Never rented a place...Need Landlord help please!

[roseofblack25]

Hug...my owner did suggest me to do post dated checks because she know it is illegal....how cheap is that lol...

I don't mind providing them since it saves the stamp from having to mail it out every month.
I'm just totally beyond frustrated because this is my first rental place and it's turning into a huge nightmare before I have even moved into the place. I can only imagine how well the rest of the year is going to go ugh!

[lecale]

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[roseofblack25]

Well the landlord doesn't have a leg to stand on, so there should be no excuses. Plus, you have given him a CERTIFIED cheque to show your goodwill, which is totally not required. Listen, buddy, I have basically given you cash so give me the keys! Try and keep it friendly...i.e., I don't know that you know this but your request is not legal (cannot request a specific form of payment; cannot request post dated cheques even if specified in the lease; cannot withhold keys now that they have your certified cheques that are as good as cash) AND you are being mightily inconvenienced despite your every effort to act in good faith. Tell them you will have post dated cheques on a certain date, due to circumstances beyond your control. You have absolutely no legal requirement (despite the terms of your lease) to provide them. It is totally up to you if you want to follow through on that because legally you are not required to do that, and hey, what is he going to do? There is nothing he can do. Ask him if he wants you to call the police about fraud if he's really being a pr-ck. Taking money for services not provided is fraud. Tell him you can send a cop over if he doesn't believe you.



Now that is not legal and grounds for an eviction...but I think your landlord is new to this, so they might not be able to proceed against you legally in an effective way. He cannot legally change the locks to get you out. He must give you 14 days notice, yada yada...



Lawyers/court costs add up, and take months and months. I'm pretty sure the rent for another unit, moving expenses, hookup fees are not claimable. Basically you are dealing with the first/last paid only. Realistically, you are over a barrel because he has those certified cheques so try and play nice. Well, point out at the moment what he is doing is fraud. Nicely.



Yes you have the same rights renting from a condo owner as anyone else who rents, and your landlord has the same responsibilities as any other landlord. BUT...If the condo has an office, they may have a duplicate key for the unit, and you may be able to get a copy from them. Show your lease.



The holes in the wall thing is the same conditions that the condo owner probably faces. If the appliances break from normal use then it is the landlord's responsibility to fix/replace them, not yours.



It's not legal to reverse engineer your improvements. The apartment must be in the same shape less normal wear and tear. If you make improvements without your landlord's consent and without written arrangements for compensation, you are SOL. If you remove improvements and leave the apartment in an unready to rent state, the landlord has legal grounds to go after you. Same thing with repairs. If you pay to repair something without going through the landlord/giving the landlord a chance to undertake the repair, you are SOL. If you unilaterally decide the floors need to be refinished, and spend hundreds to do so on your own, legally the landlord is not expected to pay for your one sided actions. This make sense because landlords need some control over the amount of expenses incurred...if they are on the hook for renovations they did not discuss and approve, they might not be able to make the mortgage on their income property.

Thank you! This has helped a lot. If they aren't willing to budge tomorrow I'm taking action...Not the time of month to mess with me especially with this added stress. I'm becoming this raging hormonal biotch and have no problem following through with threats if that is what it takes to get us in there. I mean I don't want to p!ss them off or anything especially if I have to put up with them being my landlord for an entire year, but if they are still refusing to hand over keys I won't have any issues calling the cops to report them for fraud since I feel like I'm being jerked around here because I'm young and a student. I assume they are either unaware of the rules, or are fully aware and are trying to take advantage of some students who really needed a place to live by the 1st of July.

[cath007]

I totally understand your frustration....when I move in...they did a credit report to see if I have the money...and I have to say because I was 25 and moving alone than I sell my house to prove I have money...when I when signed the lease....I did a none happy face...if I want this appartment...I do have the money to paid it....the thing is the tenants have so bad experiments...with bad payments ,..the good persons pay for that and it is unfair....

[roseofblack25]

I totally understand your frustration....when I move in...they did a credit report to see if I have the money...and I have to say because I was 25 and moving alone than I sell my house to prove I have money...when I when signed the lease....I did a none happy face...if I want this appartment...I do have the money to paid it....the thing is the tenants have so bad experiments...with bad payments ,..the good persons pay for that and it is unfair....

