PEIKyra Barlow says she got harassing text messages at all hours of the day, and that her landlord did not give her the required notice before entering her unit. She also said he put up barricades preventing her from entering it herself. Allegedly harassing text messages had renter living in fearTony Davis · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoKyra Barlow says she got harassing text messages at all hours of the day, and that her landlord did not give her the required notice before entering her unit in Kensington, P.E.I. (Tony Davis/CBC)A former tenant of a building in Kensington, P.E.I., is speaking out about how she says she was treated by her landlord.Kyra Barlow says she got harassing text messages at all hours of the day, and that her landlord did not give her the required notice before entering her unit. She also said he put up barricades preventing her from entering it herself.“There’s a number of things, some inappropriate behaviors that kind of escalated gradually,” said Barlow, who was living at 72 Andrews Dr. in Kensington, just east of Summerside. The property is owned by Steve Bernard and has three buildings on it, two of which are rented out and one of which Bernard lives in. Barlow says this unit that she rented in Kensington had a number of problems her landlord never fixed, including a leaking heat pump and an issue with the septic system. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)Barlow said Bernard wanted her to move into the other building on the property. However, when she looked at it, she says she decided it wasn’t suitable for her and her child and told the landlord they would be staying in her original building. She said that’s when their relationship started to sour.There were also a number of problems with her own unit, Barlow said, including a leaking heat pump and an issue with the septic system. She requested an environmental assessment on her unit, and said Bernard was told his septic system was set up incorrectly and he’d have to fix it or the property would be deemed uninhabitable.“He did not fix that,” Barlow said. In documents filed with IRAC, Bernard says Barlow “sabotaged” the septic system, and says “my cabin … can not be rented and septic tank must be removed.”Bernard sent an eviction notice in August saying Barlow owed $500 in rent, that she constantly paid rent late and would be required to leave. Barlow said the $500 was a valid request, so she paid it. She decided to challenge the eviction and other issues to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, which handles disputes between landlords and tenants in the province. “I submitted an application in response to that to IRAC, as well as my own application in regards to a number of the issues that have been ongoing,” she said. “Things like breach of contract and reasonable enjoyment of my property.” Concerning text messagesHowever, Barlow said she felt unsafe in her unit after text messages from Bernard.“There’s been ongoing harassment, text messages at all hours of night and some racially motivated comments because I am an Indigenous person,” Barlow said.Barlow shared those messages with CBC News. In them, Bernard tells her the building is not a reservation, said he wishes she was “stung on the lips” by wasps and calls her the name “lollipop” at the end of several messages.“He did submit another eviction notice recently that he had a pretty interesting racially motivated letter to me written on the back of… telling me to go back to the reserve in Southern Ontario” she said.A photo from inside Barlow’s former unit shows the door barricaded from the inside. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)In text messages, Bernard also complained about uncleaned dog fecal matter in the front yard and suggested Barlow owes money for utilities.Barlow says the utility bills were in Bernard’s name. She said he didn’t provide her with copies of the bills when he asked her to pay them, despite her asking multiple times. At the end of September, Barlow said, she left her unit in the middle of the night after getting a text that concerned her — it suggested Bernard might enter her home while she was sleeping at 4 am.“I was just not going to stay and take the chance,” she said. I planned on staying here for as long as I possibly could, saving money so that I could buy a house.- Kayla BarlowBarlow said she returned a few days later to get her things. She said she was met in the driveway by her landlord telling her she couldn’t enter the property. Barlow called Kensington police, who sent officers to the scene.Barlow said she put her key in the door, but couldn’t open it, so a police officer helped.“They had to break the door down to gain access to my property,” she said.“He barricaded both doors,” she said. “It looks like [he] entered through my window in my kitchen… went in through the kitchen and then he screwed the front door shut with multiple two-by-fours and… five-inch screws.”The unit’s electricity was also disconnected, she said.Barlow said Bernard was arrested that day.Kensington Police Services confirmed someone was arrested in relation to limiting access and lawful enjoyment of a property on Sept. 25, but didn’t confirm that it was Bernard.Barlow has withdrawn her application with IRAC to fight the eviction. She has found a new place to live and officially moved to her new home on Oct. 1. However, she is following through with her other complaints.“I don’t want somebody else to have to go through it,” she said. “I planned on staying here for as long as I possibly could, saving money so that I could buy a house.” ‘Landlords hold a lot of power over tenants’Barlow’s application to IRAC asks for Bernard to provide a tenancy agreement and determine if he contravened her right to the quiet enjoyment of her rental unit. She also wants to recover money from a security deposit that she paid.“I mean, it’s a lot of stress to have to deal with and it impacts your life in a lot of ways,” she said. “I had my electricity turned off. I had my Internet turned off. I have a full-time job that I work and a child that I have to worry about.”A hearing is scheduled with IRAC for Nov. 20.In a text message to CBC Bernard said the “dispute requires confidentiality ongoing with the rental office and then also the criminal charges I cannot talk about.”Bernard refused to comment further. ‘People don’t want to be seen as a troubled tenant because that can interfere with your ability to get housing,’ says Cory Pater, who volunteers with the P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing. (Tony Davis/CBC)The P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing said issues with landlords violating the rules of the province’s Residential Tenancy Act often go underreported.“When we hear about people’s issues, and particularly when it comes to issues of repairs, that’s something that we hear about all the time,” said Cory Pater, who volunteers with the group. “Even issues related to… landlord harassment is something that’s not unheard of.”Some tenants are scared to speak out about issues with their landlord, he said.“Landlords hold a lot of power over tenants, especially because we’re in a very tight housing market. You need to rely on these landlords if you’re a renter in order to have somewhere to live,” he said.“You don’t want to rock the boat by making a big deal about it, and you don’t want to be blacklisted…. People don’t want to be seen as a troubled tenant because that can interfere with your ability to get housing.”ABOUT THE AUTHORTony Davis is a video journalist with a focus on municipal government, housing and addiction for CBC Prince Edward Island. He produces content for radio, digital and television. He grew up on P.E.I. and studied journalism at Holland College. You can email story ideas to anthony.davis@cbc.ca.
Tenant says she was barricaded from P.E.I. rental unit after dispute with landlord
