Toronto Landlords – With No Bad Tenant List Available It’s Important to Screen Tenants Carefully Before Renting Out Your Condo
Our last story about the need for a Bad Tenant List led to lots of strong opinions from Toronto landlords.
An excellent investigation by the Toronto Star revealed how some bad tenants exploit loopholes in the system to avoid being evicted for months without paying rent.
Complaints by small landlords led the housing critic of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party to call for a way the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to create a registry of bad tenants.
This ‘bad tenant list’ would help small landlords and investors make sure they rented to the good tenants out there and avoid the professional tenants from Hell who abuse and manipulate the system so easily.
In the Toronto Star comments section a Mississauga landlord wrote ” It is regrettable that privacy rules keep landlords in the dark about bad tenants, many of whom are repeat offenders.”
A North York landlord wrote:
“I’ve been burned before. The worst tenants target small landlords who they know need to rent out the property to cover our mortgage. They have their acts down pat – dress nicely, exquisitely groomed, well-spoken and polite. They act like your best friend and make you feel you are safe renting to them.
This happened to me. I fell for it. They moved in and the troubles started within days. They kept making stuff up about the need for repairs in the property because they were worried about their ‘personal safety.’
The thing is the place was clean and safe. I would never allow the property to be unsafe.
It was only after the third or fourth call in the first month that I began to suspect I was being played with. Then they filed against me at the Landlord and Tenant Board and stopped paying rent.”
Investing in Toronto Condo Rental Properties
Make sure you rent to good tenants is extremely important if you are renting out your condominium.
A lot of new condo investors view themselves as just investors. It’s important to realize that once begin to rent out your property you are landlord and own a rental business.
Most condos have rules saying whoever owns the condo is responsible for the conduct of the people living there.
So what if your tenant starts partying? Or doesn’t pay rent and doesn’t clean up and other people complain? Or worse.
The answer is: you, the condo investor/owner are responsible for what your tenant does.
You are the one who will have to deal with the tenant and the Landlord and Tenant Board, all with management of the condominium demanding action (even if you can’t do it because bad tenants know how to abuse the Landlord and Tenant Board!)
Choose Your Tenants Wisely
It’s important to screen tenants carefully and this includes running credit checks.
You can join the Ontario Landlords Association for a low one time registration fee and get access to the Private Members Forum, the Ontario Landlord Rental Kit, and premium tenant credit check services.
New condo landlords and investors make sure you rent to great tenants and make your new investment a success.