So true...When I first started looking I actually had a landlord tell me they didn't care if I had a million dollars saved in the bank that I didn't make enough money to rent from them...Sounds kind of weird but whatever LOL!

[i_forget]

True, but then you have slumlords that refuse to do any work so that people who do not know their rights undertake the necessary repairs themselves.

Her situation was one like that, waited a year with just floor boards because they would not put in carpets and ignored maintenance requests.

If I bought rugs to cover my floor boards of a rented apartment because my landlord would not carpet the place, I would be taking those rugs with me. Same with my curtain rods if they refused to put in rods or blinds. I would also not pay to have an apartment repainted because the landlord did not like the "shade" of white that it was when I moved in.


The landlord has a responsibility to the tenant. The Tenancy Act states:

A tenant can apply to the Board for an order ending the tenancy agreement early if the landlord has not met their obligations under the Act. For example, if the landlord:

• unreasonably withholds consent to assign or sublet the rental unit,

• is not maintaining the rental property,

• unlawfully enters the rental unit,

• alters the locking system without giving the tenant replacement keys,

• withholds or deliberately interferes with a vital service,

• interferes with the tenant’s reasonable enjoyment of the rental property, or

• harasses the tenant.

If the tenant applies, they would have to prove to the Board that ending the tenancy is a reasonable remedy.

By refusing access to the unit on the date of the start of the tenancy, the landlord is in violation of the act.

You are right, it is not "legal" to withhold the money, however this is what is often done in situations where there is a conflict that is in violation of the act so that there is no need for either party to go to the Board. It could be shorter now, but in the few times where I have known of situations that did go that route, the road was a long one.

This is the link with the information about when a landlord "locks you out".

http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/Key_Information/173725.html

This is the link for new tenants:

http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/Key_Info...02_111600.html

[lecale]

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[i_forget]

LOL....it is true about the privacy.

I read all of the paperwork. When she moved in, she did not take pictures and signed a document saying that she accepted the place "as is". She received a half months reduction in rent for cleaning it. The previous tenants left it in such a mess. There were dirty diapers an rotten food all over the place, the carpet was soaked in pet urine, there was poop on the walls KWIM? The carpeting was removed by the landlords because of its condition in the living room and dining room (open concept). She requested for a year for them to put something in to replace what they pulled out. They never did, so she bought rugs.

They were going after having to install flooring in the living room and dining room (because they never put flooring in and had to to rent out the place. By floor boards, I mean floor boards, plywood floor boards. I got a sliver in my foot once when I stepped between the carpets. It was pathetic. There was a charge for installing new window coverings and paying someone to repaint and fill holes. Plus there was disposal fees for "garbage" that they had to clean up and she was in an area that had flooding 2 years previous, so they sued her to replace the basement windows because her insurance refused to cover the costs.

I actually laughed when I read all of the paperwork. From what I remember, they had that it cost them $4000 for new laminate for the living room and dining room (materials and labour), $2000 for 2 new basement windows (with installation), $1500 to fix walls and repaint and $500 or so to pay for a dumpster and to have someone come in and clean the place out. I suspect that they just gave the next people a rent discount like they gave her and tossed in a few extra things because they thought they could.

As for the outcome, I do not know. She is a life long fairweather friend, so we are not chatty at the moment. Knowing her, I would not doubt that she tossed the paperwork and has a judgement against her.

I decluttered the place before she moved. I made probably 10 trips to the dump to clear out all of her stuff. I painted half of her place and did a final walk through. There was nothing wrong with the place when I left. She simply had slumlords who were looking to sue to try to get some of the costs from years of neglect of maintenance. They had a complex, she was one unit of like 40....this was not just her that had this issue.

I have not rented for years, but know quite a few people that do. I would never rent again. With the costs of home ownership as high as it is, there is no such thing as affordable housing. I went with a friend to look at apartments in the spring. I could not believe the condition of these places. I saw a $700 bachelor apartment that was covered in cockroaches and smelled of cat pee. I saw a 1 bedroom apartment on the 2nd floor of a 4 plex. There was no emergency exit because the balcony that served as the emergency exit was rotten so the door was sealed. Places with exposed wiring. Dead mice in traps, dead birds.....this in a city where house prices are not too high, so the average person can still afford a reasonable mortgage. There is no over sight for rental housing. Anyone can rent out an apartment, legal or not, safe or not, and they just get ordered by the city to do repairs if someone complains. It is all very sleazy.

