Posts Tagged ‘Rental property’

Saskatoon Landlords: Fake Landlord Arrested

Wednesday, January 1st, 2014

Saskatoon landlords fake landlord arrested

Good News for Good Saskatchewan Landlord And Good Tenants As Kijiji ‘Fake Landord” Arrested (And Going to Jail!)

It was a while ago but this story form 2013 needs re-telling.

The CTV news report was welcome news to Saskatoon landlords and landlords all over Saskatchewan.

Good landlords know one of the secrets to finding good tenants is trust. 

We don’t mean you should instantly trust your potential tenants.

As we wrote about previously Saskatchewan landlords need to do proper tenant screening, including tenant credit checks, before you rent to somebody. 

Let’s View Things From a Tenant’s Perspective

Most of us have been tenants before at some points in our lives. 

Maybe you were a student studying in another city in the province.

Or you studied in another province and dealt with British Columbia landlords. 

You might have worked in Alberta and rented there.

Or you were originally from Ontario before coming to our province and rented from an Ontario landlord. 

Whatever the case you wanted a good place to move into and a good landlord.

The Kijiji Scam

Tenants Chelsey Streifel and Jill Sherley both were looking for a nice apartment to rent in Saskatoon.

They went to Kijiji and saw a nice place for an affordable rent.

The ‘landlord’ met them. He seemed like a decent guy.

When these prospective tenants met with him he introduced himself as landlord Jason Hartlen and showed them the unit.

Both Streifel and Sherley saw the place (at different times, not together) and wanted the place.

Both of them signed a lease and paid a desposit of $1,100.

They weren’t the only ones.

Black Mold

Everyone who paid a deposit and wanted to move in were told they couldn’t because of problems with black mold in the unit.

Streifel and the others who paid went to the property to see what was going on.

They were shocked to be met by the real landlord who said she was the real owner and recommended Streifel go to the police.

Fake Landlord Found and Charged

A man who scammed dozens of victims by posting fake apartment rental ads on Kijiji will serve an 18-month jail sentence.

Here some of the news reports:

Jason Allen Hartlen pled guilty in Saskatoon provincial court to defrauding 60 victims in Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver of a total $80,000.

He was arrested in May after posting an ad on Kijiji about an apartment for rent. He met with multiple prospective renters and took $1,100 deposits from them before disappearing with the money.

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Saskatoon Landlords Have Questions On Recycling Plan

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

 March 6th, 2013

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Saskatoon landlords have concerns now that Saskatoon City is starting a recycling program for about 36,400 apartments, condominiums, and houses. The said program will be managed by Cosmopolitan Industries.

According to Ken Gryschuk, Cosmopolitan Industries’ community relations manager, the program is varied depending on the type of unit, as in more complicated recycling programs are prepared for more complex units.

The program seems to be all set for 2014, as its target year to have it up and running.

However, the landlords of the respective units are still confused with the process. Different queries regarding the recycling process and even the program itself are aired out by people.

Paula Simon is just one of the many who voiced out their confusion with the process. She is a representative of Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association. Being in a rental housing industry, some of the questions Paula Simon aired out were

1. How to teach the tenants to recycle

2. How to segregate the recyclable from the ones that can’t be recycled

3. What to do if and when the possibilities of having the recycled bins mixed with garbage

4. What to do when recyclable items in the recycle bins are being thrown out by dumpster divers trying to find something

It’s not always easy to deal with tenants who don’t want to do extra work at their rental property. It can at times get downright nasty.

Cosmopolitan Industries, however, assured the people that they will be going around the city with public consultation to educate people with the city-wide program. Although the program is a bit raw yet, Cosmopolitan Industries offered to show the people as much information they can.

Two large bins will be placed outside of each house building. Also, smaller bins will be placed in every unit inside the building. Aside from this, other plans are not finalized yet, especially for the more complex buildings.

The association will have a luncheon with the Cosmopolitan Industries, and in this event, Simon is hoping that many unanswered questions and concerns will be addressed.

Saskatoon and other Saskatchewan landlords can discuss this and other issues at the Saskatchewan Landlord Forum.

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Legal Changes for Saskatchewan Landlords

Friday, December 28th, 2012

December 27, 2012

Saskatchewan landlords new legal rules

 

We would like to thank representatives from the provincial government emailing in and helping clarify the confusing changes to the way landlords do business here nowadays.

