Anick Dadson, who owns A&A Real Estate Investors with her husband, Art Dadson, says she takes "full responsibility" for the document that claimed "all" homeless people have food and a place to sleep provided by the government.

She says that wording — and a claim that anyone living on the street "chose" to be there —  has now been removed from the 15-page "welcome letter" that laid out rules for tenants.

"I wish all of this didn't happen," she said in an interview. "I take responsibility that it did happen. I apologize for that opinion that I had, that I definitely do not share nowadays.

"I honesty thought back then that some of the homeless people were choosing not to utilize those services … I know now for a lot of people, it's not an option for them. It's not available for them."

Dadson said she approved the original document to send a message to tenants in the buildings she and her husband bought in 2021.

The owner of these Savoie Drive apartments has apologized for the content of lease documents that prohibited residents from helping homeless people around the property. (Google Street View)

The building wasn't secure, and in some cases residents would find homeless people sleeping in the hallways of the building in the morning, Dadson said. Needles were another common sight. 

"We had to put a stop to it, and we had to establish those rules," she said. 

Tenants were upset and felt helpless, she added, and the document was written in the way it was "to give them a sense of release" from feeling guilty.

But she said she realized over time that the suggestion that homeless people were choosing the street was wrong. 

When news organizations began reporting on the document, she changed it, removing those lines.

"That was an opinion that I had that I don't share anymore, so I changed it right away," she said. "I was happy to change it."

New version encourages helping

Dadson said her husband, a realtor, had "absolutely nothing to do" with the letter.

The assertion that all homeless people have a place to sleep and that they "chose" to be on the streets is not in the new version Dadson sent to CBC News.

While the original version encouraged tenants to contact the city to find out how to help "outside of the premises," the new version includes an additional sentence:

"Please keep in mind that we do not discourage you from helping homeless people as we believe that it is more important than ever to help one another in these difficult times of crises," it says. 

Dadson contacted CBC News on Tuesday afternoon after a story about the rental document was published.

She and her husband turned down an interview request last Friday and did not respond to a subsequent email asking for factual clarifications or to an additional phone call Monday.

In an Instragam post Tuesday, Art Dadson wrote that he'd been called "greedy" as a result of the CBC story. 

But he said friends tease him about being an "angel" because he always goes "above and beyond to help as many people as I can in this life." 

The Instagram post says 25 of the 29 units in the three Moncton buildings are covered by a government affordable housing program "to ensure that rental prices are fair." 

Anick Dadson said the company receives no government funding in return for keeping rents affordable for a decade.

The province said Friday that restricting tenants from helping homeless people at a rental property does not violate the Residential Tenancies Act.

A lease document for the three buildings on Savoie Drive says it's "strictly prohibited to feed, give money, give alcohol, cigarettes or any type of drugs or anything of any substance" to people who might "wander around the property."

Helping them "can become a problem," says the 15-page "welcome letter" from A&A Property Management.

"Please keep in mind that they all are provided with food and a place to sleep by the government and you should not feel bad for them if they chose not to follow their curfew and willingly chose to stay on the streets," says the notice obtained by CBC News.

It urges tenants to contact Moncton city hall to find out how to help homeless people "outside of the premises."

Mike Randall, co-chair of the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee, said the lease document shows a lack of awareness about homelessness. (Maeve McFadden/CBC)

Mike Randall, the co-chair of the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee, said the document shows a lack of awareness of what drives homelessness.

The claim that "all" homeless people on the streets have chosen to be there is wrong, he said.

"I find it very discouraging that people are adding that kind of language to rental agreements and other things," he said. 

"I would strongly encourage them to maybe better understand all of the aspects of homelessness and maybe make their decision after that."

A Moncton Realtor listed as a director of the company that owns the properties turned down an interview request from CBC News.

Director won't answer questions

Art Dadson is a Realtor and co-owns A&A Real Estate Investors, which solicits investors to put money into owning properties. 

"We offer a better return on your money than any bank investments or government plans," says A&A's website.

In an email, Dadson said he'd spoken to another media organization "as they were the first to contact me." He didn't respond to other emails and phone calls. 

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Randall, appointed to the area homelessness committee to represent business owners in Moncton, said they have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed.

The "growing and challenging problem" of homelessness has created "downtown security challenges" including crime and vagrancy, he acknowledged. 

But the suggestion that "all" homeless people have the option of government-funded help and are choosing to stay on the streets shows a need for more understanding, he said.

Variety of reasons for homelessness

Randall said many people are on the streets because of rent evictions, lost jobs or mental health issues.

"It's disappointing that that is the perspective that any of our business owners have taken with respect to homelessness and our vulnerable population, but I'm not discounting their frustration," he said.

   Jill Green, minister responsible for housing, didn't acknowledge an interview request from CBC. (Stephen MacGillivray for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick)

Housing Minister Jill Green did not acknowledge an interview request, but government spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said provincial law doesn't prohibit the kind of restriction in the Moncton lease.

"The matter you are asking about is not enforceable through the Residential Tenancies Act," he said.

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On the document's claim that people on the streets chose to be there, Randall said four Moncton shelters have been "bursting at the seams" and would have been taking more people than they normally would during the recent snap of extreme cold, he said.

"Yes, everyone is coming to the table, the province, the city and others, but there's not enough," he said.

"What I would encourage everyone to do it is become more informed and more aware, and certainly maybe better understand that all of the people who are homeless in our community are not criminals, they're not all drug addicts and drug dealers."