Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts

Sunday 22 September 2013

New Site


So ... since I am no longer welcome at the Ontario Landlord's Association forums - nice, eh...take my $99 and kick me out when I did not break a single one of their posted rules -- and then refuse so much as to respond to my emails... clearly won't be recommending them to anyone any more.

ANYWAY... because of that, I got motivated to set up my own website - complete with a forum... am also blogging there... not sure what, if anything I'll do with this blog, but please do drop by my new home at http://onlandlording.org .... and would love to have you stop by and chat at the ONlandlording forum, also.... can even use private messaging, profiles, search, and so on.... no control freaks :)  Hope to see you there.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

A bit more re: my eviction

So ... just in case any members from the Ontario Landlords Association forums wander by (even though they've disabled my profile to make it harder for you to find me *sigh*) ... thought I'd expand a little bit on my previous post.

I have indeed been kicked from the forums entirely - did send an email requesting clarification as to their rationale, but no response, so I assume tis permanent...

Anyway ... since they can't be bothered to respond to me, and since they deleted not one but 2 threads so you can't read for yourself, here is what happened.

The thread re: meeting disappeared ... but in its place, the admin posted a new thread which stated that if we wanted to meet, we need to provide them (via email) with a bunch of information including the purpose of the meeting, number of attendees, location, date, agenda, etc .... THEY will set it all up for us (isn't that ever so ~nice~ of them?)

I responded that it would be difficult for any one of us to provide detailed responses to their questions since they had deleted the very thread where we were attempting to sort those details out. Very shortly thereafter, that thread, and my comment, of course, disappeared into the ether. A new admin thread appeared - locked this time - that one you've probably seen, as I imagine it is still there .... one about using the forums only to discuss issues relating to landlording...?

An hour or two later, I posted the blog post below this one ... offering to facilitate an email list if people wanted.... and then I posted a message on "my" thread re: being "So discouraged" mentioning only that I had added a couple of posts to my blog if anyone was interested.

Shortly thereafter, my account was deactivated and there ya go ...I am, apparently, far more problematic than Tagly, and Doug, and .... well, everyone!

Which, of course, especially combined with the ~magic post~ I mentioned, and the lack of transparency re: the association's advocacy activities re: our issues, or even, indeed, re: who is behind the OLA, causes me to view the whole thing with a rather jaded eye at this point.
I do not understand why an association which claims to facilitate networking with other landlords would have disabled the private messaging function to begin with, nor why they would have such great objection to landlords being in touch with each other via any other mechanisms.

I do not understand why an association which claims to have all the answers in its database of over 70,000 posts would disable the search function, also.

And I certainly do not understand why I, who have actually paid to be a member of the Ontario Association of Landlords, would be ejected for so minor an offense as attempting to facilitate something they claim to be supportive of.

Apparently, name calling, insulting others, and posting ridiculous nonsense are all just fine... but attempting to facilitate contacting people outside the forum is not.

What IS it that the Ontario Landlords Association does not want its members to discuss, I wonder?

Why is a simple get together for coffee so gosh darned threatening to them? 

Smells fishy to me.

Saturday 7 September 2013

Get together?

Apparently, forum admins don't approve of landlords arranging informal get-togethers....

happy to create an email list so that we can make arrangements independently of the forum if you like ... just send me an email and will add you to the list.

lovelandlording@gmail.com


4 p.m.  Well isn't that ~fun~ ...apparently they also don't approve of the above blog post - I seem to have been kicked from the forum altogether. No explanation, but I presume it is for posting a comment re: having added posts to this blog if anyone was interested.  

My goodness... how DID the idea of landlords wanting to meet for coffee get so gosh-darned problematic for the OLA? Makes me think that perhaps I wasn't mistaken about the possible implications of the ~magic post~ I saw several weeks ago.





The Legalized Theft Board

I know that it aggravates some people when I refer to the LTB (as in the Landlord & Tenant Board, which is their proper name) as the Legalized Theft Board.

But that has most certainly been not only my experience, but also the experience of many other landlords who post in the Ontario Landlords Association forums - and, no doubt, of thousands more besides.

I happened to be on the LTB site yesterday looking something up and noted, once again, their (supposed) mission statement:

The mission of the Landlord and Tenant Board is to inform landlords and tenants about their rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and provide balanced and timely dispute resolution in accordance with the law.

Right there on the front page. And hey... if they actually did that, I'd be happy to call them the Landlord Tenant Board.

Unfortunately, what they claim to do bears little/no resemblance to what they actually do.

  • Rules are required to be followed to the letter by landlords, but not at all by tenants. Legal resources provided to tenants, but not landlords. Privacy for tenant information, but not landlords'.... where in the mission statement does it suggest tenants should be advantaged at every turn while landlords are not?
  • almost 6 months for a case where the tenant gave notice, tried to rescind it 2 days before their stated move-out date, and then paid not one blessed cent rent for that almost 6 months? HOW is that timely?
  • the adjudicator finds that the landlord is credible, the tenant is not, and awards judgements to the landlord on all three counts - but goes out of his way to ensure that not one cent will ever be collected and that the tenants get several extra weeks at the landlord's expense  - as a result of a conversation after the hearing to which the landlord was not privy?  HOW is that balanced?

