REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

SpuGen · 08-03-2010, 06:51 PM

So for the past few months I've been having a problem with my tenant.

He moved in on June 2nd.
Paid his first month's rent.

Disappeared mid-june.

Comes back Today (August 3rd)

Says he lost his job and does not have my money.
He's moving out as I type.

Now:
I got him to sign the Contract RTB-1 today. It's dated for June 2nd since he disappeared and I never had the chance to get him to sign the damn thing.

I did NOT force him to move out or anything. He came back like 2 hours ago and started moving stuff into his car. I ask him for rent, he says he doesn't have it and will find a way to give it to me when he gets a job (not likely) All I have on him is his first and last name, his signature, and phone number (all on contract). I also took pictures of his car +plates. He says he's moving back home, but I recall that I'm not allowed to get his new address or something.

I've never had to deal with a tenant not paying rent...and the RTO office is closed so I can't call them and ask.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and figured that he would come back and pay for rent, since he said his mother was at VGH and he was always there taking care of her. He did not step foot into his suite since he disappeared, until today. He had all his stuff there until 2 hours ago.

Should I get him to sign a written agreement saying that he has a month to pay me back or I go through Small Claims?
If I do this... what should the agreement include?
Name, Amount, Date, Signature, Witness?

He actually just left before I could go get him a copy of the contract.

What now?

maxxxboost · 08-03-2010, 06:56 PM

Take my opinion with a grain of salt. Take this as a learning experience and let it go.

It's not worth the time. You're lucky he's not being a dick cause the RTO usually sides with the renters.

GL

Senna4ever · 08-03-2010, 06:58 PM

Why aren't you allowed to get his new address? Sounds kinda fishy... Did you ask to see his driver's license? The car may not be his.

JesseBlue · 08-03-2010, 07:03 PM

learn from this experience and think of it as charity (if indeed what he mentioned about his mom being in the hospital is true)...

obselete · 08-03-2010, 07:13 PM

not worth the hassel... even if you can get it back

DiiCii · 08-03-2010, 07:15 PM

kind of the same thing for my aunts tenants D= they haven't been paying rent for a few months and everytime my aunt went down there to ask them, they'd tell her to fuck off and also threatened to get her arrested for "entering their property"

cops didn't do anything.. so my cousin set up a moving day for them, rented a truck for them, got a new place to stay for them. so eventually they left with holes all over the walls, and a broken oven with shattered glass all over the floor..

AWDTurboLuvr · 08-03-2010, 07:20 PM

Yeah, just walkaway from it. This is one of the bigger risks of renting out your place...dirtbag tenants. The Tenancy Act allows them to do some pretty stupid things.

LiquidTurbo · 08-03-2010, 07:36 PM

Did you try calmly bluffing saying perhaps if he doesn't pay, you'll take him to small claims?

Wish I could be more help. Do keep us posted. If the money's not worth a lot to you, it might not be worth the trouble. It's a shame this stuff happens.

LUUUUUUUU · 08-03-2010, 07:48 PM

go bradford chow on his ass

kokanee_vtec · 08-03-2010, 07:52 PM

Your rent money is gone,,take this as a lesson and scan you tenants properly.

BlacknJean · 08-03-2010, 07:52 PM

dont be a dick. hes already moving out without you telling him to.

flawless · 08-03-2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlacknJean

dont be a dick. hes already moving out without you telling him to.

How's he being a dick? The tenant didn't pay his rent.

Timewav3zer0 · 08-03-2010, 08:01 PM

my parents usually ask for at least a couple months rent at the beginning to make sure that doesn't happen

//RacingSpirit>> · 08-03-2010, 08:12 PM

It could be worse.....they could have trashed the place before leaving. My parents have experienced more than a few bad tenants. Be glad you don't have to do all the paperwork for arbitration, calling in the bailiff, etc., then deal with renovations to get the place ready for rent again. You should have the first month's rent and damage deposit (half a months rent) right? If so, then it's a small loss and a good lesson learned.

orange7 · 08-03-2010, 08:14 PM

increase the rent for the next renters to recover the lost.

problem solved.

hirevtuner · 08-03-2010, 08:25 PM

hire a property management co to deal future obligations (assuming it is a rental property)

syee · 08-03-2010, 09:15 PM

What I would have done: Posted notice by leaving a notice on the door and given him 2 weeks to get his shit together. After that, I'm changing the locks and putting his shit on Craigslist to recoup my losses.

However, I'm sure the Tenancy act doesn't let me do stuff like that. From talking to my bro, it seems that the Tenancy Act protects the renter more than it protects the landlord.

Like the others said, it's probably not worth pursuing. If he pays you, great. I'd spend more effort getting the place rented out again so you can start getting income from it again.

1exotic · 08-03-2010, 09:33 PM

he can't just live in your house and not pay you money, that's just the way shit works. fuck this mother fucker and get your chedder son.

c_loke · 08-03-2010, 09:40 PM

I just dealt with a situation very similar to this. Had a tenant who was back 2 months and kept saying he was going to get the rent to me. Gave him the benefit of the doubt but he never did. I just asked him to move out of my place. He moved out, left a little bit of a mess but that was it so I was happy.

The best thing to do is just walk away from it unless he has done any damage to the place. You have his deposit, so at least you get something.

Sometimes the month of rent that you lose is not worth the trouble they can cause.

Gridlock · 08-03-2010, 09:53 PM

I just ate some crow today on this. I had the same attitude with the RTB-they always side with tenants.

