Evicting a tenant, best way to do it? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Gundo · 08-01-2012, 12:34 PM

I have a Condo I own in a town in the Grande Prarie area that I rented out in January for 1 year to the current tenants. I have had numerous issues with them such as

- still oweing half the damage deposit
- being about 6 weeks behind in payment
- rental agreement was signed for 3 people living there, sounds like 5 are currently there.
- yard is in shambles
- complains from the Condo board about fighting, people coming and going at all hours and being exsessivly loud.

What would be the best way to evict these dirt balls? And does anyone have any tips on the best way to do so and get a walk through of the house. This is a learning process for me and I want to make sure all my stuff is in order to get them out as soon as possible.

Northendzone · 08-01-2012, 12:46 PM

i am no law talking guy, but does the lease address any of these situations?

GP_Matt · 08-01-2012, 12:56 PM

I use a rental company in GP for that kind of thing. PM me if you want a contact.

Derek Sutton · 08-01-2012, 01:02 PM

what a run around, basically they can live there for the next three months rent free from when they are served, cause all sorts of damage and etc.. then the BS starts. Just change the locks and let them know that all there stuff is on the front lawn, then let them take you to court, chances are they can't be bothered and will just move on.

mykalberta · 08-01-2012, 01:05 PM

They still owe money on the damage deposit after Feb 1 and they are still in there?

Regular_John · 08-01-2012, 01:15 PM

The useful answer:
www.landlordandtenant.org

The troll answer:
Have you considered fire?

Teh_Bandwagoner · 08-01-2012, 01:16 PM

Unless you live in GP a property manager is the way to go.

He is in default of rent and have likely violated a number of clauses in your agreement, so either you or your property manager must go and serve 2 weeks notice, preferrably in person. I think taping a letter to their door is okay too.

Once you've done that, go through the steps shown here:

http://www.servicealberta.ca/rtdrs/d...dure_Chart.pdf

Here are the first set of forms you will need to fill out. Make sure you attach and label all your evidence as noted. Go to the local courthouse, pay the $75 filing fee (which you can claim in the form as well), and they'll set a court date for you sometime after your 2 weeks notice. Note: Can't claim late fees. You can try, but the judge will just throw those out.

http://www.servicealberta.ca/rtdrs/d...L_Poss_App.pdf

The courthouse will have you serve the papers to the tenant. I think you have 3 tries to give it to them in person prior to the court date before you're allowed to just tape it to the door. Either way there's a minimum number of attempts. So if you don't live in GP, someone will have to do it for you.

On the court date, let them know that you've properly served them. You'll then meet with a judge. The judge should rule in your favour, especially if the guy doesn't show up. Are there kids living in the home? That might make it a bit harder. Decide what you want to do with the tenant. If you just want them to catch up on rent, you can have a payment plan court ordered. If they miss a payment as noted in the order, you then have the right to call a bailiff and evict them. Or if you just want them out and evicted right away, you can do that too.

Either way, if you want them out or if they're in breach of the payment plan, you can serve them eviction notice. 48 hours and then you can call a bailiff.

Just went through this recently. But for me my tenant was just late on rent, so I just forced her into a payment plan, of which she's been complying. The second I think she's screwing me over, I'm within my right to evict her immediately. I nipped this in the bud early on. She was only a month behind, but the longer you let these things go, the worse they tend to get.

Ozy_Flame · 08-01-2012, 01:17 PM

PM me if you need a Service Alberta contact. They would deal with these things.

^^^ The above information is probably your best route.

Locke · 08-01-2012, 01:22 PM

Always works.

MolsonInBothHands · 08-01-2012, 01:22 PM

I don't know if this is "the right way" or not, but, to get a regular walk through of the rental property, my father-in-law, would come once in a while to change the furnace filter.

This is the exact reason owning rental property scares the hell out of me though. The cut in margin seems worth it to have a management company deal with this crap.

skudr248 · 08-01-2012, 01:51 PM

hire that "world's worst tenants" guy of spike ? he'll make sure they're out of there!

Teh_Bandwagoner · 08-01-2012, 01:57 PM

A bit more info:

Make sure the first notice you provides outlines all the ways in which they are in violation of the lease. If you just say they're late on rent, and they pay you, you can't take them to court. For you, even if you outline everything, but then they take care of everything within the 2 weeks (clean the yard, no more complaints, pay rent and DD, get rid of the other 2 people), then you can't evict them.

