Fun tenancy story!

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Cflames_12.5

My previous tenant took me for 4 months rent. It was next to impossible to evict him. I had to go down town to get a court approved eviction notice. He never showed up to the court hearing so the eviction was processed. What a nightmare my whole process was. I still pay the mortgage on the rental house plus the house I live in. Having to carry 4 months of double mortgage was killer. When I finally got back into my house it was trashed. The guy hadn't paid his utilities for months he was chopping wood in the basement to heat the house with the fireplace. The walls and the carpets were trashed. He left all his garbage stuff that was worthless. The neighbours told me stories of how he would run a extension cord out the kitchen window to run the fridge on the weeks he had his son. In the beginning he was awesome always paid on time but the last year he was never on time and impossible to find. And I will never get that money back because 4 week after the eviction his nine year old son found overdosed with a needle in his arm.

I almost had that happen to me. I rented to 3 guys. All had steady jobs. Little did I realize they were a bunch of partying druggies. Cops coming at all times in the night for noise, public drunkenness, fighting in public, public urination. Still didn't take me long to get rid of them though. But they left a horrible mess. Literally weighed in at a ton of stuff. Broken window, needles, yadda yadda yadda. But still was able to clean it up and get it rented with about a month's rent loss. That was probably the worst. But my buddy has some pretty bad ones. One involving a psych patient, and one involving an escort lol. I have one friend who had to deal with a professional scammer who held up their house for months on end though, but knew the law super well and just kept taking them to court so they could never get into their house.

But at least with those 3 guys, they were knowingly and blissfully ignorant. This last lady tried to outsmart me, thinking she knew everything and has no idea that she was in the wrong, and that bugs me to no end lol.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

But at least with those 3 guys, they were knowingly and blissfully ignorant. This last lady tried to outsmart me, thinking she knew everything and has no idea that she was in the wrong, and that bugs me to no end lol.

Looks like she's got her $30 out of you in the form of stress. Don't worry any more about it. Not worth it.

And you can charge a lease break fee but it is usually considered unreasonable if you are already charging the old tenants rent until it is re rented and advertising costs. Sometimes large companies who employ leasing agents and managers will get to charge that fee because they have legitimate expenses involved in re renting. Small home owners like us are usually expected to basically donate that time and effort.

[Cflames_12.5]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

I almost had that happen to me. I rented to 3 guys. All had steady jobs. Little did I realize they were a bunch of partying druggies. Cops coming at all times in the night for noise, public drunkenness, fighting in public, public urination. Still didn't take me long to get rid of them though. But they left a horrible mess. Literally weighed in at a ton of stuff. Broken window, needles, yadda yadda yadda. But still was able to clean it up and get it rented with about a month's rent loss. That was probably the worst. But my buddy has some pretty bad ones. One involving a psych patient, and one involving an escort lol. I have one friend who had to deal with a professional scammer who held up their house for months on end though, but knew the law super well and just kept taking them to court so they could never get into their house.

But at least with those 3 guys, they were knowingly and blissfully ignorant. This last lady tried to outsmart me, thinking she knew everything and has no idea that she was in the wrong, and that bugs me to no end lol.

My issue was he was never around. And it was my first tenant landlord experience. He had an excuse the first month then second month was the same excuse, he's in between jobs but he's got a job lined up that is gonna pay big time. Begged me no to kick him and his son out. Then I didn't see him for the next two months. He wouldn't answer the door never answered his phone after that. Half way through the third month I started the eviction process. That was such a pain in the butt. Going down town to get the eviction notice, then posting it and then going back down town and have a hearing, where a judge would either let him stay and put him on some sort of payment plan or evict him. The guy never showed.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Cflames_12.5

My issue was he was never around. And it was my first tenant landlord experience. He had an excuse the first month then second month was the same excuse, he's in between jobs but he's got a job lined up that is gonna pay big time. Begged me no to kick him and his son out. Then I didn't see him for the next two months. He wouldn't answer the door never answered his phone after that. Half way through the third month I started the eviction process. That was such a pain in the butt. Going down town to get the eviction notice, then posting it and then going back down town and have a hearing, where a judge would either let him stay and put him on some sort of payment plan or evict him. The guy never showed.

Same thing almost happened to me as well, but by then I was a grizzled vet and would have none of it. Guy kept making excuse after excuse. Said he sent me an e-mail transfer, which I never got. Insisted it was the bank giving him issues. By then it was a week overdue, so I got my papers done downtown (I work downtown so it's easy for me) for eviction papers. Kept insisting the money would come, it never came. I went to the hearing, but they actually showed up. They tried making excuses to the judge, but the judge wouldn't hear it. I got one more month's rent out of them. Then eviction day came. Gave them an hour, still no money, even though the wife kept insisting that the husband was working OT to get the money.