Here are the corrections to our story on how things have changed for landlords from a government representative (again, thanks!)

Here we go:

On the home page of SLA: http://saskatchewanlandlords.ca/ there is a paragraph “So  What Will Happen?”  Except for #2 the changes already happened on November 15, 2012.   The article misleads readers, as the changes are in effect now.

The paragraph states:

#1Beginning in April, 2013 landlords must inform their tenants if there will be a rent increase 3 months prior to a fixed term lease ending. The renters will have 1 month to reply to it.

#2 Also starting in April, 2013, the Office of Residential Tenancies will cover rent disputes for seniors in independent living facilities.

#3 The government has decided landlords who want to increase rent with only 6 months notice must become a member of an a particular landlord association (one which caters to large landlords).

If you are not a member, you have to give 1 years notice for a rent increase.

All changes came into effect on November 15, 2012, with the exception of the application of RTA to independent living facilities.   Only that change takes effect on April 1, 2013.   

As some of your descriptions of the changes risk misleading readers, you may wish to refer readers to the page on our website that explains all changes:  http://www.justice.gov.sk.ca/ORT-LRA

That’s good and we appreciate the clarification.

Overall, we have a very good government in Saskatchewan. Smart and good people. But no one is perfect and the changes for landlords are already leading to a lot of complaints.

For a start, let’s start talking about how undemocratic it is to make landlords become members of a specific group to receive special legal benefits. Is that democratic? Aren’t we all equal under the law. And can we see who runs that group? Do they have elections?

Sounds like some more changes are going to be needed to be made in 2013 in order to continue a great rental market that encourages small landlords to invest and provide quality affordable housing for tenants. Let’s not create rules that put a damper on investment like other provinces do.

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Saskatchewan Landlords Face New Government Limits on Rent Increases (and more!)

Sunday, December 2nd, 2012

December 1st, 2012

The government has introduced new rules for landlords. Did You Even Hear About It?

What’s Going On?

The government has changed the rules for landlords and tenants in Saskatchewan.

Why the Changes?

According to Gordon Wyant, the Minister of Justice, the rental market in Saskatchewan is tight with vacancy rates very low. His government believes the changes will protect tenants from big rent increases that occur within a short period of time.

What is the Vacancy Rate?

According to CMCH it’s less than 1% in Regina. However, CMCH doesn’t include unregistered private rental housing in their statistics. This means the vacancy rate is actually no where near less than 1%, it’s much higher.

So  What Will Happen?

#1Beginning in April, 2013 landlords must inform their tenants if there will be a rent increase 3 months prior to a fixed term lease ending. The renters will have 1 month to reply to it.

#2 Also starting in April, 2013, the Office of Residential Tenancies will cover rent disputes for seniors in independent living facilities.

#3 The government has decided landlords who want to increase rent with only 6 months notice must become a member of an a particular landlord association (one which caters to large landlords).

If you are not a member, you have to give 1 years notice for a rent increase.

What’s Been the Reaction to the Changes?

Unsurprisingly, the NDP has called the changes a ‘Band-Aid solution’.  Of course, the NDP would like to ban private landlords and only have government run housing.

What About the Reaction From Landlords?

We think the changes made by the government are generally acceptable. Far better than the NDP’s knee-jerk proposals to creating punishing rules for landlords which would decrease investment and force ‘good landlords’ to leave the market. The more the government interferes with the free market, fewer investment dollars will enter the market.

Is There Anything Really Bad With These Changes.

The government has made a mistake with forcing landlords to have to join a particular landlord association in order to raise rents in 6 months rather than a year. This is simply the creation of a new super bureaucracy. It won’t work and it’s undemocratic.

Is There Anything the Government Missed?

Yes. We are hearing more and more stories about bad tenants trashing houses and owing rent. There are bad tenants out there, just like in other provinces. We are not immune. The government has ignored this. Landlords need to screen their tenants very carefully and if you aren’t up to being a professional landlord you should hire someone who is.

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Saskatchewan landlords have witnessed even a pro-growth government take rights away from landlords with little input or feed-back from us. What’s next? Protect yourself with proper tenant screening and Equifax Credit Checks because the government is not on your side!

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Discuss this and other landlord issues at the Saskatchewan Landlords Forum.

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