Room mate vs landlord

[kiwee]

Hi everyone

I don't really go on revscene that much and kind of skimmed through the search for any type of answer that fits my situation but there weren't anything. I'm hoping someone on revscene can kindly help me (tenancy branch was useless, they say the same thing on the website without fully explaining or give suggestions). Well, here it goes

I've been helping my mom rent out one of the suites for a couple years now and was pretty good with this whole room mate type of rental. About 2 years ago we rented to a westerner, good references and was able to show proof of employment when asked. The first years seems fine and dandy, everything went smoothly and people rent long term (more then 7 months). I'm not sure if this was a bad idea but I have the tenant meet with potential to see if they are compatible with each other and of course I would meed them after to chat and get some information out of them (I was still able to weed certain people out)

However a couple months ago, things started changing slowly. New tenant came (female) and within 3 months (or something around that time) she moved out without informing till mid month of the 3rd month saying she felt unsafe staying there. According to the female tenant the male tenant would turn the t.v loud at night, invite a girl over and do inappropriate things. The female tenant told the male tenant about being uncomfortable and what not. Long story short they had an argument and the male tenant admitted that he showed his angry side etcetc and I gave him a written (through email) a warning that type of behavior is not allow and he needs to respect the agreement and the other persons feeling.

When the new tenant left (right after the female) me and the other male tenant go back to step 1, fine new room mate for this coming month. There were plenty of people and only a few were able to provide me with references (they were pretty good). However there was this particular female tenant that the male tenant is very adamant for me to rent to her. (probably because she's young but the thing is the other potential were about the same age as the female) I've contacted the female's references but no answer and I told the male tenant I'll be renting to another person. Here's the funny thing

He thinks i'm not letting him choose who he should live with (refer to the first paragraph). He wants to pay for the other room and he sublets it (which I greatly do not like - there are a lot of children around our area)

Right now, I'm very stressed out and I'm not into this whole room mate situation anymore. I would like to rent to a small family or a couple that's about to start a family. It's a very nice area to live with a park, school, grocery shopping etc etc. I need advice on what to do legally. He's a nice guy (or I think he is as of now) but could be very defensive.

[6793026]

I have seen this before. This is what I did, again, not sure what your house is like etc.

Simply put, I kicked out my guy and rented to a family instead. It got rid of this tenant dynamic and having a family = no crazy sex partners, no crazy guy dealing with loud parties.

1) Post up a notice min. 2 weeks in advance to view the location so you don't need to book ahead of time and each time for viewing. It's within the law; tenant doesn't have to be present at all times.
2) I ONLY showed the place when the tenant wasn't at the house.
3) I gave the tenant notice to leave. Well within my rights.

Yes, there were 1/2 a month during the transition where there was no rent but man, having a family live in the place was the best decision every than renting it to 2 tenants.

[Great68]

I need to understand your situation better.

So you have one suite which you first rented to this guy. Then you added a female roommate?

What's your rental agreement with the guy? Was it clear in the rental agreement that unit was to be a shared living arrangement?

[GLOW]

sounds like a basement with multiple rooms and he's renting the basement out "by the room" with shared living room/kitchen/bathroom.

it can be very hard if personalities don't fit... you almost have to be a mediator at times and a lot of headache if there's issues.

[Great68]

The RTA's not really clear on how "By the room" arrangements legally work.

It only states that if the owner shares the kitchen/washroom facilities with the tenants then the RTA does not apply.

[kiwee]

@6793026: The thing is I have to kick him out legally and he works odd hours so I can’t really show the place to tenants
@Great68: It’s a normal rental agreement and has always been a roommate type of rental.
@GLOW: You got it. That’s what happen to the girl when she left unsafe but of course if she felt unsafe I have to let her leave but I kept the deposit
The only way I can kick him out is legally and illegally. Opt.1 give him 2 months’ notice with one month free rent (My mom and I are ok with losing a few months’ rent to find a family). Opt.2 have him sign a mutual agreement with one free month’s rent + deposit given back (Of course he has to pay the rent first then I transfer back to him when he gives me back the key). Either way I can’t show the suite till he’s completely gone and probably need to clean up the space to show.

[Traum]

Hmm... it looks to me like you didn't really sign a fixed term rental contract with your tenant? IMO, that would be your single biggest oversight in dealing with your tenants right there.

Personally, for my own protection (as the landlord), this is the reason why I always insist on signing a fixed term contract with my tenant(s). It leaves me with a legitimate backdoor to kick someone out when shxt starts hitting the fan. And if I like them (as a tenant), I can just keep on renewing another fixed term contract with the tenant.

And if they don't like doing this (ie. signing a fixed term contract)? Well... too bad, so sad. I won't be renting to you then.

As it stands right now, I'd say your best option is to legitimately kick him out. Given him the 2 or 3 months' worth of notice in advance. Give him that one month of rent-free living. Wait it out until he is gone, and then sign some new tenants on with a fixed term contract for each of them. You can chalk this one up to experience, and make sure the future ones will go smoother than it is now.

[Gucci Mane]

Originally Posted by kiwee

According to the female tenant the male tenant would turn the t.v loud at night, invite a girl over and do inappropriate things.

sorry, but not sorry. am i the only one that doesn't understand why there is something wrong with this? dude invited a chick over to his place for some action and turned up the volume on his tv to cover up the noise..

people are going to have sex..

[kiwee]

@Traum: I'm curious about this fixed contract. If the tenant was to sign a 1 year agreement wouldn't it turn into month to month after that one year? Also if you were to raise the rent in the future, how would this work?

@Gucci Mane: I'm going to let him know through email that I'm evicting him and give him the 2 months notice.

