Rental Horror Stories

[ApePee2]

Rofl, keep the stories coming

[Mr.C]

3.) The less rent you pay...the more likely you are to bitch. I can't explain this one. I don't get it.

So true. When I worked at BBY, the worst customers were always the ones that we tried to give them breaks because they "couldn't afford the service". More often than not, it came to bite us in the ass later, to the point we stopped doing it.

[EvoFire]

Keep the stories coming. Love them, especially when I'm at work and have absolutely nothing to do.

Though, I clicked onto your blog.... The colours can do some dimming down.

[sh0n]

Hi Dino & Gridlock,

Awesome stories and love the blog.

If it's not too private from your end can you let RS know how many buildings, units you manage and in which areas?

I'm trying to get a sense where all the stories of these awesome tenants are coming from

[Gridlock]

bye

[GLOW]

that made my morning, thanks....i guess he learned a lesson that day...

[spyker]

Originally Posted by Gridlock

My favorite part of the ENTIRE thing...if the fucker had just opened the door and got in the elevator like normal-I would have groaned, rolled my eyes and that would have been it.

What do you expect from a crackhead,these people don't do act like normal human beings anyways.

Good story though.

[Valour]

Serious Question:

We had a nice Indian family rent out our basement in Vancouver(except for the crackhead wife beating husband but thats another story). Now the basement smells like Indian spices. How do I neutralize the smell for our new tenants?

ps the cooking smelled delicious during dinner time, but understandably I'd like to market the suite to a broader audience.

[ruthless]

Originally Posted by Valour

Serious Question:

We had a nice Indian family rent out our basement in Vancouver(except for the crackhead wife beating husband but thats another story). Now the basement smells like Indian spices. How do I neutralize the smell for our new tenants?

ps the cooking smelled delicious during dinner time, but understandably I'd like to market the suite to a broader audience.

Paint, especially in the kitchen...all those oils used for cooking are stuck to the walls. Make sure the stove and range are cleaned thoroughly. Also steam clean/shampoo all carpets etc.

[dinosaur]

.

[CRS]

Hey Grid/Dino,

If you don't mind, I have a situation that requires your expertise. Someone who recently moved out from staying with us has sent us a demand letter (for their possessions). The letter is dated 15 Aug 2012 and is sent from their lawyer. I was wondering what is the required time limit that I can put down for the person to pick up their stuff? Is there a law stating the required time before their possession is considered abandoned?

I'm reading up on the RTO section 17 about this stuff but wanted to see if I'm in the right direction.

Thanks in advance and it would be very helpful to have a reference that I can read up as well.

[Gridlock]

Originally Posted by CRS

Hey Grid/Dino,

If you don't mind, I have a situation that requires your expertise. Someone who recently moved out from staying with us has sent us a demand letter (for their possessions). The letter is dated 15 Aug 2012 and is sent from their lawyer. I was wondering what is the required time limit that I can put down for the person to pick up their stuff? Is there a law stating the required time before their possession is considered abandoned?

I'm reading up on the RTO section 17 about this stuff but wanted to see if I'm in the right direction.

Thanks in advance and it would be very helpful to have a reference that I can read up as well.

They moved out, or you kicked them out?

People abandoning crap is a huge problem. There is a certain dollar limit that you need to "reasonably" expect the items to fall under in order to dispose, otherwise you need to store it for a certain period of time. I can't remember off the top of my head what the dollar/time limits are.

Under the regulations portion of the act, you are following the items below:

Residential Tenancy Regulation

So 60 days for material and possessions to have a value of $500 or more. Below that figure, you need to have an inventory of the items that you threw out.

If you have stored the items and they want them back, then they need to pay your storage and moving costs.

[underscore]

Bumping this up because I need some advice here. My grandparents live in an apartment building that's strictly for retired people, and when they first bought the place they noticed lots of no smoking signs. The building is pretty serious about not allowing smoking anywhere on the property, people have to go all the way down to the street if they want to smoke.

The only loophole is that apparently people are allowed to smoke inside their own apartments. Unfortunately, one of my grandparents neighboring apartment houses two chain smokers, and we're pretty sure the people on the other side smoke a bit as well. Despite putting seals around every socket and light switch the secondhand crap still gets into their apartment somehow, to the point where it's affecting both my grandparents health. The people who run the building refuse to do anything because the people are smoking within their own apartment and apparently that's fine with them. Is there anything we can do to remove these people or force them to pay to seal off their apartment completely? I can't imagine they'll live terribly long with the way they're going on, but it's still pissing me off.

Any advice?

[EvoFire]

Came in here expecting new stories, but you cleaned out the old ones too. Did some trouble catch up with you guys?

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Came in here expecting new stories, but you cleaned out the old ones too. Did some trouble catch up with you guys?

No trouble. Some trolls of rs decided to take personal information and slam it on a site made for bullying people. Sorry to the rest of you who no longer get to read our stories on rs.

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by underscore

Bumping this up because I need some advice here. My grandparents live in an apartment building that's strictly for retired people, and when they first bought the place they noticed lots of no smoking signs. The building is pretty serious about not allowing smoking anywhere on the property, people have to go all the way down to the street if they want to smoke.

The only loophole is that apparently people are allowed to smoke inside their own apartments. Unfortunately, one of my grandparents neighboring apartment houses two chain smokers, and we're pretty sure the people on the other side smoke a bit as well. Despite putting seals around every socket and light switch the secondhand crap still gets into their apartment somehow, to the point where it's affecting both my grandparents health. The people who run the building refuse to do anything because the people are smoking within their own apartment and apparently that's fine with them. Is there anything we can do to remove these people or force them to pay to seal off their apartment completely? I can't imagine they'll live terribly long with the way they're going on, but it's still pissing me off.

