Repercussions for secondary suite that is not up to code?

[WesternCanadaKing]

So my former roomate and I are having some serious issues with our old landlord, they are not only unwilling to return our deposit but are attempting to charge extra after deposit deductions. They are saying that the cleaning we did was not sufficient despite the fact that we scrubbed that house and left it in better condition than we got it (which was not exactly clean and shiny). They are not budging on this however, so we are thinking we are going to threaten to report them to the city for a suite that is not up to code as a last resort. So my question is what sort of repercussions could they face for having a bedroom without a window to the outside? I have tried googling this but have failed to find anything in the form of fines they could have. I just want to be sure that this is something that will actually make them reconsider.

Thanks!

[4X4]

Did you and the landlord do a walk through when you rented and a walk through when you vacated?

[KTrain]

They can't advertise the suite as a multi-room apartment if one of the bedrooms doesn't have a window. That would cause them to have to decrease their rental rate.

Regardless of outcome I think you should call the city. Those are the types of suites that give legitimate basement suites a bad name and could potentially lead to someones death. That's extremely rare but I wouldn't want to be the person that could have prevented an accident that lead to a death.

[Dion]

If a landlord does not carry out an inspection either before or after the tenancy, he cannot deduct anything from a security deposit for damages that go beyond normal wear and tear. It might still be possible for the landlord to return your security deposit and then sue you for any damage caused.

If your landlord makes a deduction from your security deposit for damages when an inspection was not carried out, you can take legal action to recover the money. It will then be up to the court to decide if the landlord is able to keep any of the money.

http://tenant.landlordandtenant.org/...nspection.aspx

As a tenant, you can make a complaint about a suspected offence to Service Alberta who will investigate the matter. The landlord can be prosecuted for the offence and fined up to $5,000. At the trial, the landlord can be ordered to pay all or part of the security deposit that is owed, together with interest. If the landlord does not comply with the court order, you can enter the order as a judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench and enforce the order as if it were a judgment from the Court of Queen's Bench. This means that you can take advantage of a garnishee procedure that allows for the attachment of wages or a bank account to pay a judgment. For more information, see Alberta Courts - Court of Queen's Bench - Publications and Forms - Getting and Collecting Your Judgment in Alberta.

http://tenant.landlordandtenant.org/..._offences.aspx

[WesternCanadaKing]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Did you and the landlord do a walk through when you rented and a walk through when you vacated?

Yes, I did one with someone that the company sent out. He was only there to complete the assessment and was not the same person who did the move in. When I asked him he said that returning the deposit shouldn't be a problem. Then I received an e-mail from the management company saying it wasn't good enough and we would be charged an additional $159.50. When I called them to discuss it they said it wasn't negotiable.

[4X4]

Did you keep your copy of that walk through?

[WesternCanadaKing]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Did you keep your copy of that walk through?

Yes, I kept a scanned copy on my computer. It is very obvious in reviewing it that different standards were used for 'clean' on the move out compared to the move in.

We understand the legal route that we can take but we're trying to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. We're both starting classes soon and don't have time for this sort of thing. At this point I'm thinking I'll just report them to the city anyway.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by WesternCanadaKing

Yes, I kept a scanned copy on my computer. It is very obvious in reviewing it that different standards were used for 'clean' on the move out compared to the move in.

Is this personal at all? Or is the landlord just a total dbag?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by WesternCanadaKing

Yes, I kept a scanned copy on my computer. It is very obvious in reviewing it that different standards were used for 'clean' on the move out compared to the move in.

We understand the legal route that we can take but we're trying to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. We're both starting classes soon and don't have time for this sort of thing. At this point I'm thinking I'll just report them to the city anyway.

My sister, who runs a maid service company in town here, always insists that there is only one standard for clean, and the rest are just different standards for dirty.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Rathji

My sister, who runs a maid service company in town here, always insists that there is only one standard for clean, and the rest are just different standards for dirty.

I have more than two grades of laundry. There's not just clean and dirty, there are many subtle levels.
-Dr Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters 2

[LGA]

My landlord did the same thing despite the fact that we repainted the ceiling/walls on top of cleaning the suite. Our case went to arbitration where the arbitrator ruled in favour of us on the basis that the landlord did not have sufficient evidence to show that she had any reason for her to withhold the damage deposit or for her to charge us extra. If you have documentation/evidence to show that you left the place in better condition than you took it then you should have nothing to worry about.

Some landlords are just dinks who will try to squeeze every penny out of their tenants that they can. Hope everything works out for you.

[rd_aaron]

Originally Posted by WesternCanadaKing

Yes, I did one with someone that the company sent out. He was only there to complete the assessment and was not the same person who did the move in. When I asked him he said that returning the deposit shouldn't be a problem. Then I received an e-mail from the management company saying it wasn't good enough and we would be charged an additional $159.50. When I called them to discuss it they said it wasn't negotiable.

It's probably not worth fighting over $160. Just move out, report them, and move on.

[4X4]

I hate crappy landlords as much as I hate crappy tenants. Usually crappy tenants are crappy because they've been screwed in the past and become jaded.

[Ducay]

Wait, they're using a property management company to rent out a basement suite that isn't even to code? I'd report them either way, no windows is a horrible accident waiting to happen. Email service Alberta as mentioned, I'd even toss out an email to the property management company mentioning how this sounds like a great CTV news piece

[Knalus]

Just laugh at them. Charging extra over and on top of the damage deposit? For cleaning? That's absurd. Utterly absurd.


Would landlords be able to affect your credit without going through the courts?

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Knalus

Just laugh at them. Charging extra over and on top of the damage deposit? For cleaning? That's absurd. Utterly absurd.


Would landlords be able to affect your credit without going through the courts?

That is exactly what I did when I moved a couple years ago. I was living in a unit that I kept in reasonable shape. I moved out, cleaned the place, yet they sent me a bill not only stating that I would not receive my damage deposit back, but that I would be billed an additional $1000 for extra cleaning (my favorite was an extra $500 to take out the garbage, ie dirt that got left on the carpet during the move). I was blown away considering I kept the place in good shape. I called their office, told them it was freaking ridiculous, and come after me if they wanted to.

A couple days later I got letter from them saying that I owed them nothing.

[photon]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I hate crappy landlords as much as I hate crappy tenants. Usually crappy tenants are crappy because they've been screwed in the past and become jaded.

Wait, that's how I became a crappy jaded landlord!

[photon]

Originally Posted by Knalus

Just laugh at them. Charging extra over and on top of the damage deposit? For cleaning? That's absurd. Utterly absurd.

Would landlords be able to affect your credit without going through the courts?

Depends, the last moveout walkthrough I did the tenants ended up owing me 50% more than their security deposit, and most of that was from cleaning and hauling junk away (they knew it was coming, they told me to go ahead and charge them).

Heck the carpet cleaning alone was over $500, that's how bad they left it.

And the carpet from the main floor to the basement will just have to be replaced; they seemed to have used it for a dog run.

I don't think landlords can affect credit unless they go through the courts, I'd have to sue and get a judgment first I think then when they don't pay there might be something I could do.

[Ashartus]

In this age of digital photography, if I was a landlord or a tenant I'd take pictures of absolutely everything (date-stamped) during both the pre- and post-occupancy inspections; that way there'd be something to go on.

[photon]

Lol have you seen what passes for photography among landlords? The ads for renting look like they were taken with a 5 year old webcam, if they tried to use those for inspections..

Court: "By the photographic evidence, the property is currently filled with muddy water"