Tenant Screening Canada | Renting Well

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Landlord?

The Globe and Mail published this great piece a few days ago entitled, “Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Landlord?”. It offers a sober look at the pros of being a landlord and the benefits of income property ownership. It’s a great counter piece to all of the discouraging things you might hear from people who’ve tried it and had it not work out. If you’re reading this, you know property ownership and property management are hard. This piece is refreshing because it paints an accurate picture of the situation with rental property ownership. In short – it’s a marathon, not a race.

Read the piece here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/mortgages/home-buying/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-be-a-landlord/article11636234/

Landlord Is Sued By Tenant For Being Too Considerate

Being a landlord can be tough work, but a recent Toronto civil suit brought forth by Gerry Danforth underscores this fact with a degree of emphasis not seen before. Mr. Danforth recently sued Amanda Boileau, his landlord for the last 23 months, and cited the reason for the case as her “complete and total reliability and overwhelming personal consideration” in a suit asking for the maximum $5000 judgement allowed in Canadian small claims court.

Mr. Danforth went on to provide a few key examples of what Ms. Boileau has a tendency to do, which included but were not limited to 24/7 contact for any emergency, proactive measures to ensure that fire alarms were working and functional, as well as immediate concern to even the smallest of minor issues like a leaky faucet or broken window.

“There was an instance last year when Amanda came by my apartment and followed up on whether a creaky door was working quietly after the application of some WD-40 to the hinges. I’m not sure who she’s trying to impress, but to add insult to injury, that same day just happened to be my birthday, and she had the audacity to wish me a happy one”, said Danforth as he checked an important text message outside of the Toronto courthouse.

According to Danforth, Ms. Boileau’s other transgressions include things like 48 hour notices on dropping by or entering the apartment to repair items, a full extra day than is required by law, and being responsive to suggestions about purchasing him a new refrigerator for his unit.

“She literally listened to me, agreed with my assessment that the fridge I had was noisier than I would have liked, and proceeded to purchase me a stainless steel model with a built in purified water spout”, said Danforth. “I find Amanda’s personality and accountable nature compromises my ability to assume all landlords are jerks and to perpetuate the stereotype that they are the housing equivalent of dictators.”

The case is hearing closing arguments this week.

Saskatchewan Kyboshes Rent Controls

The provincial government in Saskatchewan says it will not implement a system of rent control for residential tenants in the province. This was in response to the plight of a group of tenants who live in a building on Regina’s Robinson Street who received notices of a 77% increase in their rent. Wow.

The province’s Justice minister, David Wyant, explained that he thinks a rent control system would discourage property owners from improving their units.

We believe that it’s a disincentive to improving properties,” says Wyant. “it’s a disincentive to the establishment and for the building of new rental accommodations and we’ve seen that across the province and we’ve seen that across the country.”

Wyant added that he believes most rent increases have been around three to four per cent. He also offered to meet with the affected tenants personally and has also set up a meeting for them with the rentalsman’s office.

Landlords who belong to the Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association have to give six months notice of rent increases. Other landlords have to give 12 months notice. In this case, the property management company who looks after the units did in fact give the required notice regarding the rent increase.

To-do Lists Have Been Pushed Live! Welcome to v1.2

Dear landlords,

We’ve pushed out a new update (v1.2 for those keeping score) of Renting Well this morning. First thing you’ll notice is that your dashboards look a little different: we’ve added a new to-do list to the app! This is going to make it a lot easier to stay on top of what you need to get done and ensuring you’re reminded when tasks are due.

It can be anything: tenant asks you to fix a screen? Add it as a to-do! Tenant mentions that one of the outlets in their unit isn’t working? Add it as a to do! Want to remind yourself 60 days in advance that a tenant’s lease is going to expire? Add it as a to-do! The to-do list is a handy feature that includes convenient email notifications that get sent to you on the specified due date. The main purpose is to keep you on top of the many landlord duties that need your attention — whatever they are.

You’ll also notice that the app looks a little different, too. We’ve passed over things with a bit of a fine-toothed comb: redesigned contact lists, improved layouts of financials, better icons, and a whole whack of aesthetic tweaks all designed to make the app easier and more enjoyable to use.

Kick the tires and let us know what you think!

Why Tenant Screening Is Wickedly Important

Mistake #1 for landlords: renting on a hunch. It’s insane.

When we built Renting Well, we made it a quick priority to include access to background checking within the app. To make this happen we were fortunate to partner with BackCheck, Canada’s leading background checking service. One of the reasons we did this was because basic credit checks are just one piece of the pie. It’s good to have access to other background checking elements like employment verifications and a criminal background check. I had the opportunity recently to sit down with Iain Murray at BackCheck to discuss some interesting stats when it comes to landlords “checking” who they’re renting to:

10% of Canadians have a criminal record. That’s over 3 million people.
28.5% of tenant applicants will have poor credit.
12.1% of tenant applicants will lie about their employment.
Almost 25% of landlords would not recommend a former tenant to another landlord.
About 45% of BackCheck’s small landlord customers will request a criminal background check.