Any advice?

If it is a strata building, they will need to talk to the strata company. They should be able to make a case for creating a health and safety issue in the common area.

[adambomb]

No need to start a new thread...

Should landlords be able to deny renters with pets?

If Vancouver city council has its way, landlords will no longer be able to demand “no pets allowed.”

The Rental Housing Council of BC doesn’t agree with the idea, President and CEO Amy Spencer says it should remain based on choice.

Councillor Tim Stevenson disagrees, “So why should people, just because they can’t afford to have a house or a big backyard, not be able to have a pet?”

I don't allow pets at my rental. I usually demand a ridiculous pet deposit on top of the security deposit from interested renters that have pets, and that alone usually turns them away from renting from me. In my opinion, Yes, landlords should be able to deny pet owners.


Should landlords be able to deny renters with pets? | News1130

[dinosaur]

Only one of our buildings is pet friendly (cats only). I hate it.

Pets create A LOT of damage and yes, I get that you are a "great pet owner", but honestly, good pet owners are the minority.

At the end of the day, a renter is paying to rent walls, ceiling, and a floor...until they own where they live, they are going to have to suck it up and live by someone else's rules. Nobody holds a gun to your head and forces you to live there.

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by adambomb

I don't allow pets at my rental. I usually demand a ridiculous pet deposit on top of the security deposit from interested renters that have pets, and that alone usually turns them away from renting from me. In my opinion, Yes, landlords should be able to deny pet owners.

Have fun getting fined.

You can only ask for a pet deposit up to 1\2 the rent. If rent it $1000 is means $500 damage deposit and $500 pet deposit.

If you don't want pets....say "no pet". You don't need a "ridiculous" deposit to scare people away.

[punkwax]

Never read this thread until today... missed all the good stories. Boo-urns.

[Gridlock]

Insane.

Let's define pets as a)cats b)dogs c) other

Most places don't have an issue with c(birds, snakes hamsters). Very few places take dogs. Of the places that take dogs, they are usually shitholes(In my experience). Small dogs can be better than allowing cats to be honest, but they bark, and its annoying for other tenants.

Cats:

Cats can be a fucking menace to houses. How many people have you heard that have an old cat that took to peeing in closets? That shit doesn't disappear man! Cat pee does not break down. It forms crystals, and those crystals re-activate as soon as they are near moisture, and the rancid smell of death cat urine is as fresh as the day it was squeezed out the cat dick it came from.

I know what you are saying, "Grid, how do you know so much about the devastating effects of cat wee?"

Oh, because I spent 2 weeks cutting into hardwood floors, and the building subfloor removing it. That's why! Oh, I cut 2 feet of drywall up a wall that was soaked with it for 20 bloody feet! That's why.

I smelled like cat piss for the month of december. Merry christmas!

So if the city, or the province wants to mandate something, then they can send their work crews in to replace everything when its done.

We switched one building to be cat friendly(because we already had a shitload in the building) and its not worth it. It's not. It opens up the amount of people you can rent to, but it also opens up a brand new pain in the ass to deal with. We had one pair that had 2 cats, they never cleaned the litter box and their apartment smelled like shit. You're welcome.

Fuckers.

Anyway.

They can mandate it all they want, people will have a "you have to let me in now" attitude, and we'll just drop their applications off with the other ones that may or may not qualify that we refuse to rent to.

[Great68]

Even as a renter I thought that landlords should absolutely have the right to stipulate no pets (as long as it's clear at the beginning of a tenancy).

What about my rights as a renter with no pets? Do I not have the right to live in a catpiss-soaked-subfloor free building/house? I don't want to be smelling that shit from my neighbor's unit.

[GLOW]

also it raises the question - what if you're allergic to cat/dog fur?

[Gridlock]

Originally Posted by Great68

Even as a renter I thought that landlords should absolutely have the right to stipulate no pets (as long as it's clear at the beginning of a tenancy).

What about my rights as a renter with no pets? Do I not have the right to live in a catpiss-soaked-subfloor free building/house? I don't want to be smelling that shit from my neighbor's unit.

This really becomes a property rights issue.

As it stands now, when I agree to rent something out, I agree to do so with the terms and conditions of the residential tenancy act.

However, in the act they don't tell me anything regarding what I actually need to do in the property(much to people's surprise when they read to me from the "Assumed So Residential Tenancy Act" that they committed to memory.

Nothing on how often I have to paint. Or what appliances I have to offer. I don't have to allow a boyfriend or girlfriend to move in(but it needs to be defensible).

They tell me I have to allow you to have guests. They cut you off at 2 weeks for said guests. I can't discriminate against welfare. They don't cover structure, or safety or any of the above(as they are covered in other mandates) EVERYTHING else is written as a guideline about 2 sets of humans interacting over a piece of borrowed property.

But some Vancouver city councilor...who has zero say in this at fucking all thinks he's going to slide a term in there about pets.

It will stand out as a sore thumb because it will be the only thing in there that tells me I have to do 'something' as a landlord that is not rule related(not enter without 24 hours notice or what have you).

Honestly, I get rid of people all the time, and as I said if someone comes in with a dog, you just lose the application.

"oh yeah, the previous person said they wanted it"

"the credit application process can take up to a week to complete. I'll call you"

Or my favorite:

"no"

[saucywoman]

Yeah this is stupid because yes you are told you have to allow pets so all you have to say is you do but give stall tactics to applicants just like a job interview. "We're interviewing throughout the week, I'll let you know if you're the successful applicant" how can anyone prove they were discriminated against because they have a pet; you can't. Someone else was a better fit
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