I don’t know if my renting days are over, but I sure hope they are based on the horror stories Burnaby renters share with me.
The latest is from Amy, who wrote to me because she’s stuck in a bad situation in which the landlord didn’t tell her there was another tenant living below her – who turns out to be a violent drug dealer.
“I think I have a rental nightmare for the history books, because even I can’t believe half of what’s gone on in the two months that I’ve been residing where I am now,” Amy writes. “I was looking forward to moving into my new place — but sometimes the grass isn’t always greener and now I’m wishing I would’ve just stayed put.
“When I moved into where I’m at now (a garden-level suite in a house), I didn’t actually know there was another tenant in the basement suite downstairs. I only found out after the fact. And from there it’s all downhill. This tenant is not only noisy at all hours of the night and into the early hours of the morning, but I’ve long suspected them to be involved in drug-related activity as they have people — two specific men — coming for five minutes at a time and then leaving, which has been ongoing for the past week.”
The drug activity has included “screaming and yelling and demanding money. I called 911, police show up, have a conversation, and then come and talk to me. I get to talking about this tenant and say their name, and the police stop me in my tracks and again asked me to repeat the name — so I did. They looked confused, and that’s when they realized that this person fraudulently identified themselves to the landlords when moving in (and to me.). But here’s the real kicker. The landlords hadn’t bothered to ask for any kind of identification when they offered the suite. So they look like fools, really. Meanwhile, I’m left to suffer.”
Now the landlord is trying to get this scumbag to move out, but without any official charges, that’s proving to be hard, Amy says.
This case really is shocking because many renters complain to me about all of the invasive information most landlords demand out of renters during the application process.
These ones didn’t even bother.
Like Amy says, she is the one who is left to suffer. For the landlord, it’s more of an annoyance.
And if you think living next to a drug dealer is harmless, please remember all of the incidents of collateral violence against innocent people.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
