Joolschweetie

This is a bit of a rant but am currently at my wits end and am inviting any stories of crap landlords/useful advice on the matter!

When my OH moved over in Aug, he had like 2 weeks to find an apartment before me and the cat arrived, so ended up with this place. A month after we moved in, the building was sold to another company and since then it has been an utter nightmare. To elaborate:

1) They have entered the apartments on average once a fortnight since we moved in for various things (replacing perfectly fine plumbing, "just checking" kitchens, bathrooms etc), sometimes giving us 24 hours notice, sometimes not. We have a cat and have been told if we`re not in, it needs shutting in our small bedroom all day because they can`t tell us specifically when they will be coming. On one occasion, we refused to shut the poor sod in for 12 hour slots on 2 separate days (they wouldn`t tell us which day they would be in for definite) and we both got home late from work to find our cat locked in our bedroom with no food, water or box (clearly for a while owing to the several accidents )

2) Water has been turned off for entire days at a time at least 8 times (again on the odd occasion they have given us just short of 24 hours notice) and hot water/heating often goes off without warning

3) Constant building work - currently 10 hours a day we have the sound of power tools. Has been going on for 2 weeks already but will be going on for the next 2-4 months according to building management.

4) Whilst doing building work, they often leave parking garage doors open all day and all night meaning anyone can enter the "secure" apartment building (once you`re in the garage, you don`t need a key to get in the block)

There are countless more, including ending up locked out of our own building. We have no idea what to do, they don`t take our many complaints seriously and they have reduced their office hours so finding them to complain is a nightmare. I feel like we`re just being totally ripped off, as do other residents. We are in contract until Sep (when we`ll be moving as they plan to increase rent from 635 to 1000 per month for a 1 bed apt)

Anything we can do?

Aviator

http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/index.htm

http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/Key_Info...02_111677.html

http://www.ontariotenants.ca/law/act.phtml

There are rules a landlord has to follow and a tenant can file a complaint with the residential tenancy branch if they believe the landlord is in breach of those rules (in BC anyway, not sure about ON).

iaink

Its much the same in Ontario I believe (not a hard one to google, or start here ). Its also a long slow painful process to actually get anywhere with and will piss off the landlord without doubt, so whether its worth it or not I dont know. Might be worth just cutting your losses and moving early at the cost of a months rent...

It does sound like a sucky situation though, so commiserations to the OP.

JonboyE

It appears to me that the Landlord is "encouraging" the OP to move. They want access to the apartment to renovate it bit don't want to pay the penalty if they break the lease. There is maybe a deal to be had.

Joolschweetie

Thanks for this, I`ll check out the sites and see if theres anything we can do. I wish we could just get them on something, but they (obviously) are quite clever about it. Just feel like there`s noone really to hear our concerns and they take enough money off us.

JonboyE - this crossed my mind too, maybe they`re trying to get the apartments empty so they can renovate entirely and attract new tenants for the new, increased rent (it sure as hell isn`t worth 1000 pcm as it is)

I`d love to tell them to shove it, but just don`t fancy moving just yet (getting married soon and could do without the extra hassle of a move and losing more money)

Novocastrian

shoot the cat.

Bleepedy Bloops

Read your province's landlord tenant act to see what your rights are and what they're doing illegally, then contact your province's landlord tenant board and start a file. Record ALL your incidents/grievances, dates, times of day...keep a record.

They will contact the offending parties and issue a warning....if they don't heed the landlord tenant board warning, then you call the city.

Looking at what you're going through I'd say breaking a lease is definitely doable, but it might require a tribunal.

I've been down this road a few times...uugh.

BristolUK

The rules vary province to province but I think that's a standard one.

I used to check out a landlord's forum quite regularly and it was my impression that the rules and what actually happens are very much on the tenants' side in Ontario. Of course that was mainly coming from landlords themselves, so they'd be biased but having read links supplied I found myself glad I'm not a landlord there. That slow painful process certainly applied to the landlord too. Irritating if it involved non payment of rent and drags on.

Sounds a good idea if the lack of a reference isn't a problem.

That sounds a better idea, especially if they'll do a reference.

englishrose1

Check you lease you should be able to give 60 days notice. However it is taken from the 1st of the month. So if you gave notice today you could move out April 30th. Even though you have a one year lease it is no different to a 1 year agreement in England.

It is all in the clauses.

Yes you can file with the LTB but there is no point unless they file against you. Dont be scared by tactics of having a 1 year lease. Take it from me who has a LTB adjudicator working for me you will be fine. You dont get last back anyway, so just start looking for something else.

Aviator

Not strictly correct. Under the Tenancy Act, for a fixed term lease, the renter has to give 60 days notice, but the wording is,

'has a lease for a fixed term, at least 60 days notice, no earlier than the last day of the lease.

If the lease does not expire for another 6 months, the renter is obligated for the remainder of the term unless the landlord specifically agrees to breaking the lease. The OP should read the terms of the lease and get advise before making any rash decisions.

Any notice should be given no later than the last day of the preceding month to be sure they have given sufficient notice.

englishrose1

I agree but the reality is as a earlier poster stated the LTB will in 99.9% of cases side with the tenant. The poster is giving valid reasons, and therefore they tenant is within there rights to terminate. Most landlord dont go to the LTB if they own more than one unit as they are stung with fees. Whereas the tenant is not charged the same amount in fees.

he poster has to make a decision right for them. They need to check to lease, is all about the clauses.

Joolschweetie

Having trawled through our lease agreement, it states that we are subject to the rules of the Residential Tenancies Act 2006 in terms of termination, which means we are bound to the end date as I suspected. And we just can't afford to pay to get out of it.

As well the wording basically indicates that they can get around all of the above issues in my initial post without them being deemed "illegal". I understand the need for repairs and renovations to the building, but they started repairs on other suites in Jan before they even started what they're doing now (parking garage renos)...so we've had the sound of power tools constantly and it's wearing us down. You can't speak on the phone, you can't hear the TV...it's ridiculous and we really can't do much about it!

Anyone considering an apartment building run by Timber Creek Asset (or "asshat" as we like to call them) Management, think twice!

iaink

So what happens if you try and talk to them about this stuff?

I would have thought that the provincial legislation over rules the contract clauses in any case, might be worth a chat with a lawyer if the landlord is unresponsive.

What do the other residents make of all this? Surely they are just as aggrieved? One tenant alone cant do much maybe, but a group of you may be in a better negotiating position.

Aviator

The terms of an agreement can be better than the Act, but not worse. The Tenancy Act is the over riding legislation regardless of what a lease agreement says. Go talk to the Tenancy Board, you can do this without filing a complaint. The noise may be enough to get you out, you never know.

Joolschweetie

They won't speak to me - I'm not technically on the lease as I came over later (but when the OH tried to put me on the lease they refused) Spoke to them about all of the above and they tell us it's all "unavoidable and necessary" - they're never rude about it, but they won't entertain a discussion, they just tell us it needs doing to make the building better.

Funny though, they won't clean the carpets in the hallways or maintain massive holes in the corridor walls, but they can spend 4 months chipping all the concrete off the garage, just to put it back again. It seems like every week they're doing something, they never leave us alone - it's really invasive to have someone in and out of our flat all the time. (Just this morning we had a note about them coming round tomorrow for a spot check)

From your advice, I think first step is the tenancy board just to enquire about our rights and see where we stand before we do anything (much as I'd love to get some fellow tenants together with flaming torches and pitchforks at this point in time!)