I could go on and on ... I've learned an awful lot as a result of my research & reading - but I can tell you with 100% assurance that the vast majority of evidence - BY FAR - is that the LTB in Ontario has completely lost sight of its mission statement and its purpose.

The mission statement would be far more accurately stated as follows:

The mission of the Legalized Theft Board is to ensure security of tenancy for all tenants whether they live up to their responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act or not.

Period, full stop.

Interestingly, the LTB seems to now be rather ~slow~ to post annual reports and/or recent decisions on their website. The last Annual Report which is available is from 2009 - 2010; decisions end as of December 2011.

Things that make one go hmmmm.... could it be that they know they've lost the plot and are loathe to advertise it? Inquiring minds want to know!

In any case, the people who are most impacted by the failure of the LTB to live up to its mission statement? Not landlords.

We are hurt financially - but hey, we still have a roof over our head (at least until you get ~lucky~ like I did and get more than one problem tenant in a short period and lose everything thanks to the Legalized Theft Board) ....

it is the good tenants who don't take advantage of the ~system~ (using the term loosely) to rape their landlords that are harmed.

It's the single mom or dad on OW who can't find a landlord to rent to her because she has no garnish-able source of income.

Or the person with a disability on ODSP who is even less likely to find a place because they not only have no garnish-able source of income, they have the potential to cost us even more money and aggravation because Ontario has decided that landlords are responsible for any and all accommodations, no matter how unreasonable or expensive.

Or the older potential tenant who we are cautious about renting to because you know, they could become disabled or develop Alzheimer's and hey, guess what? Landlords in Ontario are regularly forced to cough up for any and all accommodations, no matter how unreasonable or expensive.

Or the person who is coming from another country, or from a mental health facility, or from the streets... yeah, no... no credit rating, no garnish-able source of income? No shelter, sorry.

It sucks. It breaks my heart. But don't blame the landlords. Blame your Ontario government - the one that has decided that the ONLY people in Ontario who should have rights when it comes to rental housing are the deadbeats & scammers.

Not the good tenants.

Not the good landlords.

Sorry 'bout that... I wish I could be part of the solution. But you know what? Still can't find anyone that can be bothered listening.

Cindy Forster, housing critic for the ONDP did respond to my email - well sort of - she ignored MY email, but did respond to one someone more well known among the ONDP forwarded on my behalf - but that was more than 2 months ago now... somehow I think that "we will have to get back to you in response..." means "please just go away."

Pretty sad when my own party can't be bothered, eh?  *sigh*

But at least they did send an acknowledgement - the Ontario Liberal's can't even be bothered with that. My tax dollars at work. Or not.

Ah well...I'm a stubborn old bitch ...think it's time to start yet another letter writing campaign.

Perhaps this time, I will post the actual letter, and names, addresses & dates of each person I send it to, and any response. Still no guarantee I will get a response, but hey, it might be a fun experiment, no?





Friday 9 August 2013

So... here we go again

As a result of all the nonsense involved in getting things sorted with the Dirt Squirrel here in Victoria Harbour, we knew that our other house was a ticking time bomb...

same sort of situation there... single mom on OW ... now that we are no longer so naïve as to think that the LTB, Ontario government, and/or Sheriff's Office have any interest at all in ensuring that landlords don't get ripped off - but instead, are all about helping deadbeats and squatters to do exactly that ... I've been dealing with constant anxiety knowing that it could all go to shit in Peterborough too.

And sure enough:

Here... see for yourself.
Holes punched in ceiling of attic apartment
(which is NOT part of their rental and was left LOCKED.
Window is broken, and the fridge we bought specifically for our use up there is gone.)
 
There are no undamaged doors remaining in the house.
 
View from the other side of the door.
 
Demolished wall.
 
Shower stall is bent/broken, bathroom is filthy.
Don't you love the sink? Wanna move in?
But at least there IS still a sink upstairs - in the downstairs bathroom, the entire vanity is gone. Just gone.
 
The entire basement is buried in a mountain of disgusting mouldy clothing.
While I was there, the tenant's bf emptied the dehumidifier tray - into the pile of clothes, NOT the sink -
too drunk to make it to the sink.
Suppose I should be happy there is even a working sink.
Seems to me it rather defeats the purpose of a dehumidifier though.
 
 
They demolished the walls - but hey, look - they started to paint the stairs...doesn't that look wunnerful?

 
The tenant has made a whole lot of excuses to keep me from driving the 2.5 hours (one way) to check things out (gee, I can't imagine WHY?) ... and when I did force the issue, have my daughter bus to Peterborough from Oshawa and back to put a notice on her door, since the tenant is ignoring my Facebook messages, and then make the drive, she was "too embarrassed" to be there (according to the drunk who was there with her son to show me around and assure me that he could fix it all for me. Honest. For cheap! Oh, and she didn't mean for any of this to happen ... oh, alright... as long as she didn't MEAN to destroy my property, it's all good now, I guess.)

So... since I am not able to talk to her, still have no idea when she intends to get the **** out of my property, or if it is going to be another fight. *sigh* On the plus side, she did actually pay August's rent. Of course, to fix everything they've demolished will likely cost every cent of every month's rent they have paid to date and then some.

