In my opinion, owning a rental property is one of the best investments you can make. For the most part, being a landlord runs very smoothly: you maintain the property, find good tenants, collect rent, and PAY DOWN THAT MORTGAGE! It’s that simple, right? Unfortunately, not always. What happens when showings aren’t going well, and you get desperate and sign a lease with a risky tenant? If you do this, you are rolling the dice on a potential collapse of revenue. The tenancy may be successful, but what happens if the tenant loses their job and chooses to stay and not pay rent? At the moment, there is little you can do in this situation as a landlord. Your tenant can stay as long as they want to without paying you rent. This could put you in a serious financial hole. Currently, the landlord-tenant tribunal is scheduling hearings for tenant applications but not landlord applications. This means NO judgements for evictions. Scary thought isn’t it? This means that you are stuck with a tenant living for free in your property. CBC radio just aired a segment this week on the tribunal backlog issues. A landlord called in and stated she was already short 14K in rent arrears with no end in sight. Bottom line: think about hiring a professional property manager who is an expert in screening tenants. It’s money well spent!
