Farmboy1892

Good Morning,

Just over 3 months ago we moved to a new part of Ontario (due to work relocation) and managed to rent a home through a Realtor. The home is an investment property and as yet we have not met the Landlord. When completing the deal the installation of A/C was agreed but as of yet nothing has happened and we have now been told that it will be the 12th of July. The recent spell of hot weather has not been pleasant. On Sunday I had reached my limit and decided to move us all to the basement. I purchased air mattresses and took a photo of the receipt and forwarded it to the landlord. What followed was a number of texts based around the fact that he was not in the position to reimburse us and that the air con would be installed around the 12th of July. Without using any profanities I basically told him what I thought of him as this had put the cherry on the cake for me. As yet we still have not received a garage door key so have to enter the house before being able to drive our car in. The washing machine which is brand new and under warranty broke down and he informed us we had to pay an initial $100 before it could be fixed as a call out????? It took over a week before anybody came and with three children in the house it wasnt fun. Turns out it was a common problem with this machine according to the service guy (broken wire on the spin cycle).
we are also paying $46 per month for a water heater as that was the contract he signed with Enercare and we had to take on the payments, does this figure not sound high to you? Especially when my gas & hydro bill combined for last month was $90.
There was also discussion about blinds and a garage door opener but the landlord refuses to budge on these. Why would I want to assume full expenditure for fittings which adds value to a property and that I cant take with me??
I mean after finally getting this guy to agree to monthly electronic payments from our bank he than made us go back to the bank and get the payment date changed by ONE day!!! I know renters can get a bad name but we look after our property like it was our own home and this guy has really rubbed us up the wrong way.
Right now I would like to move out of the property and find a decent landlord. I begrudge paying hard earned money to a guy who struggles with manners never mind the English language!!
What are the chances of us getting our deposit back and just cutting ties with this guy so that we can move on?

Your thoughts would be welcome

Regards

Farmboy

BristolUK

Yes. Ours - in with the bill from NB Power - Water heater service (1-180 Litre) @ $6.58

That seems very low to me. Adjusting for the water heater, mine looks around $130...about the lowest I've ever seen it.

Farmboy1892

Hi Bristol,

Probably because we cook on gas which is once a day in the evening and the fact we dont have A/C so there is no real pull on the hydro

Aviator

Read the contract you signed, only that can answer your questions. Is anyone on breach of contract? If so, can it be a proven breach? If one party is in your prepared you go to court to pursue that (or defend it)?
Before backing out of an agreement, I would be getting advice from a lawyer.

Farmboy1892

Thanks Aviator. I had my suspicions that lawyers etc would be mentioned. This can be a very expensive and unfruitful path to tread. Like I said it would be better if we could cut our ties and move on so that both parties can be happy.

Engineer_abroad

Lawyers and court unlikely. If you feel a breach in the contract exists the first port of call would be the Landlord and Tennacy board of Ontario. They also have a lot of good advice and responsibilities and rights of tenants and landlords.
Landlord and Tenant Board | SJTO
In fact by law he was required to give you a copy of this brochure when the tenancy started
http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/documents/...%20Tenants.pdf

BristolUK

For that billing period I think we might have had AC for about two hours twice. But electrickery is expensive in NB.

scrubbedexpat091

Does your rental agreement state air conditioning is going to be provided? I know you said it was agreed upon, but is it included in the actual rental agreement?

If you have tried to resolve the issues, next step is the tenancy board, no lawyers needed.

HGerchikov

Your first call should be to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), but first a couple of things to clarify - does your Agreement to Lease actually state that the AC will be supplied by the landlord? If it doesn't and it was discussed and agreed I would be having a word with your Realtor as its their job to make sure that stuff gets captured in the agreement. $46 per month does sound a lot for water heater - around $30 is more common but I have heard that some of the contracts in the newer homes are high. Again check that your agreement does actually state that you will pay for that. By deposit, do you mean your last months rent? or did this guy get you to pay a damage deposit? If you did pay anything other than your last month's rent then you are entitled to that back immediately. Maintenance of the appliances is down to the landlord and I don't think he can charge you a call out cost - but I am not 100% certain of that, if you call the LTB they should be able to tell you.

Aviator

I would read the contract to determine if there has been a breach first. Then I would use Lawyer Referral for the initial consultation to find out if there is a chance of success and possibly send a lawyers letter to the landlord if it was recommended. The tenancy branch just interpret the tenancy act and don't advise on legal matters. A lot also depends if one is relying on verbal agreements or written, if there were witnesses to the verbal agreement and they can be proven. As a landlord, if a tenant breached the contract and left early, provincial court is where I would go to enforce the contract to recover losses. A claimant has the obligation to mitigate losses, but they are also entitled to recover losses when demonstrating they tried to mitigate. Provincial court is cheap and easy to use if one knows how and is that way inclined.

scrubbedexpat091

I was under the impression in BC anyhow landlord/tenant disputes had to go through the RTB dispute resolution unless a monetary claim in excess of 25,000.

"Disputes that fall under the Residential Tenancy Act or Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act must be resolved through dispute resolution at the RTB. Other courts or the police do not resolve tenancy issues. An exception is if the dispute is regarding a monetary claim of more than $25,000, in which case the Supreme Court of BC would need to hear the case"

WHAT IS DISPUTE RESOLUTION? -


Maybe its the same in Ontario, imagine how backlogged the courts would be if every tenant landlord dispute went to actual court.....

Engineer_abroad

From the 2006 Resident Tenancies Act of Ontario

Power to determine law and fact
The Board has authority to hear and determine all questions of law and fact with respect to all matters within its jurisdiction under this Act.2006, c. 17, s. 174.
and

Board’s jurisdiction
(2) The Board has exclusive jurisdiction to determine all applications under this Act and with respect to all matters in which jurisdiction is conferred on it by this Act.2006, c. 17, s. 168 (2).

bats

Dorothy

May I ask what the relevance of the landlord's English language skills is?

IMO, it sounds as if you should have read your lease agreement more carefully. Were you forced to move into that house with no air conditioning? Did your agent neglect to put it in the contract? I'm also not sure why you think the landlord should be responsible for your choice to buy air mattresses. Did he tell you to buy them?

If you rented through an agent then you should be communicating with the agent and not texting the owners with abusive messages telling him what you think of him. Seems to me that the lack of manners may be a two way street.

mahdawg

Although a long shot, but could there also be the possibility of both parties just agreeing to end the lease with 60 days notice?

I know here in Toronto, a number of apartments allow tenants to cancel (transfer for a better word) their lease if they have someone to take it over. Your landlord may also be willing to do the same to make both your lives easier. Just make sure to get the right paperwork saying you're off the lease afterwards.