Does anyone know if I need to give his deposit back also? I would assume so.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by kiwee

@Traum: I'm curious about this fixed contract. If the tenant was to sign a 1 year agreement wouldn't it turn into month to month after that one year? Also if you were to raise the rent in the future, how would this work?

...

OK... take a deep breath...

Here is a website that will help you as a landlord:

Housing & Tenancy - Province of British Columbia

In particular, the forms on this page will be tremendously helpful:

Forms - Province of British Columbia

Most important of all, it is crucial that you carefully read over the Residential Tenancy Agreement form RTB-1. Everything in this form is super important, and serves as the basics of what you really should know prior to becoming a landlord. Many of your questions will already be answered by the contents of the RTB-1 form.

Best of luck with your tenancy duties.

[6793026]

Originally Posted by Traum

As it stands right now, I'd say your best option is to legitimately kick him out. Given him the 2 or 3 months' worth of notice in advance. Give him that one month of rent-free living. Wait it out until he is gone, and then sign some new tenants on with a fixed term contract for each of them. You can chalk this one up to experience, and make sure the future ones will go smoother than it is now.

best advice. You can provide notice, and be generous, give him 4 months notice. No need to provide free rent. Say you're moving in with your gf + getting married; this is a legit and fair reason therefore, he has to leave.

[kiwee]

er..I'm actually a girl but I'll look into it...Thanks

[Manic!]

If you give him 3 or 4 months noice and he stops paying rent what are you going to do?

If you are having a problem with him give a 30 day notice for cause.

Find more info here: Ending a Tenancy - Province of British Columbia

[kiwee]

I am not going to give him 3 to 4 months. I'm giving 2 months notice. He has 15 days within the 2 months notice to dispute it.

[6793026]

Notice verus rent is totally different issue.

You can provide notice for 3 months. The 1st DAY someone pays late in rent, you slap a 10 Day Notice for Unpaid Rent or Utilities. The 15th day comes, you get the RTB shit started asap.

Notice is notice, someone not paying rent is not paying rent.

Not sure if you ever had someone not pay rent PAST the 15 days. You need to take them to RTB with paperwork, then go through 2 months of waiting AND even if you get the court to agree that you win. EVEN at this point the tenant was still IN the property, you have no right to throw someone's shit away or kick him out. You need a bailiff for that.

[kiwee]

I did have someone not pay rent past 15 days and it took us 3 months to kick them, went to small claim, pay to file/sign those paperwork and hire baliffs to kick them out and then spend a bit more money to make the place look clean to rent out again.My mom lost 3 months of rent + additional $ just because the internet was not working on a certain day.

[tiger_handheld]

I don't get it.

You have primary tenant wanting to rent 100% of the suite and sublet as he wishes. What's it to you?

If you have problems with the sublet tenant - take it up with the main guy. If that's an issue - kick the main guy out. You have no responsibility for the person he sublet to.


Or you can kick him out and rent to a family.

seems pretty clear cut to me.

[Ferra]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

I don't get it.

You have primary tenant wanting to rent 100% of the suite and sublet as he wishes. What's it to you?

If you have problems with the sublet tenant - take it up with the main guy. If that's an issue - kick the main guy out. You have no responsibility for the person he sublet to.


Or you can kick him out and rent to a family.

seems pretty clear cut to me.

I agree, that way you have 1 person to deal with instead of dealing with "he said she said bullshit" when the 2 tenants have disagreement.

He wants to pay for the other room and he sublets it (which I greatly do not like - there are a lot of children around our area)

I don't see what's the problem...? Even if he is renting it to another girl and they end up banging everyday, they are doing it in their own rooms....(every couples does it, that's how those children came to being in the first place lol)

If you are worried about him getting prostitute or different women come over everyday...he would've/ could've done that with or without the additional room.

And just because the area is nice for a family to live in, doesn't mean you will rent it to a family that needs it and deserve it. Your place will go to someone who wants it and can afford it.
(Heck, a tidy single or adult couples with no children will probably do less wear & damage to the house....)

[6793026]

^ confrontation is not as easy as it is. And even if the guy is being a bitch etc, you have justified terms to kick someone out.

If the guy SLAPS you an RTB form for unjustified cause, you're going to have to explain to the mediator "he kicked me out cause I was being unfair, TV was too loud" etc. Good luck winning the case; now you have to pay for his move, form charges and damages caused.

I have seen tenants LIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE with fake witness on the conference calls .....

[kiwee]

ok let me break it down

1. The guy is fine, I don't care if he bangs people or turn t.v in high volume. As long as he doesn't disturb other people (neighbour or the suite next door) then I won't worry about it. However, it did happen once and I gave him a warning.

2. Sure he can sublet, as of now he's only bind to his room and not the other. I mentioned that if he wants the other room he has to sign a new contract and the rent will go up (who knows what the damages are, at least I can save 10-25% of the rent to fix it if in the end he doesn't want to pay for the damages). When I mention about raising rent he decline to do it.

In honesty the guy is fine, we both compromise certain things. The only problem is him and new roommates, being a mediator is tough..and technically is not my problem. I just tell the two to solve it among themselves and it's always the new one that moves out.

Let's just leave this conversation as it is right now. No matter what I'm evicting him and I'll even offer to be his reference to find a new place (he has never disrespect me so I'm willing to be his reference)

[frost91]

There is a lot of bad information in this thread. I deal with the worst tenants in Vancouver on a daily basis.

Do NOT give him an eviction notice through Email. Your best bet is a mutual agreement to end tenancy. Any other method, if it were me, I would be living in your place rent free for at least six months.

I have PM'ed you

[kiwee]

Too late

I already gave him the eviction notice and he signed it without a fuss. I emailed him giving him a heads up prior to providing the notice.

Now the 2 months begins on Dec. 1