November 15th, 2012

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 Ontario Landlord Is Left With Huge Damages As Tenant Runs and Leaves a Disaster Behind

Meet landlord Jean-Guy Lecours. He’s a small business landlord with only one rental property.

What Happened?

Jen-Guy entered his rental property last month and was shocked at what he saw.

Oh No, I’ve Heard This Story Before

1 – He entered his house and saw the new light carpet he bought  now looked like  dirty soot.

2 – He saw the handles for the new windows he installed were ripped off. (And windows aren’t cheap!)

3 – He saw cigarette buttes mashed in the property furnace vents.

What Did He Do?

He told the tenants the property was a ‘pigpen’ and demanded they clean in and do the repairs.

Did They Do It?

No.

The landlord was forced to evict the tenants.

Who Were the Tenants?

They were a single mom with two kids and her ‘partner.’  The landlord eventually managed to evict them.

So His Problem Was Solved With the Eviction?

No, not at all.

The tenants left major damage to the property. The landlord has quotes of between $12,000 to up to $15,000 to get the property back to how it was before those tenants moved in. We’ve seen these kind of issues before.

Anything Else?

Yes.

The tenants owe him nearly $500 for the hydro bill and the city of Sarnia is going to charge him for collecting all the garbage.

How Much Garbage Was There?

Sarnia garbage collectors had to haul over sixty bags of garbage and old abandoned furniture after neighbours were disgusted and demanded it be cleaned up.

Surely He Can Get the Ex-Tenants to Pay for What They Did

The landlord is very pessimistic of every collecting.

Why Not Go the the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board?

When a tenant leaves a rental, the landlord can no longer go to the LTB.

So What Can He Do?

His only option is to go to Small Claims Court. However that is very difficult because the landlord must now track down the tenants to serve them.

Why Did Lecours Rent to These Tenants?

The landlord and his wife knew the tenants from their local church. The told him they needed a home to live in and assured him they would be great tenants. He fell for all the tricks which he would have avoided with a professional property management firm.

Despite some conflict during their tenancy, the landlord tried to be flexible to the tenants.  He even loaned them his mobile home so they could have a nice summer vacation.

What’s the State of the Property Now?

The landlords’ wife has been spending her days getting rid of garbage and cleaning the pigpen.

Will Lecours Continue to Be a Landlord?

Yes, although he promises to be careful when choosing tenants. He will begin doing employment and credit checks.

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This Is Another Warning Call to Ontario Landlords! Make Sure You Do Proper Tenant Screening and Do Credit Checks Before Handing Over the Key!