HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2011-05-04, Page 4Wednesday, May 4, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 3
Lessons learned by local landlord
Lynda Nftknan-Rapley
Lakeshore Advance
Even with all the solutions the Residence Tenant
Act offers- why is it that people are still having
;roblems with renters who don't pay?
A Grand Bend landlord is learning the hard way.
Everything she is doing now, the dollars it is costing
her to do it- should have been done in the first
place. She did not check references and listened to
the sad story of the renter. Both mistakes. lennette
Haines is hoping to help other landlords, although
her contacts at the Landlord Tenant Board say it
won't matter, this type of renter will always be
around.
Brochures that detail how a landlord can end a
tenancy, if the tenant doesn't pay - it's all
documented - but in real life it is difficult to get rid
of the renter who will not pay.
Haines has been renting her downtown cottage
in the winter months for many years. Once sum-
mer comes she rents by the week. No problems.
Until she rented it last October to a another of two
teens. Actually, two teens and a elementary school
aged child that was never listed. "This tenant has
been a nightmare from the beginning," say Haines
adding," It is almost too late for her -but if she can
help a landlord from renting to this woman - she
will. 'Ihe Lakeshore Advance is not using the wom-
an's name to protect the child, but Haines said that
is unfortunate. "'The first thing I should have done
was check to see if she stiffed others," she said of
the renter who as of Monday owes $2,230 plus
hydro costs, cable costs, Internet costs, water and
sewer. In the seven months she was there she paid
In full only once and that was 20 days late. She
moved in on October 1, left last Sunday and has
not paid anything since February l5th. She paid
only $150.00 for hydro in that time period, nothing
for sewer or water and bounced four cheques.
This nightmare began last October when the
woman showed up at the cottage when Haines was
there with her family.
The summer people had moved out by the first
week of September and Haines ad went into the
local papers. Haines told her there was no laundry
facility and the woman said that was fine. She gave
Haines a cheque and a cash deposit. Days later she
asked that the cheque not be cashed as she was
dealing with an ex-husband, And that was Just the
beginning as this tenant began to use the
landlord -tenant system to her advantage, renting a
fine home and then defaulting on payments. That
first payment took a month to pay and Haines says
it has been a struggle ever since. She has listened
to sad stories and excuses month after month. She
made two trips to a Goderich bank (the woman's
bank) to see if cheques could be cashed and
insufficient funds was the answer both times, This
past winter another cheque bounced and when
confronted- the renter said she put a stop payment
on the funds when it was not cashed on the first of
v 1
the month.
Included in the rent are cable and utilities.
Ilaines was told you can't cut off amenities that
were included when you rented. Internet was put
in after the renter moved in and Haines had that
cancelled some time ago. The phone now has a
block so the renter can't make long distance calls.
Almost too little too late -Haines went to the
London courthouse where she paid $10 and was
able to see past evictions from this woman and her
then family of five. That, says this now -wiser land-
lord, I should have done before I rented to her.
Haines gave notice that she was coming in for a
utilities inspection and once there the renter would
not let her into one of the rooms
This cottage is a summer rental. As of May 1 it
goes back to weekly renting. To get this renter out,
Haines has to fill out an A-1 that explains this is a
vacation home. The cost for that is $45.00. Then she
had to fill out a form called a L1 and that was filed.
The cost $170.00. A court date was set - unfortu-
nately after the May 1 rental period for Haines
summer trade. Because this is a summer rental - if
Haines wins in court she needs only to get the OPP
to remove the renter and does not have to pay the
$360 to bring in the sheriff.
"Lesson teamed," says Ilaines. lithe next person
who rents to this woman does his due diligence
they will see the previous court case where the
family rented and was evicted and will also see the
court records from this Grand Bend cottage.
She moved out under the cloak of darkness, leav-
ing a few things to tnove. She came back on Sun-
day to dean and retrieve some of her possessions.
At 4 p.m. Sunday, just as it stated on the lease
that this woman signed, Haines went to the cottage
and the woman was cleaning. The Lakeshore
Advance was was invited to go along just in case
the renter wanted to talk. She said this was not a
matter for the newspaper and declined. She said
she did not understand why this was of any inter-
est to the readers and it was explained to her this
story may help another landlord when they decide
to rent before doing their due diligence. (She later
stated she did want to talk and wanted to explain
how she has been harassed by the landlord.)
On Sunday, the woman told Haines she would
see her in court so they could come to some sort of
an arrangement for payment. There was also the
issue of the large piano that belonged to the
woman and she said she would do her best to get It
out of the small cottage. Haines informed her there
were seasonal renters moving in and she wanted it
gone but the woman could not commit to a
time -line. At 4:30 the locksmith arrived to change
the Locks .
1 certainly learned my lesson," said I laines, "We
are a kind community. But this is a business. I hope
people learn from my mistakes." One of the last
things the woman told Haines was that she really
did want to pay- but her main concern was to have
a roof over her kids' heads.
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The cottage the renter called home for the past seven months