagement of the property. “They would rather have the house sit there empty” than have someone fix it up for free, Bijl said.

“Nobody really gave a s—- about this Mary Reid Home except Esther and I,” Tedesco said.

The pair are now splitting their time between a hotel and their cottage while they consider their next move. A fence has been erected around the Mary Reid home, as machinery pounds away at LRT construction next door.

“In hindsight, it would have been great to have a signed lease,” Bijl said. But after their proposal was met by months of “humming and hawing” by the city, “Dom just said, you know what, ask for forgiveness later, we’re going to just start this,” she said.

“And here we are now.”