Do have one tool now that I didn't have with the other house though - as much as the thought of it disgusts me - and the hassle & expense of having to drive 2.5 hours each way every time I need to work or go to the doctor or whatever.... the attic apartment IS mine and I do have the right to move into it. Since she won't talk to me via facebook or the phone, and since I clearly can't allow them to continue to live in such filth and to do any more damage, I've given her notice that I'll be moving in on Monday. Hubby's decided to join me, at least for this week ... wants to fix the attic window for me, replace the locks and the door, etc, so that I'll be safe up there. It's going to be SUCH a ~fun~ week!

And - by the way - as flip /uncaring/coping as this post probably sounds, you can rest assured - especially you, tenant who promised not to let me down, not to prove me wrong and hubby right, etc etc - I am trying my damnedest to stay mad ...and bitchy .... in reality I am absolutely and completely devastated by what you have done to my beautiful old house. The only house that I ever bought...painted... owned.... MY house.

just. devastated.

So ...Tamara... you came up with Dirt Squirrel ...got a name for this one yet?

Monday 24 June 2013

Homeless in the GTA: Finding affordable housing especially tough for women

Another article about the lack of "affordable housing" in the Toronto Star today.

Geez, I wish people would WAKE UP and LISTEN!!!!

A big part of the problem is NOT affordability. As several commenters on the article have noted, there are plenty of places listed for rent in Oshawa in the less than $700/ month range.

As I have explained many, many times, both here and in the many letters and emails I have sent to reporters and to politicians -  only one of whom has deigned to even respond (and that was a I'll look into it and get back to you later) - while affordability is ONE issue, it is far FAR from the only one....

for small landlords in Ontario, it makes no sense whatsoever to rent to tenants like the woman described in the article.

Even if she could afford a considerably higher priced apartment, landlords still wouldn't rent to her.

“Most landlords don’t want to rent to people from shelters. Bad credit is another problem; many people have been evicted in the past. It makes it very hard to find places for these women. It’s a long process (to get into affordable housing). If they are not abused, just homeless, they have to wait years and years, with no other option than rental properties.”


Bad credit, evictions, children.... and a "fair & balanced system" that does not and will not support landlords if/when there are problems...

oh yeah... and your only income source is one that we can't garnishee. Uh yeah.... will get RIGHT on that.

As long as the LTB and the Sheriff's Offices think it's just hunky dory fine to take months to do their jobs (if they even bother) so that when there is a problem, it doesn't get resolved until it's cost us THOUSANDS ... and as long as they slow down even moreso the instant there is a child involved....

As long as the entire system demands that we continue to provide these people with all amenities to which they would be entitled if they were paying rent when they are not...

As long as OW/ODSP continues to pay shelter allowances to people who don't pay shelter COSTS (your tax dollars at work) and therefore add to the motivation to screw landlords over...

HOW could you possibly expect me to rent to these people?

I am a left wing, card carrying member of the NDP. I have worked for years and years in social services. I have housed single moms and women with serious mental illnesses in my own home, even.  And I have rented to people with disabilities, mental illnesses, and yes, single moms...

I would love to be able to continue to do so.

It sickens me that I cannot.

But I can't afford to take the risk as long as the situation remains as it is in Ontario.

I am not unique....  well, aside from the fact that I am a leftie  - definitely a minority among the landlords I know....

when it gets so bad that even I could not/would not do a dang thing for women like the one featured in the article, you know it's bad.

The Liberal government can tell us all they want that the system is "fair & balanced" ... it is most assuredly not.....   and I am so very sorry that this means that children are sleeping in parks and shelters .... but hey ...I have been trying to get someone to listen. I have offered low/no cost solutions....  things that would make it possible for me to rent to people on assistance again...

but no one listens. So hey....what can I do?

Discriminate, or sell. Got any other ideas?







Wednesday 19 June 2013

If I make a bad choice in who to rent to....

Thought I would unpack that statement - "if I make a bad choice in who to rent to..." which I used in yesterday's blog post - a little bit more...

There's a lot that can be said about it, actually.

First of all, given the Ontario Liberal's messed up notion of "fair & balanced" which results in lengthy and expensive delays in evicting tenants who fail to pay rent, and the fact that OW and ODSP are totally non-coverable, clearly, renting to anyone in receipt of assistance is a huge risk that most small landlords cannot possibly justify.

Which sucks - my preference, actually, tends to be people that really need a break - and especially, single moms. I was there...raised my kids on my own from before the youngest was born until they were more or less growed up.

We have a 3 bedroom and a 4 bedroom - and both of them were rented to single moms on OW and I - stupidly - was fine with that; in fact, I gave them preference because they needed it more than other applicants. If you've read my blog, you'll know how well that turned out..... NOT.  Won't be doing that again!

So ... bad choice #1 is clearly anyone on any sort of government assistance that can't be garnisheed.

But there is more to the issue.

We landlords talk a lot about credit checks also - no credit check, no rental agreement. But what concerns me about that is the fact that in the case of deadbeats like my oh so charming dirt squirrel, even if someone actually does a credit check on her, her debt to me will not show up. At all.

