I currently have a tenant that rents one side of a duplex. She always pays her rent but never on time. She is a drug addict. Her friends are drug addicts and the comings and goings and illegal activity is really bothering the single mother of an infant child who lives on the other side. The single mother won’t write a letter of complaint because she is terrified of them and has nowhere else to go with affordable rent.

I bought this property with the tenants in place and have only owned it since the summer of 2017. Both tenants were on fixed term leases. The property manager let the tenant with the drug problem know that we wouldn’t be renewing her lease come October when it expired. She took it to court and won, because the law was going to change in 2018 to disallow fixed term, so they retroacted it. So, we promptly had the drug tenant served with another eviction for cause. She was repeatedly late with her rent, every single month. She contested that notice and has a hearing scheduled for February 2018, based on the fact that there is a 0% vacancy rate in our area.

There is a strong possibility that we will lose this court case as well, regardless that there is a provision in the residential tenancy act that allows landlords to evict tenants who are repeatedly late. The young mother is on a waiting list for low income housing and will eventually get a place which will leave me with an empty unit that is virtually unrentable due to the other tenants and there activity. If we do manage to get an order of possession, we will be forced to hire a bailiff, pay that bailiff approximately $2500.00 and we will be essentially putting someone out on the street.

Rental real estate is not all bunnies and unicorns. It can be a tough gig that can have huge financial and emotional ramifications for both the landlord and the tenant. I have put together a list of some of the things that people can expect when owing rentals. Please share it with anyone thinking of investing in this manner not to discourage them but rather to bring to light some of the problems a landlord will likely encounter.

*Tenants have more rights than the land owner. For right or for wrong, this is how it is therefore a landlord must follow the rules to the letter and act in accordance.
*It is best to have a professional handle your rental. The laws change and can be complicated, things need to be in writing and the law needs to be followed.
*You will have repairs and maintenance. Budget for it.
*Sometimes people will not pay the rent. If you have a mortgage, keep a buffer.
*People will damage your property. Expect the worst, hope for the best.
*Sometimes your contract will be completely disregarded by the tenant and they will smoke, have pets, get roommates etc. You will have to go through the legal process to deal with it, which can take time as the system is overloaded with landlord tenant disputes.
*You will have to have insurance including tenant liability which costs more.
*Your rental agreement needs to be crystal clear with regards to snow removal, garbage removal, pets, guests. EVERYTHING must be in writing.
*You must have a condition inspection report signed by all parties at the beginning of the tenancy if you hope to claim any damages that may occur.
*You can’t just keep the damage deposit if all parties don’t sign off on it and agree.
*You can’t just evict someone without proper cause.
*There will be times when you are hated and called a greedy landlord
*There may come a time when you have to put someone on the street which is just horrible.
*This one is rich: A province in Canada is considering charging landlords an hourly rate when the police are called to their rental units…

The moral of the story is: Many tenants are great and a real pleasure to do business with but many are difficult. Managing your own rentals has become risky in my opinion and the back log of cases is mostly due to owner managed units that have improper contracts and rental violations. Learn the business, know the risks, expect to be considered a greedy landlord regardless if you charge the cheapest rent in town and know that a lot of people have entitlement mentality and have no understanding of the mortgage payments, taxes, and costs that a landlord must bear. People don’t care if you worked night and day to save up the money to purchase a rental in order to secure your retirement. In fact, many will resent you for it.