[ZombieMakeup]

Any updates? I hope everything worked out, and he got his s*it straight. .. I was renting a room from someone, a woman and her husband (I was like 18 at the time) and another guy was renting another room in the house as well. The other renter and I were there watching tv when we heard banging and kicking on the door, naturally I was scared. He opened the door and this older man (early 30's) asked for the owners (he "knew" them) They weren't there at the time..but he was sooooooooooooooo mad!! He's like "When they get home tell them I want my f&king money" etc. We were like what??!!!! He's like "Ya, I gave them 1,000$ deposit last week, and the day I was suppose to move in, they changed the locks, and never picked up there phone, or answered the door" So the people I was renting off stole some other man's rent deposit, and never let him move in. I left within 3 days after that happening. Today in this society, not all but some, renter's , will do greasy things just to get money, and or take advantage of younger people who need places to rent.. You really do need to be able to read people, and really really trust your gut instinct when it comes to this type of stuff, or any other type of stuff in life. I really hope that everything worked out. Keep us updated

[Zonny]

I'm in Ontario.
I've read through the tenant act and everything and know now that demanding post dated cheques is illegal though not illegal to ask for them.

I seem to recall something similar when I worked in a grocery store long ago. The store required your SIN if you wanted to write a cheque but didn't have a cheque card. Some folks complained that they were not legally obligated to provide me with any such thing. My response was that this is true, but I was not legally obligated to take their cheque either.

Can you go to the bank and get temp cheques printed with your account number on them, would that do? I haven't written a cheque for anything for years, but I seem to recall I could do that if I were out of cheques. They print the account number right on the cheque, but you have to write your name/address.

[lecale]

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[gameprogirl]

I'm interested in knowing about this, my sister is a landlord and this situation smells fishy to me.

[roseofblack25]

I seem to recall something similar when I worked in a grocery store long ago. The store required your SIN if you wanted to write a cheque but didn't have a cheque card. Some folks complained that they were not legally obligated to provide me with any such thing. My response was that this is true, but I was not legally obligated to take their cheque either.

Can you go to the bank and get temp cheques printed with your account number on them, would that do? I haven't written a cheque for anything for years, but I seem to recall I could do that if I were out of cheques. They print the account number right on the cheque, but you have to write your name/address.

I tried that when I got the certified cheque because the landlord wanted the post dated cheques upon signing the lease. They no longer provide anything like that at least not at my bank otherwise I would have done that.
As of right now we are good. So as long as nothing else bad happens I'm feeling slightly better.
I did get my cheques in the mail today, so I have them at least ready to go when I do move I just didn't want to see any of my roommates being homeless when we realistically should have been able to move on the weekend no questions asked. I think I'm the only one that had a permanent place to live if this went sour since they all rent and are on a time limit to move for new tenants. I felt like the landlord themselves just weren't aware of how to actually rent a place since we are renting from the condo owners who just moved out and are now using the condo as an investment property. So huge sign of relief that they aren't actually trying to screw us. Luckily I am smart enough to use google and know what my rights are and I would have had absolutely no issues calling for some assistance today if we all got the run around again. Yep still pms'ing LOL! Of course there is no chocolate in the house either grrrr. Needless to say my name is already on the waiting list for a new condo apartment development that is accepting applications for spring/summer 2013 when it will be completed just in case these people turn into the landlords from hell or something LOL!

[i_forget]

Oh lecale, I know....that is the way it is. People are just greedy and go after whatever they think they can, I know it stinks, and in this case it is coming from both ends.

I am interested in knowing what happened to OP...everything work out???

[cath007]

I put the blinds I put the lights...they promised to do ceramic in the bathroom and paint...they never did...they had difficulties to redo the porch...took 1 year...and the worse thing about that is they are entrepreneurs with a compagny.....so when i willl move everything I put in there will move with me lol!!!