Cleaning up the mess…and I’m out nearly $10,000!
August 23, 2011
I went inside. I was ready for bad news. But not like this.
They say a picture says a thousand words. So I included some pictures. Looking at them still doesn’t convey just what they did to my house. It turned out that 2 tonnes of garbage/junk had to be removed and the level of filth was out of this world!
So yes folks not only did I not receive my rent- I was now in a position where I was having to drop thousands of dollars into my property just so I could get it on the market. Only this time it wasn’t on the market for rent…it was on the market FOR SALE!
I hadn’t been just sitting back the previous months doing nothing. During the last few months the tenants were abusing my property, I was working with undercover police and supplying them with info to help with their drug investigation. Also, I had given info to the CAS- the worker called me to thank me for calling in the info as they had lost track of these people(!)…but sadly they closed the file because they were not able to contact the tenants via phone or by unannounced visits for almost a year…..
My last statement to the CAS worker was “So what you are saying is that you now have to wait for a phone call from the cops in order for you to apprehend the child?” and the answer was “yes.”
Tenants had their Union gas disconnected on them back in April due to non-payment – I had received a phone call from Union Gas to say there would be a disconnection and asked me what I wanted to do- meaning “do you want the heat left off or do you want it put back in your name?”
Fortunately because it was April I didn’t have to worry about the pipes freezing so I said leave the heat off but I could have run into a real dilemma there if it were January…in fact in December & January many times I had driven by the house and they had all the windows wide open!
The tenants left the evening of June 6- it was on June 8 that the hydro was about to be turned off- I had to call the hydro company as I was needing to put the hydro back in my name and with the massive work that needed to be done in the house I needed electricity and hot water.
How convenient that they left right before they lost their power- and to top it off in Hamilton the municipality has the right to put any outstanding water charges on the property owners tax bill- yes you guessed it I’m now stuck with water portion of the bill!
The clean-up and repairs were huge! My costs included $1200 for new carpet with installation. I also paid $200 for pest control so my total for clean-up costs is $7500 (plus the 2 months lost rent at $950/mo) is where I get very close to the $10 grand mark. We did most of the clean up by ourselves, otherwise the amount would have been even higher.
Another thing for landlords to factor in- is when you are forced at times to resort to using professional help like a property management company-or a paralegal for court help, this comes right off any profit you are making- so at the end of the day there is just not enough money to make the venture worthwhile– it really does suck to be a landlord in Ontario!
To discuss this and view pictures, go to the Ontario Landlords Advice Forums here
