There have been all kinds of complaints filed over the years with Metro Housing in Toronto, but even they never had to deal with anything like this. A British low rent housing entity was forced to lay out $117 in taxpayer funds to resolve an ongoing dispute with a tenant.

Who got the money and why? It went to help pay a psychic who performed a ghost exorcism in one of the units. The occupants of the home reported hearing banging noises and seeing objects flying across the room by themselves, and told officials on Easington Council in Durham County, England they believed their apartment was haunted. And they wanted to know what, if anything, officials planned to do to help them.

Police were called and found nothing. But when the tenants insisted they would rather be homeless than stay there with what they believed was a poltergeist inside, the Council reluctantly agreed to pay for half the cost of bringing in a psychic to detect the unrestful spirit and get her to move out.

Spiritualist Suzanne Hadwin contends a woman was murdered in the home several years ago and that her essence has never been able to leave. She charges $235 for her services and the government agreed to dole out half of it, with the frightened family picking up the rest. Why? They did the math and discovered it would be cheaper to pay the woman than put the reluctant tenants in emergency housing.

"This is the first time we have had to take such a measure," a council spokeswoman explains dryly. "However, the tenants were extremely distressed at the time and we therefore believed it was the most appropriate course of action."

The family now says they feel safe in their home and don't want to leave. Would anyone else be able to get this service performed with public money? It might depend on the circumstances, but most believe there isn't a ghost of a chance.