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Bad tenant. What to do?

therenoguy

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Hello,



I am in Calgary. I'm very careful about checking tenants' references, but it's looking like a bad one might have gotten through.(see my post, boasting about how great my system is...eye rolling) This is only his second month in the place. He is currently on a 6 month lease. I self manage the property



It's now the 4th of September. He has been giving me a "I'm waiting for a cheque to clear..." story since the 1st. Yesterday I put a 14 day eviction notice on his door. Sent him a text, email, and phone message saying he needed to pay the rent to get the order cancelled. Of course I haven't heard from him.



1-If he does not pay, what is the best way to get rid of him in 14 days without having him kick holes in every wall on the way out? Do I offer him some of his deposit back?



2-What do I do if he refuses to leave, and refuses to pay rent?



3-Are there people in Calgary I can hire who specialize in getting rid of a bad tenant?



All for now. Thank you all for your time.

Keith
 

Matt Crowley

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Bad tenants get through. It's part of business (unfortunately). Don't beat yourself up over it. Deal with the mess and move on.



The email pre-screening is a good idea. I'm going to use it for my next vacancy.



[quote user=therenoguy]Do I offer him some of his deposit back?




Negotiation will make this a lot easier. The difficulty is that if he has no money he is going to have a problem putting down cash for his next property.



You can go to RTDRS immediately and file for a hearing. The date of the hearing will have to be after the eviction notice expires, however. A lot of REIN members suggest going directly to RTDRS rather than posting the notice for this reason. (Although I agree that just posting an eviction notice is enough to get rid of 85% of non-paying renters).



From the hearing date you need to prove non-payment of rent. You then need to obtain a writ of enforcement. Once you have the writ, you can hire a bailiff to move the tenant out with a court ordered eviction.
 

therenoguy

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Thanks for the reply Matt. I will do as you've suggested.



Pardon my ignorance, but what is the
RTDRS
RTDRS?



(edit) Ahh. Residential Tenant Dispute Resolution Service. I will call them.(end of edit)



Thanks

Keith
 

Matt Crowley

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RTDRS is the Residential Tenancy and Dispute Resolution Service. The is a quasi-judicial body that allows Alberta Landlords and Tenants the ability to resolve disputes more efficiently that than going through the traditional court system. Hearings are held by a panel of judges who have binding authority to make decisions.



There is a good interview with Brendon Hewitt (an RTDRS expert who has handled over 2,000 evictions) on the ReinCanada website. Go to www.ReinCanada.com / knowledge vault / expert interviews to stream audio: "Winning With The RTDRS - Brendan Hewitt Interview".



If a tenant is going to be a problem, I would go directly to RTDRS and file for a "Notice of Hearing". If there is just one tenant, you need to bring 3 copies of "evidence" with the application. (Sounds like you would only need the lease and any proof they were notified of late payment).



Find the application form you need: http://www.servicealberta.ca/rtdrs/Filing_an_Application.cfm



RTDRS asks for you to provide one set of evidence with originals. They will make a copy and ask you to make service to the Tenant. There are a few options for this, but you must attempt personal service.



If the tenant does not show up, then a ruling can be made against them without them present.



Once service is made, you must fill out an Affidavit of Service and bring that to the hearing. The tenant will have the ability to make a counter-claim before the hearing date.



Good luck!
 

Sherilynn

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My favourite way to deal with late rent is to serve tenant on the second of the month with a notice that states that if we do not receive the rent in full (plus the late fee) by 8 pm that day, then we will file for eviction at the RTDRS at 9 am on the following day. We also state that this will result in a swift eviction and an additional $75 filing fee that will be charged to the tenant.



The result is almost always one of the following: a) the tenant pays immediately or b) the tenant admits that he can't pay and offers to leave quietly within a week or so. If the latter, then we inform the tenant that if he cooperates with short notice showings and leaves the place really clean, then he may still get some of his deposit back if we can rent the place right away.



