Bad Tenants, what can I do? (Vancouver, Canada)

[py0413]

Hi folks,

I feel like to ask you about how to deal with bad tenants. Here's my story, some very bad/irresponsible people have moved into my investment rental condo in September. ( we did a background & credit check on these people before accepting their application) Prior to receiving the keys/fob/remote, these people was well behaved and everything seemed to go quite smoothly. It was a week later we started to hear bad news from the strata and the property manager.


The following is the troubles/issues they have caused so far,

- ignore and refused to pay move-in fee of $200 (such cost was clearly stated in the tenancy agreement)

- Noise complaints, 2 warnings and $200 in penalty in September issued by strata

- Pet complaints, 2 warnings and $450 in penalty in September issued by strata (against the tenancy agreement)

- changing the unit door lock without providing key/passcode for emergency purpose (against the tenancy agreement)

At this point, we had to call a meeting with them and trying to settle things down so they can continue their vacancy. As expected, they came up with whole bunches of excuses and promised to behave in the future.

Starting October, more bad news just kept coming. We have again received warnings from the strata for the following,

- Outstanding penalty owing in total of $850 (their check to the strata had bounced)(1st)

- October rent check bounced (reason: account closed) owing $2500 (paid with certified check by the end of October)

- Noise complaints no.3 and no.4 resulted in another penalty of $400 ( at this point, the strata had informed us the right to evict them under tenancy bylaws)

- Refused in-suite condition inspection (against tenancy agreement)

- not paying rent for November

After we contact the on-site property manager and strata manager, we had issued 2 eviction notices (1 for non-paying rent and 1 for violating the tenancy agreement) and served to them by posting at the door and sending as registered mail. They were given two options, one was to move out the promises within 10 days for non-paying rent and the other one was a 30 day notice to end their tenancy by evicting them.

They have been giving the time to vacate the unit and return all the keys/fobs/remotes up until next week; however, these tenants have chosen to ignore all our messages. They have not replied to phone calls, e-mails, written notices, and text messages. I am starting to doubt that they will be co-operative and move out on schedule.

As for now they have owed $2500 in total. (penalties $1250 & partial nov. rent $1250) Am I able to forward this to a collection agency in the future?

I wonder if anyone out here in our community has/had the similar experience? If so, how do/did you deal with it?

I have been told it is illegal to force tenants to leave physically under any conditions. If they don't move on the date states on the eviction notice, what should I take as the next step?

I have had to travel a lot over the last year and half due to work; having this ongoing issue has made my already stressful life worse. I hope this problem comes to an end real soon.

Any inputs are highly appreciated and thank you all for reading this long story.

*if you are renting out your property in the greater vancouver area and wish to avoid these people, please contact me via private message*

[chungdae]

Canada and USA laws are completely different when it comes to these issues. I would call the local PD and see what they have to say and/or go to the courthouse and talk to them about eviction procedures.

[Jerzguju]

I cannot speak on behalf of canadian law, although I've had a couple of these cases occur in the US with previous tenants. Considering I also had a full time job it can become quite a stressful situation. I have a lawyer who I see eye to eye with and in short he basically files for eviction which roughly takes a month (can take less or more time depending on location) to get a court date. After the process and paper work of eviction are filed, a marshal of the city comes and changes the locks. The tenant are legally not allowed the enter the premises, if they are inside they kick them out, literally. As far as getting your money, yes it can go to collections, will you see your money, well thats dependent on the tenant and how he feels about his credit and having it tarnished. This whole process of eviction does become sticky if children are on the current lease. So as far as advice if you lived in the states, hire a lawyer!

[koreez88]

You need a new property manager. Any non-agreement violation has to be followed with the written warning or penalty letter. Gotta make sure to have something to show at the court if necessary. At least that's how we run our business.
If they ignore, just get police involved. Not sure how it is in Canada, but if tenant resides past his eviction time, then we could get law enforcement involved.
Also don't take any promises. Always put deadlines.

[py0413]

Thanks everyone for the replies. We have got all the documentation ready and will have local tenancy branch involved tomorrow. At this point we are suspecting those tenants have already abandoned the suite, but we dont have direct evidence. We are informed a 24 hour inspection notice can be served and will have the right to enter the promises on the 5th day after the notice. Hopefully this can be solved soon. Sigh....

[Quick6EF]

Genders and ages?

[Javi335]

ah ok, listen. send them the mexicans chainsaw behead video, then edit it and put some new credits like ...

"the last who dont pay me was those"

just try

[Grail05]

all i know is US laws... well good luck bro...

[ejheverest]

Laws vary state by state. I had a tenant issue in NH, after refusing to leave after 4 eviction/demand for rent notices, she stopped responding to my emails and phone calls.
It took a good landlord lawyer to get her out. Time spent from hiring the lawyer to sheriff knocking on the front door and giving her the option of leaving peacefully or being handcuffed, was roughly 5-6 months. Keep in mind, in the U.S. once a person files bankrupt, it becomes illegal for you to take them to small claims court to try and get any money back from incident.(5,500 lawyer fees, 6,800 lost rental income, 1,000 for me to clean the condo up, repaint, steam clean carpets, etc.)
Goodluck and hopefully they don't trash the place too bad.

Keep us updated after you do get them out of the property!!