I have yet to find a way to ensure that the orders against her get to her credit report. I've been told, actually, that the credit reporting agencies won't even take LTB orders! Don't know if that's so ... a collections agency that called here wanting to chase after any deadbeat customers we might have told me that they could get it onto her credit report ... and harass her some... but honestly ... if I'm already out >$9000 ... now you want me to pay MORE money I'll never get back for the privilege of harassing them?  If I won the lottery, I probably would make that one of my first purchases, just cuz ... but since I haven't won the lottery, I think not. Better things to do with my money that throw it down that particular toilet.

And did y'know that there is no way to search for people's eviction/LTB history? Landlords names are posted all over the damn place cuz we are money sucking evil and have no right to privacy - tenants' names are, however, totally confidential.

So unless a case becomes SO notorious that it garners the interest from someone at the Toronto Star....I'm thinking Nina Willis, of course....  it's all a great big secret.

Now, I'm not suggesting that every individual that gets evicted or has orders against them at the LTB should have their name published all over the damn place ....  I actually think that even deadbeats and squatters should have some rights to privacy (or at least their poor kids should - they have enough to deal with already).

But seriously.... how is it fair that landlords are given no reasonable, legal way to check whether an individual is a serial offender/professional deadbeat/dirt squirrel?

I pay taxes which support the Government of Ontario's services - including the LTB, Sheriff's Office, and OW/ODSP. I pay more taxes to support my municipalities' enforcement people (which the ds used to harass us).

When things go bad, none of these agencies to whom I am required to support BOTH through my taxes and user fees help within any sort of reasonable time frame. My 5 month experience is, from all of my research, average at best... if anything, it's probably toward the lower end! OW/ODSP don't help at ALL - in fact, they create part of the problem by continuing to provide the tenant with a winfall for every month they are not paying shelter....  extra money to spend on whatever we want ...WOO HOO!!!

So if you're going to take my money and then not help me ... how 'bout you at LEAST give me a way to know what kind of nightmare I'm about to get myself into?

By refusing landlords any access to such information, you are enabling the deadbeats to STEAL from us.....  and the people you are hurting the most are not the landlords, actually ... but marginalized people who do pay their rent and do need a break... .but who increasingly can't get it because the system is so freaking ~fair & balanced~

And I'm sorry, but telling me that there are laws against discrimination so I can't discriminate against people on OW/ODSP? That is SO not a solution.... but it's way past my bedtime, so that's a post that will have to wait for another day.

Back to my original point... it is pretty damn easy to make a bad choice re: who to rent to...we're not allowed to have the information we need in order to making informed choices. We're also pretty limited in that we can't tell our tenants who they're allowed to hook up with ...so even if we take a chance on a single mom, for example... if she eventually gets into a relationship with someone who has no qualms about bragging that it took his last landlord a year to get him out... nothing I can do about that.

It does not seem fair to me to punish landlords for making bad choices about who to rent to when the agencies we pay (both through taxes and user fees) withhold information, restrict our ability to deal with issues, and hold our properties hostage for months/years while they generate that oh so special useless order that is supposed to solve everything.

Gotta love landlording in Ontario, eh?









Monday 27 May 2013

Too Funny

DS found my blog and called and complained to the Midland Police (wrong police department for this area, hon... but thanks for letting me know where you are; good to know).

Have, at his request, fixed the one place where her actual name was included, which was, actually, in a direct quote from a police officer that actually knew her name - the one that called today had a different name for her, apparently.  Interesting - I suppose when one makes a habit of ripping people off, the use of a number of different names makes sense.

Funny how DS didn't have any hesitation to use our names to spread lies, but objects to having any of hers in any way associated with the truth, eh?  Funny - but again, not surprising.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Just a little ~oopsie~ .... but not to worry....

.... the media release assures us that "no Ontario Works clients will be short-changed."  Of course not... the only parties likely to be short changed and never have a snowball's hope in hell of fixing it are the landlords - you know, the ones stupid enough to rent to anyone on assistance so that when it all goes to hell in a handbasket they're left out to dry with no help and no hope of recovery.

We FINALLY have a new tenant moving into the apartment the squatters were in... not on OW, thank goodness...

FINALLY might be able to breathe... pay bills... eat... all that good stuff...

and here we go again.

The tenants in our other house are, in fact, on direct pay. Don't know yet if we're affected - but you can be we won't be sleeping well until we find out.

But hey, no worries. No Ontario Works clients will be shortchanged.

And we landlords, well we just don't count for sh*t here in Ontario, do we? Clearly, that is exactly the case.

So ... now I've sent 2 emails to Kathleen Wynne, 1 to Andrea Horwath, and 2 to the ministry (2nd one just today) .... perhaps I should start a pool on when I'll get a response and from whom?

I am not holding my breath.

Have NEVER had such poor responses from politicians as I have since I began writing about Landlord Tenant issues ... interesting, hmmm?

Saturday 20 April 2013

Brighter Prospects?

Read a little bit of Ontario Report "Brighter Prospects" ...a report by the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance prepared by Commissioners Frances Lanken and Munir A. Sheikh.

Was looking, of course, specifically for what it says about housing in Ontario. Disappointing. Extremely so, in fact. This section of the report, on page 90 if you're interested, shows a total lack of understanding of WHY people on assistance are having difficulty accessing affordable housing.

