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Am I too nice?

llee

llee

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Jun 22, 2008
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In my duplex, one of my tenants paid rent late for a week in January. In February, he didn`t pay on time. I called him up, knocked the door, sent SMS and left a N4 Notice at his mailbox (with video and dated photograph as proof) on the 3rd.

After 15 days (Feb 18th), I called him, left voice mail, sent SMS but didn`t hear from him. In the voicemail, I explained that I will follow the procedure to file a L1 (Eviction for non-payment).

I called him yesterday (Feb 25th) and we finally sat down and talked. He said he has problem with his job payment, etc etc. I sincerely said I really don`t want to evict him as it will cost him $150, and my time and effort (smithlock, hearing, etc). I explained how much my mortgage, and I am losing money because of him. I asked him openly if he wants to consider moving out and find something cheaper. Or borrow money from friends to pay the rent because this is his shelter. I explained to him the L1 procedure (filing, hearing, eviction) and he may be forced to sell his car if it goes to small claim court.

At the end, he asked me to give him 4 more days till March 1. But he agrees that I need to do what I needed to do (ie, file L1).

What would you do if you were me?

Thanks.
 
QUOTE (llee @ Feb 26 2009, 11:22 AM) In my duplex, one of my tenants paid rent late for a week in January. In February, he didn`t pay on time. I called him up, knocked the door, sent SMS and left a N4 Notice at his mailbox (with video and dated photograph as proof) on the 3rd.

After 15 days (Feb 18th), I called him, left voice mail, sent SMS but didn`t hear from him. In the voicemail, I explained that I will follow the procedure to file a L1 (Eviction for non-payment).

I called him yesterday (Feb 25th) and we finally sat down and talked. He said he has problem with his job payment, etc etc. I sincerely said I really don`t want to evict him as it will cost him $150, and my time and effort (smithlock, hearing, etc). I explained how much my mortgage, and I am losing money because of him. I asked him openly if he wants to consider moving out and find something cheaper. Or borrow money from friends to pay the rent because this is his shelter. I explained to him the L1 procedure (filing, hearing, eviction) and he may be forced to sell his car if it goes to small claim court.

At the end, he asked me to give him 4 more days till March 1. But he agrees that I need to do what I needed to do (ie, file L1).

What would you do if you were me?

Thanks.

What is SMS?
I don`t know the situation, what I do know is always file an N4, always document everything and follow the LTB guidelines to the letter. He is obviously buying time, if he feels you are being soft on him he will try that again and again.
If this continues you may want to consider hiring a professional to evict, they will not be emotional about it and the excuses will fall on deaf ears.
In my experience having been in financial difficulties myself, people who cannot pay their rent have difficulty prioritizing their cashflow. Do you want to subsidize that?
 
QUOTE (llee @ Feb 26 2009, 11:22 AM) In my duplex, one of my tenants paid rent late for a week in January. In February, he didn`t pay on time. I called him up, knocked the door, sent SMS and left a N4 Notice at his mailbox (with video and dated photograph as proof) on the 3rd.

After 15 days (Feb 18th), I called him, left voice mail, sent SMS but didn`t hear from him. In the voicemail, I explained that I will follow the procedure to file a L1 (Eviction for non-payment).

I called him yesterday (Feb 25th) and we finally sat down and talked. He said he has problem with his job payment, etc etc. I sincerely said I really don`t want to evict him as it will cost him $150, and my time and effort (smithlock, hearing, etc). I explained how much my mortgage, and I am losing money because of him. I asked him openly if he wants to consider moving out and find something cheaper. Or borrow money from friends to pay the rent because this is his shelter. I explained to him the L1 procedure (filing, hearing, eviction) and he may be forced to sell his car if it goes to small claim court.

At the end, he asked me to give him 4 more days till March 1. But he agrees that I need to do what I needed to do (ie, file L1).

What would you do if you were me?

Thanks.
you are doing the right thing .. BUT: it is a business and you are giving away an asset that is worth $100,000`s FOR FREE .. why ?

talking is good to tenants, understand the issues .. but you must be prepared to evict him .. both financially and emotionally !!
 
EVICT, or at least get the ball rolling (file the L1), you can always wait till the 1st of March and file on the 2nd if no payment is made.

