Our "tenant from hell" played the game very well and managed to stay in one of our properties for 6 months without paying rent. It was a lease option deal where she was clearly trying to use up her initial (non refundable) deposit as she knew she would not get it back just walking away from the property.
She was a formidable adversary using many tricks to get by the Landlord Tenant Board. She reported us to various departments in the City of Brampton as well as health inspectors, electrical and fire department - all with unfounded claims. She used many clever tricks to get hearing delays.
As part of our legal team response we looked for lease option precedents in Canada. We found three precedents in Canada, none in Ontario.
Long story short. We finally had her evicted. She still owes us rent and replacement for the original deposit. There is now one legal precedent in Ontario for lease options. The landlord wins! We set the precedence that the option premium is non-refundable, and the upgrades paid by the tenant on the house are also non-refundable. It is a very important result for anyone doing rent-to-own investing in Ontario.
Tip #1: our original lease option contract split out the monthly rent from the condo fees. This was a bad mistake as the Landlord and Tenant board is not interested in tenants having to pay condo fees even if that is what you have agreed. We now bundle the condo fees into a higher stated rent charge. (risk = condo fee increases)
Tip #2: the LTB does not care about the lease option deposit. We will now seek payment via collections agency and/or small claims court.
We learned a great deal from the tenant from hell. For that I thank her. But it sure did cause some strain with our JV partners. And we still need to recoup the monies owed.
If any questions on this, send an e-mail to [email protected] or check my blog at http://lease2ownbob.blogspot.com/
She was a formidable adversary using many tricks to get by the Landlord Tenant Board. She reported us to various departments in the City of Brampton as well as health inspectors, electrical and fire department - all with unfounded claims. She used many clever tricks to get hearing delays.
As part of our legal team response we looked for lease option precedents in Canada. We found three precedents in Canada, none in Ontario.
Long story short. We finally had her evicted. She still owes us rent and replacement for the original deposit. There is now one legal precedent in Ontario for lease options. The landlord wins! We set the precedence that the option premium is non-refundable, and the upgrades paid by the tenant on the house are also non-refundable. It is a very important result for anyone doing rent-to-own investing in Ontario.
Tip #1: our original lease option contract split out the monthly rent from the condo fees. This was a bad mistake as the Landlord and Tenant board is not interested in tenants having to pay condo fees even if that is what you have agreed. We now bundle the condo fees into a higher stated rent charge. (risk = condo fee increases)
Tip #2: the LTB does not care about the lease option deposit. We will now seek payment via collections agency and/or small claims court.
We learned a great deal from the tenant from hell. For that I thank her. But it sure did cause some strain with our JV partners. And we still need to recoup the monies owed.
If any questions on this, send an e-mail to [email protected] or check my blog at http://lease2ownbob.blogspot.com/