Which is not surprising, as they apparently consulted with "stakeholders" -  i.e. people on assistance, most of whom have extremely limited understanding of why landlords refuse to rent to them, having rarely had the opportunity to be on the other side of the landlord-tenant relationship. My perspective - back when I was a single mother (albeit working, rather than on assistance) was very different than it is now that I am on the other side of the deal - I did not have a CLUE...

So it does not surprise me that the majority of low income people seeking housing don't get it.

The others who were provided the opportunity for input, however, should have done better.

Better yet, someone should have asked the landlords what the problem is and how to fix it. Because I'm sorry, but the recommendation that is offered will not do it. What they are suggesting is a housing benefit for not only those on assistance, but "all people with low-incomes." 

Guess what? We will still refuse to offer affordable housing to people on assistance. Those of us who have been burned - and all of those who haven't but have heard about our experiences and realize how easily it could happen to them - will continue to rent to people with jobs and NOT to people on OW/ODSP.  It doesn't matter how much money you give to people on assistance in Ontario for rent - it is not worth the risk, and we know it.

And you can cry discrimination and make laws against discrimination all you want - but the reality is that not all landlords are independently wealthy. Many, like me, cannot AFFORD to provide housing to people on assistance - because when it goes bad, it goes really, REALLY bad, and there is no help at all for us in Ontario. Everyone wants money - but no one actually DOES anything to help, at least not in any reasonable period of time.

The money that my last tenant-from-hell cost me was about 1/3 of my gross income for a year. Gross. Not net. How would YOU like to take a hit like that? Yeah, I thought not.

At least, if you rent to someone with a job and a good credit rating and it goes bad, you have some small hope of recovery. It might take a long time and a lot of hassle - but we will eventually likely get at least some of our money back.

If you rent to someone with neither of those things, when it goes bad, you get to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars  - and continue to provide them with housing and all amenities for the months it takes to get them out - and for the damages they do during that time.... and you have ZERO chance of recovery at the end of it. Ever.

It is not even worth paying to file the order that the Legalized Theft Board will eventually give you against them ...which is a shame, as it means that the orders don't show up on their credit ratings so other people learn the hard way too....

We pay taxes which go to support people on OW and ODSP. Our taxes also support, presumably, the agencies which go out of their way to protect the poor helpless tenants against the big bad landlords - the Legalized Theft Board, the Sheriff's Office, the police, local by-law officials and so on ....

Guess what?

People don't get to be in the position of having money and credit to buy properties to rent by being stupid.

Chance of recovery vs no possibility of recovery - who would YOU rent to?

If the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance actually wanted to make recommendations to address the difficulties of finding housing for marginalized people they should talk to the landlords. Stop by the http://ontariolandlords.org/forum/  why don't you?

The problems CAN be fixed ... but not by giving low income people more money, sorry. Won't work.

There are some relatively simple measures which would drastically improve the situation ... but it seems that no one wants to hear them; most can't even be bothered to respond to emails.

I don't claim to have all the answers ...but I DO have suggestions:

  • As soon as a landlord reports an issue with a tenant's rent to their OW/ODSP worker, their shelter allowance should be STOPPED pending resolution. Hold it in trust until the issue is resolved by the LTB, then distribute it as per the order
  • individuals who have demonstrated their inability to manage their housing independently should be on direct pay (rent paid directly to landlords) AND required to provide 60 days notice to landlord and worker before shelter allowances can be redirected
  • If you really feel the need to throw money at the problem, I would suggest that it would be better used to create a fund which could guarantee tenancies. For example, if my tenant has messed up and needs assistance to save their housing, the fund would pay the shortfall - and - so as to reduce abuse - require that they pay it back through a small monthly deduction. Expecting landlords to eat it every time a tenant doesn't pay their rent is not reasonable.
  • The LTB needs an attitude adjustment. Their role is to implement the RTA - NOT to assist tenants to screw landlords and to provide worthless orders. There should be timelines for hearings - it is not reasonable to allow lengthy delays. And they should treat all parties with respect. Yes, even landlords.
  • The Sheriff's Office is a joke. When evictions are ordered, they need to happen - even if it happens to be winter, or December, or someone's week off or what-the-hell-ever.  If the Sheriff's Office can't handle that, then end their monopoly; allow us to pay someone else to execute the order. And again - some training re: treating people with respect wouldn't hurt. I'd be happy to contribute to it through my taxes.


 

Sunday 17 February 2013

9 Things Your Landlord Won't Tell You

Followed a link to an article called Nine Things Your Landlord Won't Tell You on Huffington Post - tried to respond in a comment but the site was wonky and was getting frustrated... so here is my response instead.

Don't know if I'll manage Nine... but lets see, shall we?