More importantly, my favourite way to prevent late rent is to offer a $100 prompt-pay discount. The rent stated in the lease is $100 above market rent, and the discount brings the rent to market. They get the discount as long as they pay on time with no bounced cheques. If they are late by a day, then I remind them that their $100/month discount is at risk. Powerful motivation.
 

Sherilynn

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I forgot to add a few thoughts:



All that a tenant in Alberta need do to object to a 14-day eviction is to simply not move. Then you still must go to the RTDRS to get an order of eviction. That is why many landlords skip the eviction.



Filing with the RTDRS right away is a good idea because you can get an order for the rent, which you can then try to collect. This leaves the security deposit in place for damages. Plus, if you wait until after the tenant leaves to file for damages, chances are that you won't find him to serve documents on him. Then you'll get nothing.



Do NOT offer him some of his deposit as incentive to leave. If he leaves quietly and cooperates with showings, enabling you to rent the place quickly, then he will get some of his deposit back.
 

therenoguy

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Thank you all for your in-depth replies.



The 14 day period is up from my eviction notice. I have gone there and all their belongings are still there, and no one answers the door. I didn't go in. I don't want to jeopardize the eviction process. The guy's phone has been cut off so I can't call him.



So it's off to the RTDRS to get them booted out. I'll keep this post updated so hopefully others can learn by my experiences.



Thanks again. I appreciate your input.

Keith.
 

Sherilynn

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Next time go straight to the RTDRS. And just so people know, you may file at the RTDRS even if you have already served an eviction notice. The RTDRS will simply schedule the hearing after the eviction period.
 

therenoguy

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Thanks. I will certainly do that. This situation is proving to be a good educator.



Keith
 

therenoguy

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Thanks for the replies and advice here. This issue was resolved, so I thought I should share my results.



I went to the dispute service. They told me the first hearing was in a month, and that I would have to try to serve them 3 times in 2 days.



I have a life, and don't have time for this crap. I called a bailiff. They served them, went to QB, and had an order in 10 days.



They are still there, and now caught up in rent, but only because there is an organization helping them that is making sure rent, utilities, and court costs are being paid. I got lucky this time.



I recommend this as money well spent. I would have wasted so many hours filling out forms, serving papers, time in court, serving them again when they didn't pay, plus the delays in getting a hearing, that it surely cost me less, resolved the issue faster, and was 1/10th as stressful by having experts working on the job.




Hope this helps

keith.
 

Sherilynn

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Well done!



Absolutely correct that it often makes more sense to hire a professional. They already know what to do and how to present the case.



Since time is money, it is often cheaper to pay someone else to do something for you.
 

AminMurji

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What is the advantage of going straight to RTDRS instead of posting a 14 day eviction notice and going to RTDRS? You don't need an eviction notice to get rid of the tenant?
 

Sherilynn

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In Alberta, we have the option of either posting 14-days' notice or going to the RTDRS.



All that a tenant in Alberta must due to oppose the eviction notice is to simply stay put. You can't force them out until you have an order of possession, so if they don't heed the eviction notice, then you must take them to the RTDRS to get an order of possession.



The bottom line is that the 14-day eviction notice has no power unless the tenant leaves voluntarily, and the worst tenants won't do that. So you have just wasted your time and potentially lost more revenue.



That's why I skip the eviction and threaten to go straight to the RTDRS. If the tenants ignore my letter threatening to take them to the RT, then I file suit.
 

angelapeng

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We have 20 rental payments every month, almost every month, there are some late payments, either bounced cheques or just merely late by email payments, by the way, half of the payments are through the emails now. Generation Y people are used to anything digital. We send texts to those who are late, and charge late payments. There was one tenant who is late for 8 months out of 12 months, and they do not care about late payments fine, they do pay ultimately, just forget to pay on time. It is our job to remind them and charge them the fee if late payment occurs.
 
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