Conducting criminal background checks is more important than landlords might realize — an individual with a criminal history, who continues living a life of lawful offense, can have a great impact on a building and even an entire community. While a check is not exclusionary, it has the potential of reducing the number of thieves and violent ex-criminals who wish to neighbour among other tenants.

With that said, a criminal check can uncover any one of a number of offenses — not just violent crimes. People get charged with minor offenses like fraud and theft — things which most landlords would want to know before making a decision to rent to a tenant or not. There is no such thing as too much information for a landlord. Any kind of criminal background is something you should be aware of. Landlords have the right to refuse to a tenant because of their criminal history and ultimately the responsibility lies with you when it comes to introducing new tenants into your property. Check out this great info sheet published by Crime Prevention Ottawa in September 2009 that discusses how landlords can avoid and overcome the challenges of crime and disorder (such as drug dealing) on their property.

Professional Tenants Create Pain For Landlords

Professional tenants aren’t a myth. The exist for real, and they’re creating major pains for small landlords all over Canada. Came across this interesting piece at CBC news today concerning small landlords getting burned in British Columbia. A few first time landlord missteps being counted on, and an intimate knowledge of the loopholes with the B.C. LTB’s process allows for free living arrangements for a long stretch on end for pros who know how to work the system.

The Federation of Rental Housing Owners of Ontario went on record stating that professional tenants can work up to 6 months of living for free on a landlord’s dime by simply exercising their right to appeals. “We’re probably dealing with anywhere between one and two per cent of the tenant population that is doing this [scam],” said the federation’s Vince Brescia. “The activity of the ‘pros’ is creeping up … it’s a growing phenomenon.”

Property management is about due diligence. Landlords should always ask for a certified check for first and last month’s rent – something clearable prior to the tenant moving in or handing over the keys. They should also be diligent about not only credit checks and other tenant screening, but with references from previous landlords. Threshold Property Management have plenty of experience dealing with different kinds of tenants. What do you think? Do you think provincial legislations in Canada are in need of tweaking?

Oh No! I Have A Marijuana Grow-Op In My Rental Property!

I don’t really, but what better way to get your attention?

As landlords, most of us have heard of that old urban myth. You know the one… a guy who knows a guy, who’s a landlord, who suddenly finds out that the perfectly nice couple who had been renting out the house were in fact running a marijuana grow-op. There are variations on the story as well, sometimes it’s a crack house, sometimes it’s a meth lab. This story — in all it’s incantations — has popped into our brains in some way, shape, or form at some point in time.

This is the reality…

The RCMP estimate that there are about 50,000 grow-ops in Canada. They’re in single family homes, basement apartments, and even in Toronto high rise condos. Most landlords are probably oblivious to this fact — and even more alarmingly — they’re often oblivious to the massive insurance pickle they’ll find themselves in if they end up renting to someone who decides to make their unit a reefer lab.

Read this great article by Ottawa lawyer Howard Yegendorf. Landlords need to be aware that the majority of liability insurance policies have a specific exclusion for damage caused by your tenant’s marijuana grow-op. That’s just the insurance problem. There’s also the criminal enterprise element. Seriously. Have you seen Oliver Stone’s Savages? Property management is hard enough. Having something comparable to a Breaking Bad season in real life is the absolute last thing you or any other tenants in the property need.

So what do you do? Well, here are some tips:

Perform tenant screenings. There’s a variety of other background checks your can perform as well, such as a criminal record check and an employment verification.
Have an airtight lease that clearly articulates the expectation of no criminal activity on the premises and that the tenant will provide reasonable access to the landlord.
Visit and inspect your property regularly. Remember – landlords are allowed to visit their units for routine inspections with proper notice given. Landlords should be familiar with rental property inspection laws uk . You’d be surprised how many don’t do this. Get into this habit.
Talk to your tenants. Communicate with them. That’s always a good way to get a sense of what’s going on at the property. If you’re hearing about a lot of suspicious people coming and going constantly that could be a tip worth keeping in the front of your mind. Grow-ops have a tendency to have a lot of runners coming in and out of the place.

Here’s some tips on what to look out for:

Look out for any hydro alteration or electrical bypass. Things like holes in the foundation that weren’t there before should be treated as suspicious.
Did the renter spend a lot of time viewing the breaker-boxes, wiring and plumbing fixtures? Were they asking a lot of questions about power distribution in the property? Believe it or not, this happens. More often than not, illegal growers attempt to steal hydro by altering how it comes into the unit.
Be weary if tenants want to pay their rent in cash. Seriously. Who pays in cash? People who deal with a lot of cash, like servers, even have bank accounts.
If a tenant discloses that they plan to have the utilities registered under a different name, that’s weird.
Evasive answers and vague information on a rental application. This should set off a flag anyways.
Condensation or darkened windows in the unit. Cardboard and blacked out windows foster an effective grow environment. That’s not normal.
Tenant unloads copper and/or PVC pipe, soil, halogen lamps, large amounts of black plastic aluminum ducting, and fans.