However Many Things Your Landlord WILL Tell You:
  1. The rent you are asked to pay is used to pay the bills on the house you live in. I know it doesn't seem like it - but trust me, darling, owning a home costs more money than you think. In addition to the cost of carrying the mortgage, utitlities and maintenance and repair - which, you presumably have some awareness of? - there are things that, if you've never owned a home, you might not be aware of. The insurance, for example, costs us a heck of a lot more on a house someone else lives in that it would on one that we live in... as in close to 3x as much. And then there are property taxes, of course.
  2. Most landlords do charge slightly higher than the bare minimum required to cover the expenses of the unit though - that is because we've learned that almost every single tenant will screw us over one way or another, so we have to build in a cushion to try to cover that.
  3. When you don't pay your rent, we still have to pay the mortgage, property taxes, hydro, water, gas, insurance, maintenance & repairs on YOUR home - even if that means that we don't have anything left to pay for ours.
  4. When you withhold some portion of your rent because of unexpected expenses like a car repair, cell phone bill, medical emergency, bus pass you had to replace... whatever... you are essentially borrowing money from us - without our consent. We are often sorry about your bad luck - but not so fond of having it visited on us.
  5. Last month's rent is collected not because we are mean, and trying to keep you from finding a place to live but to protect both of us. If you ever actually bothered to give proper notice when you left, you would have last month's rent available for the next landlord, and it wouldn't be such an issue for you. Hey - here's a thought   - if you actually gave proper notice when you were moving, not only would you have your last month's rent back with interest, you could probably also have a really good reference. You know...because it is so rare.
  6. When you give notice that you want to move on, we typically wish you well and start looking for new tenants. If you change your mind, you really do need to try to come to some agreement with us - and the nastier and uglier you are about this, the less likely we are going to work out such an agreement.
  7. There are these really big smelly trucks that come by every week to pick up your garbage. All you have to do is get it to the curb on the right day of the week. Storing your garbage in the back yard, or worse, in the house, means the smell stays in the unit and doesn't go away. It really is not that hard, honest. And if you'd just make that little bit of effort, your landlord will love you for it. Really!
  8. Problems that are small are a lot easier to fix than problems that have been allowed to get big and ugly. We really do appreciate it when you let us know about problems before they turn into crises.
  9. The reason you have a hard time finding reasonable landlords is because so many of us have been screwed sooooooooooooooo many times. There is no support for landlords, really. When there is a problem, the landlord is required to pay lots of extra money to the agencies that are supposed to help to solve the problem - but they really don't. If we're really, really lucky, after we pay all that money to jump through all the hoops, all we wind up with is a useless piece of paper, which we have to pay more money to try to collect from you.
  10. We know that YOU would never ever screw us over, make a mess, damage our property, let your kitty and your dog and your children stink up and/or decorate the joint, refuse to pay rent, deal drugs out of our homes, etc etc .... but you know, every single tenant we've ever rented to has promised all those same things you're promising.  

So yeah... there are some pretty unreasonable landlords out there...and then there are others, like us, who have decided to just not bother any more. Congratulations... you win.  Don't have a lot of reasonable housing options any more?  Well gee, I wonder how THAT happened?!

Sunday 3 February 2013

Legalized Theft


Legalized theft – while I am willing to concede that this is not the actual intent of Landlord & Tenant Board Legislation in Ontario, this is, in fact, the reality. The system is broken.  

If someone books a hotel room, pays for one night, and then the next day, refuses to either pay or leave, are they permitted to stay there for months on end, continuing to pay nothing, while enjoying all the amenities that the hotel has to offer? Of course not. The hotel calls the police, and the person is ejected, and quite possibly charged.

And yet, when my tenants give notice that they will be moving out at the end of the month and then fail to leave, what happens? Absolutely nothing.

Not only am I unable to have the police assist me to eject those who are now stealing from me, they are able to call the police and any number of other community agencies, all of whom insist that I, as a landlord, am required to continue to provide my now ex-tenants with the amenities to which they were entitled while paying rent, and, as if that weren’t enough, they also continue to be entitled to the “enjoyment” of “their” home.

I was able to get an ex parte eviction order, after paying the $170 fee to do so, of course – unfortunately, the Sheriff, in Ontario, is the only one that can legally evict the tenant and they don’t seem to be the least bit interested in actually doing their jobs. Certainly not during the month of December, in any case…. They’ll get to it when they get to it. I had thought perhaps it was simply the Barrie Sheriff’s office which couldn’t be bothered, but a simple Google search shows that this is a common issue throughout the province.

Weeks pass…during which the tenants figure out how to file for a stay of the eviction order. So now I’ve paid $170 for the order which is stayed, plus $401 for the eviction which never happens, and of course, I must continue to pay all of the tenants’ utilities, and ensure that they have heat and water and hydro. Oh, and another $170 for an order re: the outstanding rent and damages.

Makes no never mind at all that they have not paid a single cent since a partial payment in October, or that they gave notice for the end of November, or that they are running around town bragging about how they’re getting away with screwing us over. Nobody cares that our Christmas was ruined and that we don’t have money to pay our own bills – just as long as we keep paying the bills for the tenants.

They demand that we repair the appliances they destroyed, the wall they ripped out, the patio door they demolished – and when we do make repairs, they immediately trash everything again. We, on the other hand, are told by police that we may no longer use our own basement unit because our running of the vacuum cleaner downstairs interferes with their enjoyment.

Seriously?! How is this in any way reasonable?

Perhaps we should just unlock the doors to the basement unit and let them have that too, since we can’t use it?

Maybe we should just sign over the deed – at least that way we wouldn’t have to keep paying for the insurance, taxes and utilities.