If a tenant calls you before the 1st, explaining situation you can work with that (although still follow procedure N4 etc).

Tough times happen to everybody, but they have to be honest and upfront about it. Not duck you for 25 days, then when it`s down to the wire... Ohh yeah well I`ve had some troubles with my pay/hours whatever.

A house over your head should be the 1st priority for your tenant, and in this case it doesn`t sound like it is. You will always be the last person to be paid.

There are programs for people to help them pay their rent, not sure where your unit is located but in Brantford, ON they have a rent bank. In essence they borrow the money off of the rent bank, and pay it off over time.


John
 
I would have filed the L1 already. A tenants negative financial situation can`t effect yours, that is unacceptable!! He still has time to pay after you file, but not filing just extends the process and your costs. Bin there, done that. Your tenant obviously isn`t concerned with honouring your lease agreement. EVICT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Brad Hamilton
 
the past reflects the future. There is a lot more people that have SAID they will bring the rent up to date and DIDNT than otherwise. I sounds like you have given the tenant a quality education in how hard and expensive it is going to be to get rid of him...I am not sure that was the best move.

Anyone that cant seem to pay their rent probably has bigger problems. They will have a bunch of other people breathing down their neck for money owed...if you are easier to put off than the other guys, you will lose everytime.

I am not being negative, just honest.

Hope it works out for you.
 
If it were me he would have received a N4 in Jan. another in Feb. and since he was obviously ducking you I would have processed the L1 on Feb. 19.
Always send a N4 on the second of the month for every tenant and try to keep in mind tenants do not care about wealthy landlords financial problems.
File the L1 on Monday and hope for a smooth eviction. If he does pay tell him one more N4 and he is out for good.
 
Greg,
you mentioned it already once in another posting that if you have three N4 the eviction process is "faster/different". Could you email/post me a link about this info? I could not find this info.

Thank you.
 
QUOTE (EdRenkema @ Feb 26 2009, 10:38 AM) ...If this continues you may want to consider hiring a professional to evict, they will not be emotional about it and the excuses will fall on deaf ears.
...

I totally agree with hiring a professional. It`s not worth the risk evicting tenants yourself, especially when some people are getting desperate in the down economy. Besides, the general public are not very sympathetic with landlords.

Here is a piece of news happened on Feb. 20 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.

There`s one landlord in Bridgeview who has to be wishing he`d done a better job screening his tenants.

He was rushed to hospital with a bullet in his arm Tuesday night after confronting a tenant over an eviction notice.

The incident happened near 131st Street and 116th Avenue, at about 10 p.m. Surrey RCMP Sergeant Roger Morrow said the house had smashed windows and otherwise was "in really rough shape."

Four people were arrested but no names have yet been released.
 
QUOTE (Northern Alex @ Mar 1 2009, 01:14 PM) Greg,
you mentioned it already once in another posting that if you have three N4 the eviction process is "faster/different". Could you email/post me a link about this info? I could not find this info.

Thank you.

You will find it in the Ontario landlord tenant act at this location. Although this is in reference to evicting a tenant at the end of there lease this is easily used when tenants are on month to month. The board generally accepts 3 latest as justification in a 12 month period. The N8 is notification to the tenant and the L2 is used to make application to the board to evict. This may not be any faster but it is accepted justification on the part of the board to evict. It can be very effective in correcting tenants bad habits or convincing them to move voluntarily before they get evicted.

http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/graphics/170121.pdf
 
Lucas,

Issue the N4 immediately every time rent isn`t paid. As you are already seeing, delaying things just slows the inevitable down. You can still be a kind person and be clean about your business.

He can not afford your unit. He needs to find a place within his budget. You may want to ask other landlords if they have a place he could afford. If he truly is a decent guy going through a rough time, you can recommend him to them and move him on with little pain.
 
The reality is that the restrictive rules regarding evictions in Ontario have created a situation where by landlords can not delay giving notice and penalises landlords that show compassion to tenants.
Without a crystal ball landlords do not have the luxury of knowing who to trust.
Keep in mind the N4 is only a notice to pay giving tenants an extra 14 days at our expense..
 
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