I changed the locks on them. Guy came home, couldn't get in. Played the whole "do you have children??" angle. But I would have none of that either. Told him his children were his responsibility, and not mine. Got them out pretty fast with only a couple hundred bucks lost due to having to hire a bailiff. They actually left quietly and cleanly right after so I was able to rent it out right away.

[Cflames_12.5]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

Same thing almost happened to me as well, but by then I was a grizzled vet and would have none of it. Guy kept making excuse after excuse. Said he sent me an e-mail transfer, which I never got. Insisted it was the bank giving him issues. By then it was a week overdue, so I got my papers done downtown (I work downtown so it's easy for me) for eviction papers. Kept insisting the money would come, it never came. I went to the hearing, but they actually showed up. They tried making excuses to the judge, but the judge wouldn't hear it. I got one more month's rent out of them. Then eviction day came. Gave them an hour, still no money, even though the wife kept insisting that the husband was working OT to get the money.

I changed the locks on them. Guy came home, couldn't get in. Played the whole "do you have children??" angle. But I would have none of that either. Told him his children were his responsibility, and not mine. Got them out pretty fast with only a couple hundred bucks lost due to having to hire a bailiff. They actually left quietly and cleanly right after so I was able to rent it out right away.

I have learnt my lesson now. Having a heart and being a landlord is only going to leave one broke. It has to be treated like a business. I really don't like being a landlord it sucks and really isn't very profitable. I just don't want to sell my house right now. I feel like I would be leaving a lot of money on the table with market right now.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

Are break lease fees even enforceable? I don't think I've ever seen a clause for that written in a lease, and even if it were, I don't recall seeing anything in the Act that would actually permit one.

AFAIK you are right, pretty much anything that's a "fee" or extra cost isn't allowed, one lawyer said that if it is damages, i.e. getting money back for something that cost you extra, that's a good place to think about the "line" between what's allowed and what isn't.

So if someone leaves early, them paying rent until it's re-rented makes sense. A break-lease fee doesn't because you aren't out that money, it's just something you're charging for your "troubles" but the courts see your job as a landlord as dealing with getting new tenants and such. Even the advertising I don't believe would be allowed since advertising is something a landlord would have to do for a vacancy anyway.

EDIT: This even go so far as withholding security deposit, the courts see the landlord's time as "free" in those terms, so if someone leaves a place dirty the landlord shouldn't charge for cleaning if they do the cleaning themselves, but can charge for cleaning if they hire a cleaner.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by photon

AFAIK you are right, pretty much anything that's a "fee" or extra cost isn't allowed, one lawyer said that if it is damages, i.e. getting money back for something that cost you extra, that's a good place to think about the "line" between what's allowed and what isn't.

So if someone leaves early, them paying rent until it's re-rented makes sense. A break-lease fee doesn't because you aren't out that money, it's just something you're charging for your "troubles" but the courts see your job as a landlord as dealing with getting new tenants and such. Even the advertising I don't believe would be allowed since advertising is something a landlord would have to do for a vacancy anyway.

EDIT: This even go so far as withholding security deposit, the courts see the landlord's time as "free" in those terms, so if someone leaves a place dirty the landlord shouldn't charge for cleaning if they do the cleaning themselves, but can charge for cleaning if they hire a cleaner.

To clarify this happened in Queensland, Australia so the laws are slightly different than if I'd moved from Queensland SE Calgary.

The standard lease agreement we signed states that the landlord is allowed to charge a break lease fee at their discretion. In many cases they will decide not to charge the fee but in this case we were dinged for it.

From the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority website:

Re-letting fees

A letting fee is a fee charged by an agent to the owner of the property for the service of finding a new tenant at the start of a tenancy. A tenant may be asked to pay a re-letting fee if the tenant wants to end the agreement early, transfer their interest or sublet the property.

• The property manager/owner can charge reasonable costs incurred in re-letting the property (e.g. costs associated with tenant checks, advertising the property for rent).
• The industry standard for a re-letting fee is generally equivalent to 1 week's rent.
• It is not rent and therefore not GST exempt and the tenant pays the GST component of any re-letting fee.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

Same thing almost happened to me as well, but by then I was a grizzled vet and would have none of it. Guy kept making excuse after excuse. Said he sent me an e-mail transfer, which I never got. Insisted it was the bank giving him issues. By then it was a week overdue, so I got my papers done downtown (I work downtown so it's easy for me) for eviction papers. Kept insisting the money would come, it never came. I went to the hearing, but they actually showed up. They tried making excuses to the judge, but the judge wouldn't hear it. I got one more month's rent out of them. Then eviction day came. Gave them an hour, still no money, even though the wife kept insisting that the husband was working OT to get the money.

I changed the locks on them. Guy came home, couldn't get in. Played the whole "do you have children??" angle. But I would have none of that either. Told him his children were his responsibility, and not mine. Got them out pretty fast with only a couple hundred bucks lost due to having to hire a bailiff. They actually left quietly and cleanly right after so I was able to rent it out right away.

