Worst Tenant Nightmare Stories
By: Zohaib Shahab| Tolobi
Ask any landlord to share their unpleasant tenant experience, and the story usually begins with, “They seemed nice at first.” Although every landlord should have a standard process for reviewing rental applications, we’ve noticed that quite a few landlords let their emotions overwhelm their decision-making despite the obvious red flags. Such decisions may have devastating consequences for your bank account, property, and mental health, especially if you end up with tenants with repeat offences against landlords. But, really, how bad can things go wrong?
Why pay, when you don’t want to?
Non-payment of rent is perhaps the single biggest source of concern for landlords, particularly the mom-and-pops that depend on the rental income to fund their mortgages. Tenants sometimes approach landlords for rent breaks for genuine reasons, such as delay in paycheques or loss of employment due to pandemic. As long as you’ve been a good tenant, many landlords are understanding and are willing to work out a plan for you. However, there are tenants who deliberately rent with the intention to not pay rent at all, like this case in Vaughan, Ontario, where the basement tenants stopped paying rent as soon as they moved in. These sorts of tenants understand the inefficiency of local tribunals, which may take at least a few months to issue eviction orders, and take advantage of the system to sustain their rent-free lifestyle. One landlord was out $12,000 in rent after months of battle to evict a career criminal out of his half duplex in Bedford, N.S. and another landlord, in Arnprior, Ontario hadn’t received rent from his tenants for at least 8 months, despite his tenants receiving government assistance on a regular basis.
Forget about peace of mind
Landlords receive calls from tenants for various reasons, whether there’s a leak from the roof, the freezer stops working, or a mouse was spotted in the basement. These are all important reasons for calling the landlord, so that tenants can have reasonable enjoyment of the property they’re paying the rent for and the landlords can fix up the issues before they evolve into something bigger — win-win! But most landlords don’t expect calls from the police. One landlord, living in Vaughan, Ontario received regular police visits for more than 6 months, thanks to his basement tenant. The tenant would call the cops on a daily basis, accusing the landlord of stealing her laundry and detergent. If that already doesn’t sound strange enough, the landlord told CBC News, “She claimed that I assaulted her, that I take her pictures when she’s sleeping naked, and I’m taking pictures from the window.” CBC News noted that this same tenant texted another landlord two or three times daily to give him a hard time, and made repeated false calls to the city about heating issues and the fire department.
Beyond reasonable wear & tear
Imagine spending $100 000 to renovate your house, which originally belonged to your parents, especially a kitchen that you remodelled as a gift to your wife. Then, you happen to find out that perfect property is ramshackled. When this landlord in Sudbury, Ontario entered his house after evicting his tenants, he found smashed cupboards, punctured walls, and garbage strewn everywhere. A toilet was full of excrement, and the furnace was on the fritz because an air vent got plugged. The landlord estimates the damages to be more than $30 000, on top of the $14 000 just in missed rent. Or consider this landlord from Vancouver, BC, who discovered that their tenant had decided to pour cement down all of the property’s drains, toilet, and washing machine, and super-glued the key into the lock, and kicked holes in the walls?
Rather than mistreating the property and everything that comes with it, there are tenants who prefer to just keep…everything. A landlord in Montreal’s West Island experienced theft from her tenant, who she took on “out of pity” as he was getting out of a divorce. This tenant was accused of stealing Amazon packages from the front lobby, and actually stole all of the landlord’s appliances — washer, dryer, fridge, stove and dishwasher all gone, with the theft being valued over $6,000.
Unwelcome guests
Many tenants have pets — based on our experience, cats and dogs are the most common, with fish and birds here and there. But how about 30 snakes, including pythons, in your property? The tenants in this Ottawa apartment building have vacated out of fear of the snakes getting loose. The landlord has tried to evict the tenant for months, while dealing with loss in rent due to the vacancy.
And it’s not just about dangerous animals — a landlord, in Kingston, Ontario, suspected that in his rental property, “there was definitely a goat. There were definitely rabbits. There were what I presume are … chickens. They definitely had quails in the house because I saw those … [and] of course cats and dogs.” To rid the home of the smell of urine and feces, the landlord hired professional cleaners and estimated to incur as much as $30 000 in necessary repairs.
Now, we want to make it clear that most tenants are not like this at all. A few bad apples spoil the bunch, abusing their local tribunals to take advantage of the mom-and-pop landlords who are doing their best to protect their investments while providing great homes for tenants. However, having one terrible tenant can obliterate your valuable property. To prevent this, we always recommend you come up with a standard process for reviewing rental applications and stick to it, or use professional services like Tolobi’s to find the perfect tenants for your property. A great tenant will not only be good for your property conditions, but also your financial and mental health!
