PROJECT HEADINGLEY

— LONGFORM CASE STUDY

Opening

Some projects test your systems.
Some projects test your patience.
And then there are projects that test your entire operation — legally, strategically, and operationally.

Headingley was that project.

A 500-acre parcel of land.
Two out-of-province owners.
A tenant who turned a small rental home into a full-scale illegal sawmill.
An RM preparing an injunction.
RCMP involvement.
Half a million dollars worth of wood piled across the site.
Zero cooperation from the person responsible.

Most people would run from a situation like this.

Arete ran toward it.

PROJECT HEADINGLEY

— THE FULL STORY

PROBLEM

Two doctors in Toronto owned 500 acres of land in Headingley — mostly farmland, plus a small house generating basic rent.

They did what many out-of-province owners do:

  • They signed a verbal lease

  • Trusted the tenant

  • Never checked in

  • Never clarified what was allowed

And that handshake agreement turned into a nightmare.

Over time, the tenant:

  • Brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars of wood

  • Began operating a full illegal sawmill

  • Ran an unpermitted commercial enterprise

  • Ignored municipal orders

  • Ignored zoning laws

  • Ignored environmental regulations

He didn’t care.
He knew the owners were far away.
He knew nobody would show up.
He dug in.

The situation escalated so badly that:

  • The RM of Headingley was drafting a court injunction

  • RCMP had already attended

  • The tenant refused to vacate

  • The property was contaminated with industrial materials

  • The owners were liable for environmental cleanup

And the owners were stuck on the other side of the country, overwhelmed and losing control of their own land.

That’s when Arete stepped in.

The Reality We Inherited

When we took over the file, the situation was already at its breaking point:

The land was being used illegally

  • Heavy equipment was operating on-site

  • Piles of wood — worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — covered the acreage

  • Access roads were damaged

  • Neighbors were complaining

  • The RM was done being patient

  • The sheriff’s office was preparing for involvement

  • Environmental liabilities were growing by the day

It wasn’t just a tenancy problem.

It was:

  • A legal problem

  • A zoning problem

  • A municipal problem

  • A safety problem

  • A liability problem

  • And a reputation problem

The owners were afraid that the land would become unsellable, and the cleanup costs alone could bankrupt the entire project.

This wasn’t a traditional eviction.
This was crisis management.

Strategy

1. Build a complete plan before making a single move

  • You cannot “wing it” in situations like this.

    We put together a structured roadmap:

    • Legal pathway

    • Eviction strategy

    • Zoning compliance

    • Communication protocol with RM

    • Environmental risk mitigation

    • Abandoned property process

    • Sheriff enforcement planning

    • Timeline sequencing

    • Documentation trail

    • Cost-recovery strategy

    This allowed us to stay fully compliant with:

    • The Residential Tenancies Branch

    • Municipal bylaws

    • Sheriff enforcement guidelines

    • Environmental regulations

2. Identify the correct eviction path

  • Because of the verbal lease and the blurred lines between “residential activity” and “commercial activity,” this case required precision.

    We positioned the tenancy properly under RTB jurisdiction — because the building itself was residential — and filed:

    • A detailed eviction

    • With supporting evidence

    • With clear legal grounds

    • With proper service

    • With correct timelines

3. Coordinate with the RM of Headingley

  • This was essential.

    We:

    • Engaged directly with RM officials

    • Got updates on the injunction timelines

    • Aligned our eviction plan with their compliance enforcement

    • Ensured the RM paused the injunction while we acted

    This gave the owners breathing room and kept the municipality in the loop.

4. Prepare for sheriff removal

  • We knew the tenant wouldn’t leave voluntarily.
    So we prepared in advance:

    • Sheriff coordination

    • Security presence

    • Documentation teams

    • Lock change arrangements

    • Access protocols

    • Safety measures

5. Manage the abandoned property

This was a massive task.

There were:

  • Industrial materials

  • Machinery

  • Wood piles

  • Dangerous equipment

  • Scrap

  • Tools

  • And unidentifiable materials

All of it needed to be processed legally:

  • Documented

  • Stored

  • Disposed of

  • Or returned

This prevented liability for wrongful disposal.

6. Recover costs

We didn’t just remove the tenant — we pursued financial recovery.

Through our process, we were able to negotiate the tenant paying $20,000, which helped offset:

Legal fees

  • Administrative costs

  • Security

  • Cleanup

  • Disposal

  • Labour

This was a massive win for the owners.

RESULTS

Property vacated safely

No violence.
No escalation.
No property destruction.

Land restored to compliance

Illegal business operations shut down.
Environmental risks neutralized.

Property prepared for sale

The owners were finally able to list the 500 acres without:

  • A rogue tenant

  • Operational liabilities

  • Environmental concerns

  • Municipal pressure

  • Enforcement actions

Tenant removed

After years of resistance, the tenant was fully removed through:

  • RTB

  • Sheriff enforcement

  • Coordinated execution

$20,000 recovered for the owners

A rare win in cases like this.

RM paused their injunction

Because we acted quickly and professionally.

A multi-million-dollar land disposition saved

This case could have easily turned into:

  • A lawsuit

  • A forced cleanup

  • A municipal seizure

  • A massive cost to the owners

Instead, we delivered stability.

Project Headingley shows why Arete Holdings Group is trusted with the most complex, high-risk, multi-layered situations in the province.

Where municipalities, police, and owners could not act, we delivered clarity, control, and a complete resolution.

This wasn’t just an eviction.
It was the restoration of a multi-million-dollar asset.

That’s the Arete standard.

CLOSING