I have to get my house pinned but cannot afford it, can anyone help me?

Good afternoon,

We are a family of three living in Vaudreuil, Quebec that would like your help. We bought our house about 8 years ago. About 4 years ago we started noticing that doors wouldn't close properly, our pool sunk, that there were cracks in the walls here and there. Our roof started leaking where it connects to the other roof.

While raking outside I noticed a crack in the foundation. Upon further investigation I noticed 3 more. We called our insurance company and they do not cover earth shifts. We received 2 quotes from 2 separate companies to get the house pinned, one at $55,000 and one at $75,000. We were going to get the roof replaced but when this happened we held off as we tried our best to stay here until our mortgage came due. I then lost my job and had tremendous difficulty trying to get another one. My husband then had a second job to cover regular expenses. We simply couldn't afford to have it pinned.

Upon calling our city I was told that we were among 12 houses that had the same issue. They said, "get it fixed, don't forget to get a permit and MAYBE the city will give you some sort of compensation." My husband dug down as far as he could and a friend of ours came over and filled the cracks for us while my husband was working (he would always get home after daylight).

Our mortgage is due soon and we are trying desperately to move. Our house has been for sale since April and we are going to lose so much. I am devastated that we have to start over. We are trying the best for our family and absolutely hate asking for help. It has taken all the courage I have to actually do so. All I want it to move to a smaller house somewhere quiet with better neighbours than here. Life has been less than perfect for the last 4-5 years and had brought so much anxiety.

I know that some companies such as SMR have helped families in the past. We had been in contact with a man that was going to help us but he wanted it to be a publicity rally for himself as he was starting a new company. We told him that we couldn't put ourselves out there like that. My husband is an extremely proud man and an amazing father. He is also very private. Our daughter is a teenager and he didn't want our issue becoming her issue, with friends, school etc.

Thank you for your consideration. Any information, or guidance or help would forever be appreciated and one day hopefully once settled we can 'pay it forward'...that's our goal.

Thank you,

Sue Lafrance Leech