Posted by G on 3/26/2010, 12:56 pm, in reply to "Re: 'Tenants from hell' stories are hate speech"
I completely agree with your comment Gerry. As a first time home buyer and still renter (till I move into my first home). I have come to find out that our inherited tenant with the property has been involved in numerous cases (professional tenant).
I have learnt very quickly what it is to be a landlord, and feel that problem tenants should be included in a list. Screening, as I have come to be aware of, is necessary and crucial in determining who a good tenant should be.
As a current renter myself, those who feel that a landlord should be taken for, should realize that many of whom put their life saving into a property and provide shelter for a fee. This fee (rent) is not for income of the landlord, but for many it helps cover the mortgage, taxes and vital services that they are providing the tenant. Those tenants who decide to play the system, not pay their rent or damage the property should be aware that this just costs a landlord/owner of a house much more than their rent is worth.
As for the "tenants from hell", they have played the system for not only personal and financial gain. They have also caused much grief financially and emotionally for the owners/landlords of the properties in which they have spread their corruption upon.
I myself am in a similar situation with my inherited tenant, and wish that those who play the system are eventually caught. If you steal a candy bar you can get charged. If you steal rent & utilites, you can get away with it. How is this fair?
I don't make millions, and neither do most landlords (excluding thos corporations who run large complexes). Just wish that tenants see that their landlords are expecting the money from their tenants to cover their own costs (for the most part). The landlords take the liability of the property and some tenants take full advantage of the situation.
--Previous Message--
: I am in agreement Dan that landlords should be
: doing more thorough screening. This will
: restrict or prevent many tenants from
: private rentals but will increase the value
: of good tenants. This could go a long way to
: improve tenant/landlord relations.
: What is truly need is cooperation in
: creating a good/bad tenant data base which I
: believe would ultimately benefit all good
: tenants. Access to the list could be
: restricted to proven responsible landlords.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: The story focussed on one tenant couple who
: had stiffed 5 landlords.
:
: the Star does have a weekly tenant article
: in the Saturday classifieds...but more would
: be welcome.
:
: I don't think the story demonizes all
: tenants...but some landlords demonize most
: tenants and these stories do fuel their
: fire.
:
: For the record, we at the FMTA do not
: condone not paying your lawful rent.....we
: are here to help tenants who do pay or who
: do want to pay. In fact, this couple surely
: doesn't help our cause.
:
: And one more thing about that story. I feel
: very bad for the first landlord....but the
: next four could have been warned by due
: diligence. It is still wrong, but many
: landlords are their own worst enemy. There
: are many places where landlords can get
: educated.....as we provide education for
: tenants.
:
:
: I should add that telling a factual
: story.....even if somebody doesn't like
: it..is not hate speech.
:
:
: -Previous Message--
: The Toronto Star seems to go in waves from
: time to time publishing 'Tenants from hell'
: horror stories as they have done again
: today.
:
: Usually after a few of these they are
: followed by an editorial calling for an end
: to rent control for the sake of tenants!
: What right wing propaganda.
:
: The phrase 'Tenants from hell' demonizes all
: tenants and is used by landlord lobbyists
: for that purpose.
:
: We need to write to the Star
: lettertoed@thestar.ca to point this out and
: that these stories are not acceptable.
:
: They need to make up for this lack of
: balance. How about a weekly column on
: tenants affairs by the Federation of Metro
: Tenants' Associations?
:
: The Star may be promoting this because some
: of their biggest advertisers are landlords
: and developers but then half of all their
: readers are tenants and we need to remind
: them of that with lots of letters to the
: editor right away.
:
:
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