Advice Re Situation with Rental Property

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Agreed with keeping it fixed term by amending the termination date.

Ultimately, if your goal is more of a charitable donation to someone less fortunate, great, that is a noble goal. If the goal is protecting your investment, it's probably best to end this relationship as soon as possible. Nothing wrong with that either. The problem is trying to do both at the same time will probably lead to a poor conclusion.

[lucky1]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

Thanks for all of the input. I agree it isn’t an easy situation. I thought I’d add a few points to clarify some of the comments.

Regarding the humidity issue, we have installed exhaust fans in the upstairs bathroom and kitchen and instructed them on ways to reduce humidity. The exhaust hose on the dryer did not have a good seal, so I have fixed that and hopefully that helps to reduce the humidity. There is no humidifier on the furnace for the house (and in fact they bought a small dehumidifier that I don’t think did much). At times the humidity was reading as high as 75%. I’m not sure what can cause such high humidity issues. I think the dryer hose contributed to the issue and also think having 9 people living, showering, cooking, washing cloths and just breathing in a smaller house can compound the humidity.

I have remediated the mold, but am worried it could come back if the humidity issue hasn’t been addressed by the dryer repair. Again, they don’t seem overly clean and I think would help if they were on top of any sort of mildew starting to form.

I did contact the City to see if there are any bylaw restrictions and it seem like it is ok as long as we are complying with the window egress requirements for fire safety. They have set up extra beds in the basement TV room, which does have a large window that is Code compliant for egress. I also contacted my insurer and they reviewed the policy with me. I was able to reflect on the policy that there are two families living in the house, so it seems like that issue is also dealt with.

I like the suggestion of given them some options – i.e. you can leave at the end of may when the lease expires or if you want to renew, the rent will go up by $300-400 per month as long as there are 5 extra people and a pet in the house and they also need to pay a pet deposit. I could even give them the option to stay an extra month until the end of June when school ends.

I know this doesnt help much, but I applaud you good sir for the Empathy shown by yourself to this family.
One thing about Ukranians is that they are very pragmatic in general terms - they have lived under the Soviet thumb for many years and suffered huge hardships along the way. Your new 'family' probably understands that they are taking advantage of you somewhat, but have no real way in the short term to fix the situation. Sit down with them, explain your situation and let them work on a solution with you - you will probably gain friends for life...

[bizaro86]

Regarding the pet deposit - I think you should be very careful with that. I don't believe you can charge an additional deposit to current tenants, and in any case you can never charge a deposit of more than 1 months rent for any reason no matter what you call it. That's why most places that allow pets charge a non-refundable pet fee. I think you'd almost certainly be better served charging a smaller amount of additional rent monthly for the pet if you choose to let it stay. That is also likely to be easier for them to manage and is definitely allowed, so probably win-win.