I’ve been reading all of the rental horror stories that have been shared here lately, and I can’t say I’m surprised by any of it. Tenants and landlords can be equally ruthless. I myself am a landlord and feel for tenants who have to move in to places where their fellow neighbours are problematic.
Last year, I wound up renting to someone who seemed like a stand-up citizen. They were well put together and provided me identification, which I later found out was fraudulent and only after about 10 cop cars swarmed my home did I come to find out that this person wasn’t who they said they were. Naturally, I evicted them. He left without issue - or so I thought.
Two days later, he came back and tore up my lawn. Ripped apart every flower and shrubs my wife had planted in our yard over the course of 10 years, dumped paint onto a pond I’d hand-made. Destroyed everything in our yard in his sight and did about $4,000 worth of damage. I could’ve taken him to small claims court or called cops, but I frankly didn’t want to have to deal with this person longer than necessary and my wife and I both work jobs that we retired from with a good pension so the loss wasn’t that huge though to some I can understand it would be.
That situation made me want to swear off being a landlord all together, but I wound up finding good tenants a couple of months ago. I do things by the book too. My suite is legal and sure it’s a bit more costly that way, but it sure beats having to deal with other potential hassles.
I feel for landlords and tenants alike. It’s not easy out there for any of us. All I can say to all landlords and tenants is to protect yourself and be safe. In the case of the tenant with the neighbour who has the criminal history, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to document something with police to let them know you are fearful.
They likely have that person’s history on file and may very well have good suggestions on what to do or hopefully they have a criminal record so they can get arrested and you never have to see or deal with them again lol. You could also file with Residential Tenancy Branch. Your landlords must provide tenants with a safe living space and having someone live next to you with that kind of criminal background is not providing you safety so they would be in violation of that right.
G. in Burnaby (this person’s full name has been omitted at the request of the author)
