Hi Ed, If you lose the tenant for this specific reason I wonder if you take this person to small claims court for damages. You have evidence and witnesses, ask your lawyer if it is possible and if it is, threaten him with it, before it gets worse. He is destroying your business, and damaging...

Hi, Electric heat is crazy expensive... the bill will go down, and $120 a month on average without AC is probably on target. Tell them to inquire about equal billing. Also a lot of utilities are charging $200 deposit plus new customer charge on the first bill. Talk to the neighbours but I think...

Hi, This is sickening, how can the police not charge for the willful damage of the property. How did it go on for a year? I would be calling the Childrens Aid.... not taking the garbage out for a year, that is dangerous to childrens health and the public health as well. I would not believe it...

Hi Matzo, Unless you are close to your properties, maintenance is best farmed out to a reliable handyman(or multiple handyman). Your time is valuble too. While I think it is important to educate yourself on how things operate, and what things cost to prevent getting ripped off, most issues...

Hi, I am going through this in Ontario. I bought the house as it was advertized with a legal second suite. The seller provided me with a Electrical, Fire, and Zoning approval. Two years after an inspector knocked on my tenants door and asks to do an inspection, next week the fire chief shows...

Do an inspection immediately, high power usage is a tip off for a grow-op. Check for space heaters and ask the tenants if they have been using thier oven to heat the unit. If it is a high gas bill, they often make estimates or mis-read the meters. Good Luck Bill F

Just an observation... You can tell the difference between property owners in Ontario(No landlord rights) and Alberta(Balanced Landlord/Tenant laws)....Hmmmm

Tammy and Torontoskov, Thanks for the clarification, this deductibility issue is something that I have always wondered about. As for the longest amortization possible comment, I feel that unless you are actively reborrowing to purchase properties, stocks etc... paying down your business...

Great Post, I have one more scenerio to add to the pile if you could answer. Say you had a property with a 100,000 mortgage and after 5 years you paid down to 60,000. Could you not reborrow to the original 100,000 and use the money for whatever, and still have deductibility. You have paid...

Hi, In Ontario you will get $500 back from the government through the eco-energy audit as well for a rental. A lot of the tankless rental companies are offering the audit free with a 10 year lease. By renting you get $500 back on top of the $300 you save per year on gas, and after 10 years it...

QUOTE (mark186 @ Mar 6 2009, 10:36 PM) The Canadian Taxpayer`s Federation, an institution I would put a lot more faith in than the Toronto Star, has higher numbers for Canada: http://debtclock.ca/?gclid=CIrI-IHxj5kCFRDyDAodHTHQbQ Nearly double the total Canadian debt and consequently the per...

Hi Mark, You are not required for file for an eviction, but you can if you want to spend the fee. See attached link to LTB rules. I would file a 24 hour notice or try and call tenants(if you have a number) to inspect and go in with a witness and change the locks. You can leave a note with your...

QUOTE (jeffjas @ Feb 28 2009, 10:43 PM) If you have on-line banking you will find out if cheque is NSF in 4 business days max. I consider that a necessity, I wouldn`t wait 10 -12 days for physical cheque to arrive to inform of a bounced cheque. Most banks and credit unions have cheque imaging...

Hi, I often deposit my cheques the day before the 1st using the bank machine with no problem. As for NSF cheques, I use Scotiabank and the cheques take 10-12 days to come back NSF some times, and never less than a week. If you find out in 2-3 days consider that good service. Email money tranfer...

Hi, If you read how the law is applied(check the attached link), you have to agree to assign the lease but you can still reject potential assignees, with good reason. Tenant is responsible for the cost ascociated with assigning the lease...

Been there Alex, Don`t bother with another N4, he will say you were harassing him in LTB. Unless he gave you notice in writng that he was leaving at month`s end, he likely won`t. You can drop off the n4 and you don`t need a witness or to hand it in person. If you issue further N4`s you are only...

Hi, By my accounting the yearly rent meets the 10% rule, It should carry itself with some cashflow. Some of the other things to keep in mind are future renovation expenses(how old, can it be insured), legality of the building(does it meet current code), and most importantly the location. Is it...

Hi, Tell your tenant they can deduct the cost of breaking the lease from thier 2009 taxes, but they owe you till you rerent the unit or they sublet(if you agree) + advertising costs. I have even heard of some landlords charging for the km and time to do showings. I always tell my tenants that...

Hi, I had two different leaks in basement units this year that did not effect the upper unit. One was water running down the plumbing stack from the roof(not sealed properly) and the second was extreme condensation on HVAC pipes from tenants leaving windows open in basement(moist air) and...

Hi If I was looking for a job now, I would steer clear of the financial industry. It is in a absolute depression right know, I have friends that have been employed by the same banks/brokerages for over 10 years that are getting laid off, and they have financial degrees/diplomas. I am not saying...