Posts Tagged ‘Nina Willis’

Superior Court Judge to Nina Willis: PAY YOUR RENT! ………..or you have to come back to court

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

June 1st, 2012

 

What’s The Latest on Nina Willis, The “Tenant From Hell” Who Has Cheated Landlords out of Tens of Thousands of Dollars?

Nina Willis made a brief appearance at the Osgoode Hall courts on March 30th, 2012.  Nina Willis is appealing  the Landlord and Tenant Board eviction order she received stating she has ‘failed to pay her rent and has to move out.’

So What Happened?

She received a warning from a Superior Court judge to pay the rent she owes or face upcoming consequences in court.

Great News, So She Paid Everything She Owes and Moved Out?  The Landlords Must Be Relieved This Nightmare is Over

No.  Unfortunately it didn’t happen that way.

Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel granted an adjournment to allow Nina time to get a lawyer and pay her current landlord the $8,000+ she owes him.

Another delay?  You’ve Got To Me Kidding Me!

The Judge Gave Nina Willis a Warning.

Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel gave Nina Willis the adjournment and then said “You have the right to prosecute an appeal but not to withhold your rent.”

The judge then went state:

“The circumstances before the court when it hears this matter will be completely different depending on whether you pay your rent,” he said.

This Is What Happened At The Landlord and Tenant Board Before.  Delay, delay, delay.

Nina Wills continues to live in the rental in Don Mills she hasn’t paid for in months.  More delays.  More threats she will ignore.

And more non-paid rent.

This Is Terrible!

Yes, the system is slow and Tenants from Hell live off it.  Even tenants who aren’t as nasty as this one can easily delay the process.

The only good news is landlords across Canada are seeing how the Ontario system operates.  Whether you are in Alberta, British Columbia, or elsewhere the spotlight on the Ontario system.

What About The Poor Landlord Who Still Has This Tenant Living In His Property?

Despite how some some companies try to market themselves, no one has a magic wand or is above the law.  The Landlord will have to wait it out.

What’s The Message For Landlords From All Of This?

One lesson is to carefully consider if you want to invest in private residential rental properties.

And The Second Lesson?

If you are a landlord in Ontario you face a broken system.  It’s important you take your business seriously and screen your potential tenants carefully.

Discuss this issue with thousands of other landlords at the Ontario Landlord Advice forums

 

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Posted in Tenant From Hell | 5 Comments »

A Warning For All Landlords in Ontario

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

May 5th, 2012

Tenant Nina Willis, 48, faces two fraud and two forgery charges in relation to her tenancy at a Toronto landlord’s house.

The Story about the latest “Tenant From Hell” begins

It seem like the beginning of a mystery novel.  Unfortunately it isn’t fiction.  It isn’t a novel.  And it isn’t a mystery.

“Nina Willis seemed like the ideal tenant” says the Toronto Star investigation.

The investigation goes on.

“She was well-spoken and tidy, posing as an employee for a cellphone company with offices in Toronto and Montreal. She came with glowing references.”

Here comes the surprise.

“What landlord Darius Vakili, 63, didn’t know was that the 48-year-old Willis was a tenant from hell, with a track record of bounced cheques and eviction notices.”

The Story Continues, Implicating the System Landlords Face in Ontario

“A Star investigation reveals that the rules governing the provincial Landlord and Tenant Board have allowed people like Willis to flourish. Privacy legislation means her dodgy past as a tenant is kept secret from prospective landlords.”

Thank you Toronto Star

The Ontario Landlords Association would like to thank the Toronto Star for their story on the latest “Tenant From Hell.”

We are an association of small private residential landlords, and while many of us have faced terrible tenant problems due to an unfair Residential Tenancy Act and an unfair Landlord and Tenant Board, facing tenants such as the one in the Toronto Star article is a wake-up call for all of us.

The OLA Speaks Up for Landlords

This story is especially important for the OLA because one of the landlords in the article is a new reader of the OLA.

Furthermore, when we first heard about what was going on, OLA editors worked hard to get the story in the news and get the ball rolling for justice.

The OLA began the push to get her story into the media, resulting in a Toronto Star story on October 18th, 2011.  The Star story was headlined

“A bad tenant cost me $28,000 over 9 months!” and can be found here.

So What Can We Learn From This?

There are lessons we can learn from the Toronto Star story about Nina Willis.  Lessons that landlords can learn, unfiltered by lawyers or paralegals or others who make money representing landlords in need.  If there is no “need” there is no money paid.  Paying out huge legal fees means only more losses for landlords already suffering.

Lesson #1:  The Residential Tenancies Act and the Landlord and Tenant Board Need To Change

We call on the government to have summit of stake holders to re-examine the RTA and take a close look at how the Landlord and Tenant Board  operates and how we must change the RTA and reform the LTB.

Lesson #2: If You are a Landlord In Ontario You Must Be Professional in How you Do Business

Landlords young and old, wherever you are, we advise you to do proper screening to avoid ‘pro tenants’.  The OLA offers a low-cost path to incredible screening tools.

If the landlords in the Toronto Star article were OLA members, and did a credit check costing only $10…they would have avoided their “Tenant From Hell” and the emotional and financial nightmares associated with having such a tenant.

 

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Posted in landlord advocacy | 7 Comments »