Normally in this case, depending on the type of lease you have, if they're paying rent and generally complying, you would have to ride out the length of the lease, or if you're on month-to-month, you need to give them 3-months notice. BUT, if the condo board keeps getting complaints, they can evict a tenant for you within 30 days. So you may want to keep in contact with the board in case you want them to help you expedite that.

Setting up a walkthrough shouldn't be a problem. You just need to give them 24 hours notice to enter the premises. I don't think you really need to specify a reason. After all, you've gotten complaints.

To Be Quite Honest · 08-01-2012, 02:55 PM

Raise the rent based on 5 people as well.

albertGQ · 08-01-2012, 03:16 PM

Man, when I married my wife we were contemplating whether to keep her condo as a rental or sell it. We ended up selling it. Damn glad we did. I'm not a handy man at all either so it would've been expensive anytime something needed to be fixed

photon · 08-01-2012, 03:28 PM

I just finally got rid of a problem tenant.. Alberta is one of the better provinces law wise, and even then man if they know the law can they ever screw you over. It's even worse in Ontario or BC.

Lesson I learned this time: even if you have a clause in your contract that says if you can't provide possession of the property to the new tenants on time then the landlord isn't responsible, the law says the landlord is responsible (and of course you can't supercede the law).

So, for example, if a tenant is scheduled to move out, and it's rented to new tenants, and the tenant DOESN'T move out as scheduled, then the landlord is responsible for remedying the situation for the new tenants, which may include putting them in a hotel and paying for storage for all their stuff until such a time as the landlord can provide the property or a comparable property.

Fortunately it didn't go that far for me this time, but I thought it was for a while.

AND I'm supposed to be on vacation right now, not dealing with this crap.

A good management company is a good idea, if nothing else it'll force one to look at a rental as a business and consider cash flow and repair budgets and such.

Worst part is I KNEW this one was a risk, but I figured I'd roll the dice. When making a value judgment of vacant month vs. more risky tenant, I can tell you that the risk might seem ok at the time, but when it goes south it's NOT worth the risk. I'd rather have it vacant and wait for the right tenant. Even better is to have properties that aren't a problem to fill with good tenants (which I've learned over time, some of my friends are actually selling and buying different properties to fit this criteria among others).

Sort of OT sorry, but sitting in Saskabush dealing with tenant issues while my kid gets to build sand castles is a bit frustrating.

DownhillGoat · 08-01-2012, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photon

Sort of OT sorry, but sitting in Saskabush is extremely frustrating.

fyp

normtwofinger · 08-01-2012, 05:25 PM

Crap and piss in the heat vents. Oh wait...

1stLand · 08-01-2012, 06:23 PM

I have a funny story I will share.

A client of mine just sold his home and he told me he wanted it sold and not have to rent it out due to problems with tenants he has heard his family and friends go through.

One friend of his couldnt evict a problem tenant who didnt bother to pay him rent for months on end.

It just so happned he knew a biker from a fairly well known gang.

Apparently one day his tenants returned home to find the landlord's biker friend sitting on the couch with his suitcases nearby.

The biker said "I like my beer cold and my steaks on the bbq, looks like we are going to be new roommates".

Needless to say the tenants didnt stay.

8sPOT · 08-02-2012, 07:51 AM

Not intending to derail the thread but there is a lot of great info here.

Quick question, we have a business and we lease the commercial space, it’s a retail store. The owner has the building for sale, and the potential buyer wants to buy the building and kick us out and have his own retail store. We still have a year left on the lease, we are excellent tenants too.

Is this allowed to happen? Apparently the buyer is filing a lawsuit against the seller and naming us as at fault. I’m speaking to our lawyer tomorrow to get all the details but just wondering what some of you tenancy experts think?

bizaro86 · 08-02-2012, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

Not intending to derail the thread but there is a lot of great info here.

Quick question, we have a business and we lease the commercial space, it’s a retail store. The owner has the building for sale, and the potential buyer wants to buy the building and kick us out and have his own retail store. We still have a year left on the lease, we are excellent tenants too.

Is this allowed to happen? Apparently the buyer is filing a lawsuit against the seller and naming us as at fault. I’m speaking to our lawyer tomorrow to get all the details but just wondering what some of you tenancy experts think?

Commercial leases don't fall under the residential tenancy act. So the terms of your lease are a binding contract.