The Residential Tenancies Act makes it illegal to charge a tenant a late payment fee. If you are forbidden from charging a late fee is the unpaid rent even considered late??
Rent is due on the first of the month. If it’s not paid on the first, on the second I serve the tenant an N4 to collect the rent owing. This notice gives them until the 16th to pay or move out. If they don’t do anything, on the 17th the landlord can file an L1 application to have the tenant evicted and terminate the tenancy and collect the money owing. This costs $170.00.
Filling out and serving the N4 has costs involved that are not recoverable. The time spent filling out the documents, printing them, serving them etc. If we were allowed to charge a late fee these costs would be covered by the late fee.
Tenants know there are no penalties for paying their rent late. Landlords can’t charge a late fee when the rent is late and we can’t charge interest on outstanding balances.
While the rent owing and the application fees are recoverable, in most cases they aren’t collectable. Time preparing documents and going to hearings are not compensated.
When all is said and done deadbeat tenants owe landlords a lot of money. Trying to collect what is owed is another story. Then there’s those bleeding heart types that think the tenants are always right. The ones that think if the tenant can’t afford the rent the landlord should let them live rent free. We are not a charitable organization whose mission is to house people rent free and pay their heat and hydro so they can spend their money on the really important stuff – beer and restaurants.
Showing posts with label deadbeat tenant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deadbeat tenant. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Rent Guarantees
In Ontario landlords can ask for a rent guarantee. It’s perfectly legal to ask a tenant to have a third party guarantee their rent will be paid.
Welfare and Disability will quite often send the rent portion of a tenants cheque directly to the landlord. This arrangement is not a rent guarantee because the tenant can change this at any time without notifying the landlord.
In the Human Rights Code, Regulation 290/98, 2. (1) A landlord may require a prospective tenant to obtain a guarantee for the rent. By requiring a rent guarantee the landlord is somewhat protected. I say somewhat protected because you still have to collect from the guarantor if the tenants fails to pay their rent.
As a landlord we are now going to be asking the majority, if not all of our new tenants to get a rent guarantee. In doing this if the tenant defaults on their rent payment we have another person we can legally go after for payment.
From April 1 2008 to March 31 2009 the Landlord and Tenant Board received 85,840 applications under the Residential Tenancy Act. Of these 92% were filed by landlords while only 8% were filed by tenants. Of the applications filed by landlords 59,053 were L1’s to evict the tenant and terminate the tenancy for nonpayment. These applications cost landlords $170.00 each. Ontario landlords spent over $10,000,000.00 just in application fees to evict nonpaying tenants.
Welfare and Disability will quite often send the rent portion of a tenants cheque directly to the landlord. This arrangement is not a rent guarantee because the tenant can change this at any time without notifying the landlord.
In the Human Rights Code, Regulation 290/98, 2. (1) A landlord may require a prospective tenant to obtain a guarantee for the rent. By requiring a rent guarantee the landlord is somewhat protected. I say somewhat protected because you still have to collect from the guarantor if the tenants fails to pay their rent.
As a landlord we are now going to be asking the majority, if not all of our new tenants to get a rent guarantee. In doing this if the tenant defaults on their rent payment we have another person we can legally go after for payment.
From April 1 2008 to March 31 2009 the Landlord and Tenant Board received 85,840 applications under the Residential Tenancy Act. Of these 92% were filed by landlords while only 8% were filed by tenants. Of the applications filed by landlords 59,053 were L1’s to evict the tenant and terminate the tenancy for nonpayment. These applications cost landlords $170.00 each. Ontario landlords spent over $10,000,000.00 just in application fees to evict nonpaying tenants.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Tenant From Hell
We have been forced to deal with the tenant from hell for almost a year now. I’ll call her Evil Sheila to simplify things here.
We’ve heard every imaginable excuse out of her as to why she can’t pay her rent again this month, her cheque is late, her cheque was lost, they put a hold on her cheque, welfare put a hold on her cheque until her disability goes through. It’s an endless spewing of B.S.