At any rate, eventually we do have the hearing. The instructions say that one must sign in by 9 am, and provide 3 copies of any evidence to be offered, and we do that. She, on the other hand, does not, turning up several minutes into the proceedings of our case. The hearing goes reasonably well – or so I thought. Turns out, not so much.

The adjudicator ruled that the male of the couple – the one that actually works, from whom we might eventually be able to garnishee wages to recoup some of the now $5000 and rising we have lost – is not a tenant of the unit. Had he mentioned that he was considering this, I would have had the opportunity to address the issue, and provide my evidence to the contrary. But this, apparently, was a secret. Not only that, even though the adjudicator found that my affidavit as to having received notice for the end of November was credible, and her denial was not, he decided that due to her circumstances it was “not unfair” to permit her extra time. So he extended her totally free tenancy to on or after 16 February.

How very charitable of him.

Toss out our only chance of repayment without so much as a discussion – and then decide that they should remain in the unit, on our dime, for an extra month.

Plus, of course, whatever time it takes the Sheriff to actually do his job this time; a minimum, they tell me, of 5 days, but probably longer.

So -  a partial payment of rent in October, and then not a cent more, and we’re on the hook until basically the end of February. But not to worry, we’ll get “an order”, which thanks to the oh so charitable adjudicator, is not even worth the stamp they used to mail it. To add insult to injury, after all this, they even get credit for their last month's rent - so what is the point of even collecting that?

But hey, I can spend another $50 to ask for a review of the decision.

And even if John is not added back onto the order, I can spend another couple of hundred dollars to enter my order against Christine in Small Claims Court. Perhaps someday she might actually get a job that I could garnishee. Not likely – and how would I ever find out about it? 

And in the meantime, they continue squatting in our house – now with heaters and other appliances running nonstop from every plug, and the windows wide open. And there is not a blessed thing we can do about it. I did call the OPP to ask for assistance with this, but it’s been 5+ hours now and they haven’t bothered to call me back.

Because nobody cares if deadbeats steal from landlords in Ontario.

The system is a complete and utter joke.

It is a disgrace.

OK, now THAT is just funny. I just called the OPP again ... guy asked the address, and said "Is this ------?"  Apparently she called them too - presumably to whine that I yelled at J about having a lot of nerve to be so rude to me when they are the ones who have stolen more than $6,000 from us, and that I slammed the door when I left.  Newsflash - even though you've changed the lock and refused to give us a key, it is still our door, in our house. I have a heck of a lot more right to slam the door than she does.

Or I should have, if this wasn't Ontario, where tenants have all the rights, and landlords have none at all.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Tenant Tip #1

Here's a tip for tenants - especially tenants-from-hell.

If you gave notice and then refused to leave, pay rent, OR stop harassing your landlords and destroying the repairs YOU DEMANDED THEY MAKE...

when you see them in passing, do NOT bother to nod courteously... it will most assuredly NOT help anything... and in fact, it might infuriate the landlord (you know, those people you are stealing from) and make them want to go pound your face in SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Penguins

No doubt this mess is far from over - but did get a bit of penguin worthy news today....

The ex parte order for eviction has been issued and will be in a mailbox by "the end of today."

Another fun day

Another fun visit to the house in yet another attempt to respond to the squatter's maintenance demands. Notice was given on Monday that we would be there today at 11.

We showed up with the deputy fire chief - he was there at our request, as we wanted to address her concern about the "fire hazard" .... the snippet of her note is actually very funny if y'ask me... what she neglects to mention is that they demanded the deck be removed and did most of the work; the patio door was fixed when they moved in - with a brand spanking new handle, even - and THEY broke it; and the 2 inside doors she "needs" for the bedrooms she has no right to be using anyway are CLOSET doors, 1 of them for a closet which has actually never had a door because it is an odd configuration.

Is there something in the Landlord and Tenant's Act that says bedroom closets must have doors?

Anyway ... her whole list is complete & utter nonsense, but I've covered that already, so....

We do, however, need to address the issues around the patio door - they've knocked it off its track so there is a gap to the outside and that will not do under Tay Township property standards.

Our plan WAS to reseat the doors and then seal them up, but since the squatter not only refused to leave as per the notice, she brought in her very mouthy and aggressive sister, we were unable to have R. enter the unit to make any repairs at all... another conversation caught on video ...boring though, just so you know.

So we wound up once again having to fix it only from the outside... did the best we could without access to the interior, and, of course, without spending copious amounts of money, since we don't actually have copious amounts of money and are, in fact, now in the hole by $2900 and counting.

Won't be at all surprised if J. removes it again.... but police officer, bylaw officer and fire chief all now have documented that we have addressed her concerns for her safety.

Anyway .... once we got back home, was sitting here trying to do some other work and the thought just crossed my mind....what if the fax didn't actually go through? 

I did get (and keep) the confirmation slip ... but still..... shit happens .....and honestly, in my life, shit happens a LOT.... what a NIGHTMARE that would be ... if we were sitting here waiting out the week to ten days it supposedly takes to get an ex parte order or, God forbid, a hearing date....

Anyway ... since I was having an anxiety attack, I called the Board - CS person told me that there was nothing showing yet (OMG!?!?!) ... but not to worry ...that just means it hasn't been processed yet... can take up to 72 hours from time it's received, blah blah blah....

not to worry? uh yeah.... no....    So she is going to email the office I faxed it to (Barrie area is covered by the Mississauga office) and ask someone to call and let me know either way. So NOW I am sitting here waiting to hear back from them.... fully aware it won't likely be as quick as I would like it to be though.