In hiring a contractor for your siding installation in Utah, be sure to do your due diligence. There are many reputable home siding contractors with the knowledge and experience to get your siding job completed.

Have you ever had a marijuana grow-op in one of your rental properties? Know anyone who has? Share your thoughts with us.

The Stripper With Dirty Feet: A Tenant From Hell Story

Came across this great post by Mike Holman at Money Smarts.

The story is by Rachelle Berube over at Landlord Rescue – who runs a wicked blog that’s both funny and highly informative. Anyone making rental property management humorous deserves a Pulitzer in my books. There’s a bunch of other gems here too – like the Ultimate Guide To Giving Your Tenant Proper Legal Notice To Leave Once Your Property Is Sold or this hilarious post about renting to friends and family.

Christmas Cheer!

Hey everyone,

Christmas is upon us (it’s the last Wednesday before the big day), and we had a few things we wanted to share with everyone. As you may or may not know, we have a handy listings feature in Renting Well. This was a locked feature for trials – meaning – that you needed to upgrade to a paid plan to try it out. After some valuable feedback from many of you, we decided to unlock it for all of our trial users to give a go. It’s December. It’s not historically a popular month for people to be seeking apartments, and most landlords would probably report this as being a slower time of the year to be booking showings for an available unit. Anything to enhance a unit in the snowy months and reduce a vacancy is worth paying attention to, and we think our listings feature does just that. So – it’s now available to all of our trial users.

We launched Renting Well on December 11th, and so far so good. We’ve had quite a few trial users sign up since last Tuesday (take a bow), and we’ve been really encouraged by the interaction with the app and the feedback and suggestions we’ve been receiving from all of you. Please keep it coming. We will be unveiling a variety of refinements and improvements in RW (what we affectionately have come to call it) over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Part of the process of getting a web based software off the ground is interacting and communicating with our users – both trial and paying folks – and we’re keen on keeping this up and kicking it into overdrive.

As usual – and we’re saying this over and over again – we’re deadly serious about support. If you have a question, ask us. We have a feedback tab within the app (when you’re logged in) or you can contact us at support AT rentingwell DOT com. We’re on call 24/7, cup of coffee in hand, and we’ve decided to invest in pagers – you know – like Alan in The Hangover.

Lastly – we have a Facebook page. You can find it here. We’ve been posting some choice gems about the adventures of being a landlord and a bunch of other stuff we hope you find handy or entertaining. That’s it. Well…there’s one other thing. Merry Christmas from us!

Steve, Chris, & Brett.

Why You Should Look at More Than Just a Credit Score

You just showed one of your available units to an individual who’s made a great first impression. They’re employed, presentable, and they claim they’ve had a fabulous relationship with their previous landlord. Ok. Seems safe right? Then you check their credit, and discover they have a low credit score. Lots of landlords and property managers will be quick to tell you – forget it. If their credit is low, you’ll probably have a problem. Hold on a second – don’t write them off just yet.

There’s a great article about this by Kay Cleaves at Straw Stick Stone.

As you might know, credit scores only get higher when you borrow and pay back assorted lenders repeatedly. The best tenant theoretically is one who doesn’t engage in risky borrowing beyond their means, and is likely to have a very thin credit history. The part of the credit score that most landlords are interested in is the payment history component. It is possible to have a perfectly great tenant who pays his bills on time, had a great relationship with a past landlord, and is responsible, but has a low credit score. Keep in mind that the average tenant is usually younger, less experienced and less wealthy than a homeowner.

The payment history only accounts for 35% of the total pie, so in other words, while checking credit is something I’m a huge advocate of doing, just looking at the credit score isn’t the most effective way of determining you’re dealing with a potential problem tenant.

If you’re being diligent, you should be asking for a landlord reference. Calling a former landlord, or as many former landlords as you can, and getting a sense of how that relationship was is also an effective gauge on what kind of tenant you’re going to have. Asking them questions about the previous tenancy, how they kept the place, etc is a must. From personal experience, I’ve been renting to an individual who had a low credit score when I initially showed him the available unit, but who I’ve never had an issue with payment wise, or for anything else. I spoke with their previous landlord and they provided a glowing account of a quiet and reliable individual who was recently out of school and had been working at the same place for more than 2 years. Speaking with the prospective tenant is another good way to get a sense. If a credit score is low, maybe there’s reasons for that. Maybe they’re new with credit, but a seasoned and responsible renter. Maybe they’ve recently applied and received new credit. Maybe they’re paying down some debts that were previously high. There’s an assortment of reasons why a credit score could be lowered that don’t reflect how an individual is with their landlord. Covering all the bases when deciding to rent to someone needs to be done – but basing an assumption on a 3 digit number, of which 35% of that number is what you’re really concerned with, might not be the most effective way in getting the tenant you want.

What do you think? Do you base tenancy decisions on payment history only? Share your thoughts.