Her first hydro bill was almost $650.00. She refuses to pay it. She contacted one of those free lawyers that think all tenants are perfect and all landlords are bad. We got a threatening letter from this lawyer. When Evil Sheila was asked about the lies she told this lawyer the Evil One denied contacting the lawyer. She then wanted us to hire her so she could pay her rent. We rented her a place to live, we are not required to give her a job as well. A letter was faxed to her lawyer detailing the inaccuracies (lies) in the Evil One’s statements. Never did hear back from her.
With rental arrears of $2,500.00 we served her the N4 giving her 14 days to pay in full or get out. She did neither so we file our L1, paid the $170.00, got our hearing date, served the Evil One her Notice of Hearing. At the hearing she denied getting the N4. Despite our evidence to the contrary, that she was in fact served the N4, we had to start the whole process over again. I quickly filled out the N4 and gave it to her right in front of the Adjudicator with the comment “deny getting served this one.”
She now owes close to $2,000.00 for hydro. This won’t be going up any except for interest because we disconnected her for non payment. That was March 1st, on the second they had a generator hooked up, that they wired into the panel box themselves. Neither her nor her boyfriend are electricians so it’s a fire hazard. They can afford to rent/buy a generator and put $20.00 worth of gas in it a day but they can’t afford to pay their rent or hydro.
There are 2 wood stoves in her trailer. It’s between 80 and 90 degrees in there. She’s also running 3 space heaters, 2 old fridges, a washer and dryer, and feels the need to turn on the oven as hot as it will go and leave the door open. She never turns lights off, her Christmas lights outside are on 24/7 and she wonders why her hydro bill is so high. Duh!! I guess you are stupider than I first gave you credit for.
No money for rent or hydro but they always have a fridge full of beer and a wine rack with at least 10 bottles in and another 5 or 6 bottles of other alcohol on top of the bar. They are in the local bar drinking every day. They eat in restaurants most of the time, probably because she thinks the oven is a furnace not something you would use to cook on.
Her lies at the Board Hearing, and the adjudicator taking her side have given her at least one more month to live without having to pay her rent.
We’ve heard every imaginable excuse out of her as to why she can’t pay her rent again this month, her cheque is late, her cheque was lost, they put a hold on her cheque, welfare put a hold on her cheque until her disability goes through. It’s an endless spewing of B.S.
Her first hydro bill was almost $650.00. She refuses to pay it. She contacted one of those free lawyers that think all tenants are perfect and all landlords are bad. We got a threatening letter from this lawyer. When Evil Sheila was asked about the lies she told this lawyer the Evil One denied contacting the lawyer. She then wanted us to hire her so she could pay her rent. We rented her a place to live, we are not required to give her a job as well. A letter was faxed to her lawyer detailing the inaccuracies (lies) in the Evil One’s statements. Never did hear back from her.
With rental arrears of $2,500.00 we served her the N4 giving her 14 days to pay in full or get out. She did neither so we file our L1, paid the $170.00, got our hearing date, served the Evil One her Notice of Hearing. At the hearing she denied getting the N4. Despite our evidence to the contrary, that she was in fact served the N4, we had to start the whole process over again. I quickly filled out the N4 and gave it to her right in front of the Adjudicator with the comment “deny getting served this one.”
She now owes close to $2,000.00 for hydro. This won’t be going up any except for interest because we disconnected her for non payment. That was March 1st, on the second they had a generator hooked up, that they wired into the panel box themselves. Neither her nor her boyfriend are electricians so it’s a fire hazard. They can afford to rent/buy a generator and put $20.00 worth of gas in it a day but they can’t afford to pay their rent or hydro.
There are 2 wood stoves in her trailer. It’s between 80 and 90 degrees in there. She’s also running 3 space heaters, 2 old fridges, a washer and dryer, and feels the need to turn on the oven as hot as it will go and leave the door open. She never turns lights off, her Christmas lights outside are on 24/7 and she wonders why her hydro bill is so high. Duh!! I guess you are stupider than I first gave you credit for.
No money for rent or hydro but they always have a fridge full of beer and a wine rack with at least 10 bottles in and another 5 or 6 bottles of other alcohol on top of the bar. They are in the local bar drinking every day. They eat in restaurants most of the time, probably because she thinks the oven is a furnace not something you would use to cook on.
Her lies at the Board Hearing, and the adjudicator taking her side have given her at least one more month to live without having to pay her rent.
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