by Clint Bevans A recent front-page article in the Peak describes how difficult it is to find a rental lately [“Rental crisis affects community,” October 14] as it seems rentals are being sold by the owners these days.
As a landlord and a property manager I can only say that, through personal experience, if people deceive landlords about their previous rental history and manage to move into a rental property and do not respect other people’s property, the nightmare of difficulties to hold people responsible for their less-than-adequate behaviour is a solid reason to fix up a rental and sell it.
People who disrespect other people’s property by unclean living, little to no maintenance and belligerent responses to requests to clean up the condition of the rental by telling landlords to call the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), or call the sheriff, claiming, “I know my rights and there is nothing you can do.”
When a landlord does call the RTB they enter into a convoluted process that truly does seem to favour renters in disputes. Given these circumstances, why would a land owner rent and possibly have to put all the money from rent into repairing their home after poor tenants finally leave?
Destroyed flooring, battered walls, broken appliances, filthy conditions that have to be cleaned... good tenants are few and far between.
When you finally evict by force through police and bailiff and sheriff, the cost must be born by the landlord with little or no recourse to go back to the tenant because they may not have any resources to pay for damages.
If they have no resources then they have nothing to lose, so why would they care about what the landlord thinks or says? “They know their rights,” after all.
The RTB should respect “landlords’ rights” to protect their investment and financial liabilities with the same rigor that they protect “tenants’ rights” to have suitable shelter.
Clint Bevans is a landlord and property manager in Powell River.