So many liars are out there. They'll just keep lying and lying and lying.

[WhiteTiger]

Threads like this are why I never have any intention of renting out to someone. Having just bought a house recently, the Realtor was all interested in pointing out "This house has an illegal suite ready to go!" or "This place could very quickly be converted into a basement suite." until I put my foot down and insisted that we had no interest whatsoever in being landlords. There is no "making tons of money" as a landlord.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Threads like this are why I never have any intention of renting out to someone. Having just bought a house recently, the Realtor was all interested in pointing out "This house has an illegal suite ready to go!" or "This place could very quickly be converted into a basement suite." until I put my foot down and insisted that we had no interest whatsoever in being landlords. There is no "making tons of money" as a landlord.

Once you get good tenants, you're gold though. Previous to this lady I had two young easy-going professionals who stayed there for 3 years with barely a peep out of them. My other units have pretty stable tenants as well. I just tell stories like this because bad tenant stories are usually interesting, with lessons to learn from them.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Threads like this are why I never have any intention of renting out to someone. Having just bought a house recently, the Realtor was all interested in pointing out "This house has an illegal suite ready to go!" or "This place could very quickly be converted into a basement suite." until I put my foot down and insisted that we had no interest whatsoever in being landlords. There is no "making tons of money" as a landlord.

Lots of people make great money as landlords. The real risk is timing not tenants. Landlords today are at far greater risk of losing money through deflation. Fifteen years ago you could have had multiple tenants destroy multiple houses and still made millions.

[4X4]

The thing I learned after years of landlording, is that a good tenant is worth less money. What I mean by that is that good tenants have a choice in where they decide to rent. You can give a bit of a break on what you're charging and get a good tenant. Or you can go for the gold and charge a couple hundred more than what the place is worth, and the tenant you'll get is someone that has gotten rejected everywhere else, and HAS to pay more to get a place.

The first couple of months might go well. And then you'll get a 3 day late excuse. Then it's a week, then it's a disconnected phone. By the time you get it all figured out, you've missed a month or two in rent, and the deposit doesn't cover the damage to the property.

Right now, I could easily jack the rent on my place, but it's just not worth it to lose the nice family I have living there. It was a bit below market value when they moved in, and I could have jacked it a lot over the last couple years, but had I raised it when the market was hot, they'd be long gone by now, and I'd be sifting through applications from people with fake references and having to worry about whether the new people were going to live up to their end of the agreement and shovel the walks.

Sometimes less is more. Like with spaghetti sauce.

[Calgary14]

For those who may be interested here is a link to an interesting article about the road to riches as a landlord: http://business.financialpost.com/pe...road-to-riches

[pgsieve]

Does anyone know the limits to what you can ask for if you are picking up a renter? Just bought a place and might look to rent it out in a year or two. I had grand visions of asking for university transcripts and only taking upper university students or recent grads with GPAs Of 3.5 or better... I know it wouldn't be the ultimate stop gap, but I feel like I might have some luck of getting a better tenant

[calf]

Originally Posted by pgsieve

Does anyone know the limits to what you can ask for if you are picking up a renter? Just bought a place and might look to rent it out in a year or two. I had grand visions of asking for university transcripts and only taking upper university students or recent grads with GPAs Of 3.5 or better... I know it wouldn't be the ultimate stop gap, but I feel like I might have some luck of getting a better tenant

Landlords are managed under PIPA. Any personal information you collect has to be reasonable when it comes to managing tennancy.

This FAQ document, for example, says you don't have reasonable grounds to ask for educational background: http://servicealberta.ca/pipa/docume...Qs-Mar2007.pdf

You could ask about their employment/employment status, as that would indicate their credit worthiness.

[troutman]

So I goes to the landlady,
I said, "You let me slide?"
I'll have the rent for you tomorrow
Or the next day I don't know
So said let me slide it on you know people,
I notice when I come home in the evening
She ain't got nothing nice to say to me,
But for five year she was so nice
Lord she was lovey-dovey,
I come home one particular evening
The landlady said, "You got the rent money yet?",
I said, "No, can't find no job,
Therefore I ain't got no money to pay the rent"
She said "I don't believe you're tryin' to find no job"
Said "I seen you today you was standin' on a corner,
Leaning up against a post"
I said "But I'm tired, I've been walkin' all day"
She said "That don't confront me,
Long as I get my money next Friday"
Now next Friday come I didn't have the rent,
And out the door I went

[blueski]

Threads like this are why I live in a van.

[Johnny199r]

Speaking of renters being scum, this article blew my mind...

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/riverview-...810.html?nhp=1

[GP_Matt]

Where does one acquire all those squids?

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Where does one acquire all those squids?

I also wonder if she used her own feces.