What a freaking NIGHTMARE!

Anyone wanna buy a house?

Saturday 1 December 2012

Our Recourse

So... another post in the ongoing saga of how much I love being a landlord.

Once it became clear that this ~charming~ young lady has no intention of vacating our apartment, nor paying any rent, nor cleaning up her garbage, nor allowing us access to the unit unless we bring the police along, I was off to the Landlord and Tenant Board site to see what our options are.

We could file for eviction on the second notice N5 (L2 - $170) but that requires a hearing, and realistically, the woman I spoke to on the phone told me, it is unlikely that we would even get a hearing before Christmas. She suggested that I file an Application to Terminate a Tenancy - Tenant Gave Notice or Agreed to Terminate the Tenancy Form L3, which will be completed on Monday, 3-Dec... just need the town office to be open so that I can have my affidavit sworn.  Will do that first thing tomorrow, then come back here and fax the application.

Has been a bit of a challenge getting fax set up, but seem to have that running now... at least for outgoing.

Tomorrow, Bell Canada will activate my new identi-call service, and then will try to figure out how to make the fax pick up only on that ring.

A working fax machine seems very necessary right now.

Another tool that I have found extremely helpful as we work through this tenant-from-hell nonsense, is NitroPDF.

I used to have a licensed version of this software and loved it, but lost it in one crash or another... but when I was dealing with the Landlord and Tenant Board forms and getting SO frustrated at being unable to save the pdf forms once they were filled in, I went looking for it again.

Have downloaded a free two week trial and honestly, it is SUCH a relief to not have to keep retyping the stupid forms every time I need to make a change ...and to be able to pull up and reprint copies of what I need rather than have to get so freaking stressed out about keeping track of the forms.... can never seem to put my hands on the one I want when I want it.

I have ~plenty~ of stress right now.... don't need more! It's a small thing, but Nitro helps to reduce my stress...am very glad I thought to go find it again. STILL think it's ridiculous that LTB site doesn't provide saveable forms though!  Or allow us to send/receive stuff by email!

It's not bad enough we're paying taxes so that deadbeats like CS and company can ruin MY family's Christmas by stealing thousands of dollars out of our pockets - and the incoming tenant's Christmas as well....  you would think that the LTB could go just the wee bit further to make things just a bit more convenient for the landlords that are expected to bear the brunt off all the costs associated with this nonsense!

Rescinding Notice

Gotta love it.

Our current tenant-from-hell received an N5 re: the mess in the yard on 10-Oct. She did not clean it up, so we were well within our right to file for an eviction - but I didn't BECAUSE she gave notice.

Less than 60 days notice (which is required both by law, and in our rental agreement) and even less than 30 days (which is what we typically actually expect & get) ... but we happily accepted it. She was supposed to be out by 30-Nov. YAY!!

More fool me.

Here it is December 1 and guess what? *sigh*

It has been SUCH a fun week. Or not.

Last Tuesday, I stopped by to tell CS that I would like to show the apartment at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Well in excess of the required 24 hours notice.

She indicated that she didn't have any place to go and "might" want to extend her tenancy. Now, according to the Landlord and Tenant Act I could have just said no. And really, I did want to just say no - for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is shown here:
1-Dec-2012. After having received not one but 2 N5 notices.
But it is December, and she does have small kids, so even though she is a scam artist, thief and royal pain in my butt, I did speak with her about what we would require to allow her to rescind her notice.

Since she used her last month's rent deposit for November, she would need to both pay December's rent and repay the last month's rent deposit. She would also need to work out a plan to repay additional amounts owing, which include $250 withheld for parts for repairs they insisted they wanted to make, and another $250 for the clean  up of the yard and dump fees. That is, btw, more than reasonable and charges her nothing for my husband's labour - the dump fees and garbage tags totalled $175; the remainder was paid to the helper who provided both labour and his truck.

And because I already have a new potential tenant, I very clearly stated, repeatedly, that she would need to let me know what she and her partner (who is not on the lease, and more than likely, also not on record with OW as living there) decided as I needed to let that tenant know what was going on.

Neither confirmation, nor rent of any sort, was forthcoming on Wednesday, so I proceeded to confirm my appointment with the new tenant. On Thursday morning, just to be on the safe side, I asked my husband to stop by and remind her that we were coming, which he did.

When hubby, I & the new tenant arrived, CS' sister - a particularly ~lovely~ young woman - not only denied us access, she also informed us that CS would not be moving, and that if we did attempt to enter the unit, she would "sic" the rottweiler (brought in to visit especially for the purpose; it doesn't normally live there) on us.

We called the police, who eventually arrived and refused to force the issue because - stupid me - I gave CS the notice and didn't think to snap a picture of her accepting it, I guess - won't make that mistake again.  We served yet another 24 notice for access on Friday, at which time, with police again in attendance, I served CS with another N5 re: the condition of the yard, and received from her a list of items she wants repaired (SO worth another post all of its own!) and finally a key to the front door (which we have been asking for for more than a month).

Must. Love. Landlording.