We won today. They don't always side with the shits. They gave them their money, and then gave us what we asked for, which conveniently cancelled each other out. Not a crushing victory, but we kind of fucked up too.

Here's how, and what to avoid:

Go and register to keep the securiy deposit. It's not just yours to keep because he left, and he can come back to claim against you.

Be glad that he cleared shit out of the unit. If the value is over $500 in reasonable opinion(fuck, I do hate that that the entire act is written in terms of reasonable, acceptable and so on-could you tell me how many people are too many in an apartment, how many months you are late before I can evict and so on? Anyway, thats a little rant), then you need to store it for 3 months I think? Before you can liquidate to recoup.

Do you have a signed lease? If you don't, you are officially fucked. Sorry.

My advice to anyone is never let it go beyond a week. If you listen to their sob story, and let the rent build up, they are more inclined to do a midnight run. Think about it, if $1000 is going to be an issue now, what makes you think $2000 is going to be easier in 30 days?

Bounce the fucks.

dinosaur · 08-03-2010, 10:23 PM

Alight...

Did he sign a lease? How long was it for? 1 year? Month-to-month?

Did he give you a security deposit? As Gridlock said, IF he gave you one and you would like to retain it in lieu of non-payment of rent, you MUST file with the RTB. Also, he must give you his forwarding address as per your RT Agreement so that you can give him his deposit back (even if you are not going to return it).

Now regards to you guys not having an RTA at the beginning of the tenancy:

Is it dated for June 2nd? The whole thing, including the final page where he signed? The only thing that he needs to sign/fill out is technically the last page. Which says that he is agreeing to the terms of the previous 5 pages. This is a binding legal contract. It is the fault of him not to read what he is signing.

Now...if you want to get your money for loss rental revenue, you can....but you are going to have to be sneaky. Claim that he had singed on June 2nd as it was dated. Go to the RTB tomorrow and file a claim against him for failure to pay rent (at the same time you file to retain his deposit). It will cost you $50, but as per you agreement, he is obligated and responsible for the rent of July and August (yes, August even though it is only the 3rd)....HOWEVER, this is dependent on when you can re-rent your place. You can not "double-dip". If you find renters for Aug 15 he is only responsible until then . You also need to show an effort in attempting to re-rent (ie. CL ads, newspaper ads, etc.) this makes your case look good.

If you do not want to claim that these papers were signed on June 2nd and were actually signed today, your fucked.

People shit all over the RTB saying that they are just for the tenant, etc...but this is not true as they are bound to the laws and guidelines set forth by the Residential Tenancy Act.

If you want to go down this path with your "June 2nd" contact and claim that is was signed on June 2nd, you are entitled to the loss of rental revenue for a non-payment of rent and any future loss of rental revenue until you can re-rent the unit up until 31 days after he leaves (if he has a lease for like a year or something, he is obligated to all losses of rental revenue until the end of the lease which would be VERY costly to him).

As Grid said, we have just gone through this WHOLE thing with our tenants in our townhouse.....we are also managers of 2 rental buildings and are well-verse in the RTA.

What you must do ASAP: Get is forwarding address. Even if you have to trick him into doing it. Tell him you will send him his mail, or you need him to sign a "leaving agreement" or some BS like that. If he paid with a cheque, see if his address is on that. You NEED his address!

Keep it all friendly and shit, then slap him with an arbitration case. These assholes need to learn a lesson....trust me.

If you have any other questions, dont hesitate to ask....nothing pisses me off more than shit like this.

Gridlock · 08-03-2010, 10:34 PM

Now, the part that sucks...and it occured to me when I was looking at the paperwork from the RTA concerning collecting owed funds.

They do nothing in terms of collection. They give you a piece of paper that says your tenant owes you $xx...go to small claims and collect. Now, I just spent $50 to file with the RTA which they sometimes award you when you win...you have to be completely right, and them completely wrong.

Next, I go on down to the court house and file what, another $50 to start the small claims process, then take another day off work to go and deal with it in another month that it takes to go through the system.

And unfortunately, that is where the tenant wins. A landlord in good standing will pay what they owe to maintain their name. A tenant that walks will keep on walking.

dinosaur · 08-03-2010, 10:42 PM

To me, $50 is worth it. It is cheaper than filing a small-claims case against them.

Plus, if the tenant "keeps walking", a small claims case for unpaid for an RTA issue can go on your credit/record which will inhibit them from being able to rent again if the new potential landlord does a credit and background check on them.

This is why reputable apt building, etc require them. They're not just checking for late credit card payments.

Leparto · 08-03-2010, 11:21 PM

unless ur desperate for cash and u absolutely need the 2 months hes been occupying it for than go make a claim, if not just let it slide and learn from experience

plus, something is obviously up in his life
i mean he wasnt there for a whole month so hes not being a complete douche bag and just living there without paying

and as u said his mothers in the hospital

i mean if it was me and im not tight on cash id let it slide i mean he sounds like hes having a pretty tough time

SpuGen · 08-03-2010, 11:36 PM

I actually never recieved the Damage deposit.

I asked for it 3 times within the week or so that he lived in there. He kept postponing it because he was getting it from his boss.

He never had his mail forwarded here. AFAIK, his mail still went to his brothers house, which is where he's moving back to apparently.

Now, if I go do that $50 thing, and he says that he signed it on a different day, do I get fucked with a fine? or does it just go void and I lose $50 +2 Months of rent and time?

Funny thing about the Rent increase. We actually bumped it by $50 just to recoup the losses from the last tenant, whose girlfriend hiked up the ultilities cost for a year. But goddamn was she hot.