Landlording in Canada

INTRODUCTION xiii PART 1: BEFORE PLACING THE "FOR RENT" AD 1 1 Preparing for a New Tenancy 3 Is Your Rental Ready for Viewing? 3 What are Some Common Basics Tenants Expect out of a Rental? 3 Renovations that Pay for Themselves 5 2 Secondary Suites: Preventing Problems Before They Start 8 Excessive Sound Transfer 9 Sharing Laundry 10 Ambiguous Boundaries Between Exclusive-Use and Common Areas 10 Property Maintenance and Secondary Suites 11 Payment of Utilities 11 Overwhelmed? You Don't Need to Be! 13 CONTENTS iv Landlording in Canada 3 How to Determine Rental Value 15 How Do Pet or Smoking Restrictions Affect Rental Value? 16 I've Determined Market Value for My Rental Property, but What Do I Do in a Weak Rental Market? 16 Furnished Rentals 18 4 Landlording Essential: Membership in a Landlord Association 20 5 Insurance 23 Types of Insurance 23 Liability Insurance 23 6 Know the Law - At Least Know the Basics 25 Never Accept Tenancy Law Advice from Your Tenant 26 7 Start Your Tenancy on the Right Foot with the Right Forms 28 The Application Form 28 Receipt Book 30 Other Forms Required by Your Strata/Condominium Corporation 35 Other Legal Forms Required by Your Province 35 Move-In/Move-Out Inspection Form 35 Proof of Authority to Rent the Property 36 The Rental Agreement 36 Rental Agreements and Secondary Suites 41 Month-To-Month Agreements Versus Fixed-Term Leases 41 PART 2: HOW TO FIND A GREAT TENANT 45 8 Placing the"For Rent" Ad 47 The Newspaper Classified Ad 47 What Should Be In the Ad? 48 Placing Your "For Rent" Ad Online 50 9 An Introduction to Telephone Screening 52 How to Prevent No-Show Appointments 54 Contents v 10 Showing the Home and Closing the Deal 57 Stay Safe! 61 Getting the Application Signed 61 What if the Applicant Refuses to Give His or Her Social Insurance Number? 62 Stop Good Tenants From Looking Elsewhere After Filling Out Your Application 63 11 Minimizing Your Risk: Effective Tenant Application Analysis 65 The Initial Review of the Application Form 65 The Credit Report and Why It Means so Much 66 Secondary Screening Measures 72 Tenant Archetypes That are Difficult to Assess 74 Let's Put Theory into Practice! 77 Case Study #1: Renting Out a Basement Suite 77 Case Study #2: Renting Out a New Townhouse 83 12 What Do You Do if You Can't Find a Tenant that Meets Your Requirements? 87 How Does Your Rental Show? 87 Is It Overpriced? 87 Never Lower Your Standards 89 13 How to Reject a Tenant Application 91 Learn From the Master of Rejection: The Bank 91 My Final Word on Discrimination 93 14 How to Accept a Tenant - What to Do from the First Meeting to Move-In Day 94 What to Do When You Call the Accepted Applicant, a Step-By-Step Guide 94 What to Do at the Meeting with Your Newly Accepted Tenant 95 Move-In Day 96 PART 3: AFTER THE TENANT MOVES IN 103 15 Property Maintenance Made Easy 105 Property Maintenance for Small Rental Properties 106 Preventive Maintenance 107 vi Landlording in Canada What if the Tenant Wants to Renovate the Home, or Offers to Perform Repairs (with the Landlord Paying the Cost of Labour and Materials)? 107 What About Emergency Repairs? 109 What if the Tenant is Locked Out of the Home? Is This an Emergency? 110 What if the Tenant is Unreasonable About Repairs? 110 Want a Good Tenant to Stay for Many Years? 111 16 Everything You Need to Know About Vacating Tenants 112 Insist on a Legal Notice to Vacate 112 Don't Apply the Security Deposit to the Last Month's Rent 112 Move-Out Procedures You Need to Know 113 The Move-Out Inspection Report and Returning the Security Deposit 116 Abandoned Property 118 PART 4: HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF 121 17 What You Need to Know About Serving Documents 123 Are You Using the Correct Legal Document? 123 Did You Fill Out the Form Correctly? 124 How Should You Serve the Document? 124 How Will You Prove the Document was Served? 125 18 How to Enforce Timely Rent Payments Each and Every Month 126 Common Misconceptions About Rent 127 Accepting a Partial Rent Payment 129 Your Tenant Didn't Pay the Rent by the Deadline Specified in the Eviction Notice. Now He or She is Offering to Pay the Rent in Full. Should You Accept? 129 When In Doubt About a Rent Cheque, Get It Certified! 130 Repeated Late Rent Payments - A Cause for Eviction 130 19 Make Your Tenant Play by the Rules (of Your Rental Agreement) 132 Anatomy of a Warning Letter 133 Unauthorized Pets 135 Unauthorized Occupants 135 Assignments and Subletting 138 Contents vii Noisy and Disruptive Tenants 138 If the Tenant Seriously Damages the Property 142 Expedited Eviction for Causing Substantial Damage 143 Illegal Activity 143 Marijuana Grow Operations 143 20 I Served an Eviction Notice and Nothing Happened. What Now? 145 Should You Retain a Lawyer? 146 Strategies That Could Compel a Tenant to Leave While You Continue to Pursue Eviction through the Legal System 146 Common Mistakes Landlords Make in Court and How to Avoid Them 149 21 When All Else Fails - Bringing in the Bailiff 152 "Soft" Evictions 153 Executing the Writ 153 PART 5: MORE ESSENTIALS FOR LANDLORDS 155 22 Good Property Manager, Bad Property Manager ... 157 What to Look for 158 23 The Necessity of Rent Increases 163 24 Selling Tenant-Occupied Property 165 Choose your Real Estate Agent Wisely 165 Avoid Having to Serve Legal Notice for Each and Every Showing 166 Getting the Ball Rolling With the Sale of Your Rental 166 What if the Tenant Starts to Become Uncooperative? 167 What if the Tenant makes False and Misleading Statements about the Property to Turn Off Prospective Buyers? 171 What Happens When You Receive Your First Offer? 171 APPENDIX 1: Websites of Interest By Province and Territory 173 APPENDIX 2: Websites of Interest Nationwide 177 DL CONTENTS 178 viii Landlording in Canada SAMPLES 1 Notice to Tenant re: Utilities 14 2 Residential Tenancy Application 31 3 Inspection Checklist 37 4 Reference Sheet for Calls from Prospective Tenants 56 5 Repairs to be Completed by Landlord at Start of Rental/Lease 98 6 Welcome Letter to New Tenant 99 7 Notice of Entry 108 8 Letter to Departing Tenants 114 9 End of Tenancy 117 10 Letter re: Late Payment of Rent 128 11 Letter re: Repeated Late Payment of Rent 131 12 Letter re: Unauthorized Lock Change 134 13 Pet Agreement 136 14 Letter re: Unauthorized Occupant 139 15 Application for Occupancy 140 16 Agreement to End Tenancy 147 17 Letter to Tenants re: Property Sale 168 18 Real Estate Agent and Tenant Understanding Agreement 169 TABLE 1 Neighbourhood Comparison 17