Good Tenants Are Invited To Write Blog Posts, Help Our Tenants Forum & Contribute to Policy Recommendations
It all seems so simple. You own a property and you want to rent it out. You have a great property and are looking for awesome tenants. You set your rent at a competitive market rate and advertise it.
Or you are looking for a property to rent and want to find a good apartment. An apartment that is clean, safe and priced right. You are looking to rent from a knowledgeable and responsible landlord to avoid any potential headaches.
Simple right?
Yet without good leadership and a strong voice from all those involved even the simplest things can become complicated. This is the reality in Ontario these days as the rental process has become overly complicated and filled with needless conflict and potential land mines for both good landlords and good tenants.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
What Do Good Small Ontario Landlords Want?
Good landlords who are service-oriented and caring with superb rental properties are looking for good tenants.
We don’t want too much. Our criteria is actually very simple and it’s nothing personal, just business. For years we’ve been told by tenant activists to run our rentals as a business.
We look for tenants who pay rent on time and respect the rental property and other tenants. For example, if you agreed to “no smoking” in the property then don’t smoke in it. If you need your fix go outside and don’t bother other tenants. If you have a pet or pets just be up front with us. Don’t secretly bring in your cats the day after you move in when other tenants might be allergic to them.
Oh, and we simply ask you treat us like human beings and not some faceless corporate landlord who might not even live here. We have families here, loved ones, and have invested a lot of money to create a terrific rental space for you. If you don’t pay the rent it hits our family budget hard. Follow the rules and see us not only your landlord, but as your neighbour.
What Do Good Tenants Want?
We have already heard from thousands of tenants giving their side of the story. It’s clear that renting in Ontario can be an expensive, frustrating and stressful experience. We’ve made sure our landlords are aware of this.
Many tenants have told us their landlord doesn’t fix things. Also some landlords view tenants as monthly pay cheques instead of human beings working hard with their studies or jobs and, like everyone else, can experience health or family issues. Tenants are people and they ask that they be treated better (especially by the corporate landlords). It’s clear that Ontario tenants are unhappy with corporate landlords and how they do business. Tenants are demanding landlords know the rules, follow them, and treat tenants as people and not just a monthly e-deposit in the bank.
Let’s Work Together To Help Good Landlords and Good Tenants!
We are working hard on this and will make problems with the rental industry a huge issue in 2018. We’re working tirelessly for small landlords and making a difference. And this is why we want good tenants to join us and play a role in our growth and reach.
What about Ontario tenants now?
There are the same old ‘tenant groups’ out there but many of them still seem to be preaching “fight the power” and creating conflict with their landlord. A few bad corporation or small investors lead to usual calls to “license all landlords!” or “we cannot trust anyone who owns land!” Trotskyite ravings are so 1970s and do nothing to help Ontario tenants.
Conflict is not the solution. Many Ontario tenants have said they have no where to go for help as these radical groups don’t really seem to want solutions, only more conflict and more fighting. This just isn’t right.
We Invite Good Tenants To Join Our Team in 2018
As we grow and make an even bigger impact in 2018 we invite good tenants to join our community and play an important role in making positive change. With so many emails already sent in it’s clear that good Ontario tenants are as frustrated as we landlords are with the current unacceptable situation.
One of the most common issues sent in is about tenants wanting to help their landlords deal with bad tenants in their rental unit. Many tenants are shocked that landlords cannot quickly evict tenants who smoke, grow pot, have huge parties, damage the property, don’t take out their garbage, etc.
Here’s How You Can Help
You can help in many ways.The key thing is to take the time to get involved. Your opinions and actions count.
1. Write About Your Ideas and Experiences Being a Tenant In Ontario
We are looking for good tenants to write blogs about your experiences. Let us know what you have gone through as someone looking for a rental property in Ontario. Did you have a good experience? A bad one? Let us know and we will put your thoughts on our hugely popular homepage.
2. Tenant Community Leaders for The Ontario Tenant Forum
Many tenants have emailed us saying the LTB and some tenant groups are simply not helping them. This is why we are asking good tenants to play a key role in running our new and improved tenant forum. Our tenant forum was the busiest in Canada before. However, there was far too much needless fighting between tenants and landlords. The mission statement of our new tenant forum is to help good tenants by creating a safe space for communication and helpful advice.
We are looking for 10 experienced Ontario tenants to help moderate our Tenant forum and make it as helpful as possible for other Ontario tenants to learn from. As Tenant Community Leader who will be able to invite other verified tenants to join our forum to help educate the community by posting questions and participating in positive debate and helping provide solutions.
3. Tenant Volunteers for Workshops and Seminars
We are looking for good tenants to help us with upcoming workshops and seminars. You can play a role as a speaker or contributor.
4. Tenant Contributors to Make Suggests On Ontario Rental Industry Policy Changes
We are looking for good tenants to help us create submissions to the Ministry. Let’s make sure those who can change things know what we need. Play an important role working with our Landlord Community Leaders is create landlord and tenant solutions and help fix the Ontario rental industry.
We Want Good Tenants To Play A Role In Our Community
We are going to get aggressive in 2018 to improve the rental industry. This includes lots of lobbying for legislative changes, an assertive presence in the 2018 provincial election and our top legal team protecting our rights (some peoples lives are going to get very complicated).
Good tenants will play a role in making 2018 a year to remember. We want tenants who aren’t interested in listening to activists in salaried positions “defending tenants” while they own their own homes. Who aren’t interested in groups that seek out conflict with a mantra of “all landlords are bad” while nothing really happens to really help people renting.
We want a mature, sophisticated discussion between experienced landlords and tenants.
Let’s work together for positive change to help both good landlords but also good tenants! If you have a history of helping tenants and putting forward tenant issues we want you to be one of our tenant community leaders and invite those looking for help to join our fast growing community. Email us at tenantexperiences@groupmail.com and let us know who you are, what your are experiences are, and how you want to help. The more information you provide the better your chances of being selected. The deadline for applications is Jan. 15. (Please note only those accepted with be replied to).
Update January 15, 2018
Thank you for the overwhelming response of Tenants across Ontario! We now have filled the available positions for Ontario Tenant Community leaders. Keep watching for our next recruitment drive!
Tags: cooperation, good tenants, ontario landlords assocation, ontario tenants forum
