Monday, January 01, 2007

On a More Personal Note: A Warning to Prospective Landlords

First a little background. Several months ago my wife and I decided to separate after 15 years. We have been getting along great since, strangely enough. I traveled to Canada's far Northwest for work to make things a little easier. She knew a woman from work who told her of her own separation and her need to find a place to live. My wife is an exceedingly trusting, giving, and caring person. The kind of person who can't see wrong in others, only the good. I met this woman and had serious misgivings. I felt that she was not all she appeared to be. In any case, my wife chose to rent the lower half of our large house to her anyway. I supported her in this decision as I have chosen to support her in any way that I could following our separation for the good of all involved, especially the kids. Suffice it to say, all has not gone well. My wife asked me back for Christmas but she said that I would be shocked by the changes. That was an understatement. It seems that shortly after my departure the woman brough her self-described guard dog to the house. She had agreed with my wife to put the dog in a kennel that had been acquired for that purpose. Suffice it to say that the woman decided after the dog and kennel were here that she just couldn't bear to put the beast into it. She called this 150 pound vicious animal her " silly little puppy". Her silly little puppy destroyed 3 separate rooms of the downstairs unit. It tore through the bathroom door and casement, shredded the doorknob, ripped apart the sheet flooring, shredded the carpet in another room, and fouled the carpet in a third. That's just the start. Her rabbit left excrement in 2 other rooms and her birds in a third. The entire downstairs had just had 30,000 dollars in renovations in preparation for the sale of the house so my wife could buy a much smaller place that she could handle in my absence. When my wife went down one day and discovered the damage to the property, she immediately told the woman that the dog had to go outside as she had agreed to and that she could then start to make the repairs. The woman went nuts and absolutely refused to put the dog outside as she had agreed. This even after the dog went after my daughter in the stairwell. My daughter made it up the stairs before it got her but she is still now terrified of dogs one month later. The total damage exceeds 10,000 dollars. All this in less than 2 months. I am not so nice as my wife. Once I arrived and had been informed of the situation and my wife's now terror of this irresponsible and dangerous woman and her pets I took immediate action. It took me 12 days to get her out and that only because she still refused to put the dog outside. It would have taken me longer but she decided to bolt before the total of the legal filings had arrived. I only managed to get the first one filed before she fled. There are many more to come. My wife informs me that she left her job after receiving another summons from her previous landlord not 2 days after I had arrived. I understand that their damage exceeds 20,000 dollars and includes every room in their entire house. Every carpet and floor in that house has to be replaced. My wife has now decided that she is simply not mean enough to be a good landlord. She was just trying to help this woman and now all her plans have been put back significantly if not destroyed all together. It will take an immense effort to clean up and repair the damage. I must return North shortly so it will take me time to return and continue with this task. My wife's Christmas was all but ruined by this. I am fortunate that I know a fair bit about tenant laws in Ontario as well as the Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act. It also doesn't hurt to have a sister who is a licensed paralegal in Ontario. In any case the expenses will keep mounting in our attempts to track, serve, and collect from this woman. I feel like telling my wife I told you so, but i just can't be that cruel to her after all that she has endured since I left. Landlords or potential landlords be warned. One tenant and a couple of months could very well destroy your life for years to come unless you are firm enough to handle the problem head on and do the proper background checks prior to letting anyone enter into your property.

Post a Comment

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Blogwise - blog directory