Anyone rent to someone paid by Children`s Aid Society?

[multiroger]

Hi,

I got a response of my Ad. The lady is working in a non-profit family service looking for an apartment for her client and this is her description of the prospect tenant -


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He is 20 years old and part of a fantastic program through the Children`s Aid Society for young people who are transitioning from foster care to independent living. As such the Society pays all of his expenses each month so you never have to worry about rent money being on time.

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Has anyone rent to someone like that? Is Children's Aid Society like Ontario Works, which gives the renter the choice for the "shelter expense" to pay to Landlord OR to renter? Just want to know if there is a catch somewhere, or what kind of questions I should ask the lady?


Thanks

 

[AminMurji]

There is a similar program in Edmonton and we were bitten twice. We thought we would give these kids a chance, These kids are not stable and caused damages over 8K. Ouch! The program coordinators did not even take any responsibility by paying the cost of the damages. Rent coming through is not the issue, it is the maturity level of these kids. in my humble opeion, many of them cannot handle independant living.

 

[Sherilynn]

[quote user=AminMurji]There is a similar program in Edmonton...Rent coming through is not the issue, it is the maturity level of these kids. in my humble opeion, many of them cannot handle independant living.




We also received calls from that Edmonton organization (can't remember the name). I had the same worries that you mentioned. And I doubt that any social assistance program would take any responsibility for damages. They are only vouching for the rent. (Good luck collecting for damages from a teenager with no family support.)



We concluded that we would rather have a vacant suite than risk it.

 

[TodorYordanov]

I did once and it was a disaster.

 

[invst4profit]

Stay away from any applicant on any form of government assistance. Never ever believe agencies will pay, they lie.



The key to success in this business is thorough screening of applicants. You want someone with a steady job, good to excellent credit, mature and stable. Any applicant on any form of government assistance would never pass landlord screening especially in Ontario.

I can not speak for any other provence but in Ontario anyone on government assistance is deemed by the government to be untouchable. The government does not allow the courts to garnish there government income which means they are not held responsible for any debt they incur. This means landlords can not collect for unpaid rent, utilities or damage.

The government should be housing these people not private landlords.



When screening landlords should not only screen to confirm applicants can pay but also can you collect.

 

[CarrieKoch]

I once saw one of these girls in tribunal, I knew her because she had wanted to rent a unit from me. She had caused substantial damages from parties and disturbed all the tenants. She didn't think it was her fault that her "friends" damaged her apartment. Her social workers were talking in the elevator that they just didn't know what to do about her anymore.



I always find young people are better with a cosigner, we rent to a lot of students and it's much easier to have someone to go back to who is financially responsible and who is responsible for this child's poor upbringing ! I would guess that kids that come from Children's Aid etc don't have proper life skills and haven't been raised with the simple things like respect and responsibility.

 

[Sherilynn]

Agreed. I have rented to many young people and have found that those with a willing cosigner are often more responsible. And in the 2 cases where there was damage, it was accidental and was paid for without much fuss.