Tenant leaving who always threatens Landlords/Tenants Act

[amkjalbert]

I am looking for some advice on a tenant who is moving. This tenant is always throwing around that she is very aware of her rights and I am certain that I am going to be in for a dispute when she moves. First of all she wrote a notice and text me a picture of it. She claimed that she was unaware of where to drop the notice off (however our address is on the lease agreement). She sent me numerous texts telling me that she did not have to give notice until the end of the day her rent was due, etc.. She told me if I don't give her their money back that she will dispute it. She advised me that she had spoken to someone already and they told her that she was doing things properly. Anyway the moral of the story is that I want to make certain I do the move out with 100% accuracy. I am looking for tips and suggestions from people on getting every bit of information together and in a timely manner. This is a BC property.
Thanks
Annette

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Know the rules and follow them. Write things down. Have a move-out inspection. Deduct damages for above average wear and tear, if any. Take pictures. People who threaten usually do not act on it. Stay professional, but tough and firm too. Don't be bullied.

 

[Sherilynn]

Agreed. Also remember when tenants (or landlords) speak to a Landlord/Tenant Advisory Board, they are giving their version of events, and often leave out critical details that would result in a completely different response from the LTA.

I have had tenants call me quoting "advice" they have received from our LTA, and I couldn't believe the LTA would so advise, so I called them and gave all the facts. The LTA responded: "We would never have said that to anyone. We don't give people advice on what to do or make decisions on who's right. We simply inform them of various rules that may apply and solutions that could be available to them."

 

[RyP]

Great advice above. One thing that I've adopted that has really help with move out disputes is to never agree to clear up deposits on site. We always send cheques to forwarding address. Write down any damages or items in the move out report and HAVE THEM SIGN IT and say "great cheque will be in the mail". Send the report with the cheque (with or without deductions from damage) to there forwarding address. They can dispute at that point, but at least it won't be face to face. If everything is signed by them, they'll have a hard time. Also, take lots of pics.

Also, good advice that I once received was to call the LTA acting as the tenant to see what rules and solutions apply to them specifically.

These are all tactics I use in Alberta, so like Thomas said "know your rules".

Good Luck!

 

[RyP]

A lot of great advice in this thread:
http://myreinspace.com/index.php?threads/Notice-of-a-Dispute-resolution---help.34250/

It may be applicable.

 

[alaas1977]

Hey Everyone

I recently had a tenant go crazy on me, all his references were great (He rented from Boardwalk for several years), his credit was good etc. Then he lost his welding job and went nuts, (he may have been bipolar)literally. he started texting me threats, incredibly scary, however the cops said that he had to actually "SAY or DO" he was going to kill or harm me, innuendos didn't count .This was unbelievably scary as he kept sending me crazy, incoherent threats for a week.

In the end he left the place cleaner than before (it was clean but he was extra diligent), fixed the holes he punched in the walls, no damage except for one cupboard door ($50 fix). For the safety of ourselves, I wrote him the cheque on the spot for the full deposit, I didn't worry about the $50 for the door. I rented it out asap and didn't lose rent for the month.

From this I basically learned that he was just threatening to intimidate me, but in the end I don't think he actually would have carried it out. However I decided that it wasn't worth it to fight him on the door (he probably would have been okay if I deducted it) and that he most likely didn't do any other damage due to the condition he left it in and he knew I had a copy of his Drivers license and Sin card.

Lisa

 

[Matt Crowley]

^ I've had tenants like that before as well, Lisa. I had one tenant who called my phone about 20 times one night and left messages with silence of the lambs style laughing and different kinds of threats. Mostly innuendos. It was super creepy and it was scary too. He had a bit of a mental break.

We had to get the police involved. His mental state was at such a point that he thought I was giving him fake money back in front of the police. The police officer told him to "grow up" (he was about 45 years old). We charged him about $600 for early lease abandonment. Very, very ugly situation as well. With the DD return, I had him sign and agree to what was said in his voice mails.

When your safety is in question that is the time to call the police!