I’ve heard of some twisted things in my time, but this one could be the most twisted.
Living in a rental building is usually an easy thing. Most landlords maintain their buildings in order to retain good tenants and ensure their property holds its value.
But not all landlords are like that.
Some let the place run down and try and milk every last cent of profit to the chagrin of tenants who end up living in ugly and even dangerous conditions.
Some things, however, are hard to ignore – like elevators.
If an elevator is breaking down then that is something that is difficult to ignore because it’s pretty glaring. A broken elevator was a big joke on the Big Bang Theory, but for people who live on higher floors and have mobility issues, it’s a terrible thing to deal with on a daily basis.
Tess wrote to me detailing how her South Burnaby rental building has been dealing with a “plethora of issues - the elevator being the most pressing concern.”
“Every other week it seems to be out of service,” Tess said. “When it's not out of service, it isn't up to actual safety standards and they don't seem to want to shell out the fees associated with fixing it.”
Now I get that part because fixing an elevator is heinously expensive. I owned in a building with an old elevator and each unit was dinged thousands of dollars when it needed a major repair. Then again, that’s the price of owning a building. If you have an elevator, you must fix it.
Instead of doing that, guess what this landlord does?
“They want to charge tenants for ‘cost of extraction’ if we get stuck,” Tess said. “Bikes also aren't allowed onto the elevator for this reason. But considering bikes aren't the only things on wheels, I imagine other things like baby carriages and so forth would also be an issue. Are people just supposed to lug these things up several flights of stairs? Why do slumlords like this continually get away with this kind of garbage?”
So let me get this straight, if you are trapped in an elevator and need rescuing, the landlord will charge you for it?
“That’s the sad truth,” said Tess, who didn’t want to give her full name or the name of the building because she fears retribution from the landlord.
I’m speechless and that’s not easy to do. I have suggested she take her concerns to the Residential Tenancy Branch to try and get some action on this.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
