All Forum Posts by: Graeme Ford

The action you take moving forward must be tied directly to the end result you have in mind. Are these tenants that you want to keep in your unit? Is this a big deal to you in the grand scheme of things? How important to you is it to have a tenant that is responsive to you?

One of the very important questions you need an answer to is why are these tenants paying late? If their financial situation has changed then that can drastically change how you handle it moving forward. Are they still the tenant class you intended on renting to? Charging late fees when actually enforced can be a great way to train you tenants to make rent a priority in their lives, but if they can barely make rent than late fees will have the opposite effect and make them non-responsive. People do not like to face their problems head on, but if you want to truly get anything done its what you have to do. 

@Thomas S. I have been reading the LTB past cases and you are absolutely right. What is very troublesome to me is the length of time between submitting an application, arriving at a decision and the final date set out for payment or move out/eviction. Leaves a lot of time where the landlord is left hanging to dry if you will, without payment or reconciliation. This reiterates the importance of having reserve funds set aside and very thorough tenant screening is paramount. The adjudicators also seem to nitpick on whether or not a filing was properly completed by the landlord so I definitely understand why you mentioned really understanding what is required of the landlord as the process could be even further delayed. Ontario is definitely a pro-tenant province that is for sure. 

@Matt Geerts thanks for the input! I have a printed out RTA copy that I have reviewed a couple of times, but the phrasing in it  seems to not plainly outline exactly what is the "black and white" of some circumstances and leaves a lot open to interpretation. Frustrating. 

@Thomas S. thanks for the link and info! Will definitely be reviewing past cases as well as attend LTB hearings and see their interpretation of the law. I am currently in Alberta for work in the oil patch as an RN and will be returning to Ontario to be with my significant other in the Brantford area once the job dries up. Trying to use this opportunity as my unfair advantage to build a nest egg before returning home to Ontario. I definitely see the advantage of staying out here as landlords here do have some things in their favour, but it just isn't plausible for my relationship. I have some friends with rentals here who have told me of some of these advantages. The way I look at it, Canada is a tough place to invest regardless especially when compared to the US, but we can't let that stop us.

@Andrei Opal and @Jacob Perez thank you for your replies guys very helpful!

My understanding of raising rents in Ontario is a percentage based system that caps how much you are able to raise rents. Does this only apply when you have an existing tenant for the purpose of preventing a landlord from forcing someone out of their property by raising rent? If a unit was to become vacant does this percentage still apply from the last rate it rented at or can you set the rent to whatever you want now that it is vacant? 

@Roy N. awesome information. Thank you for your insight! Teranet in Ontario looks like it could be a very pricey option, but I am going to have to complete some more research into that for sure. 

@Roy N. how are you able to find out who the owners of the properties are? As well as tax assessment history and sales history? One of the markets I am looking in is great as the city has tax assessments right on their website through a portal that tells you exactly what they are in a matter of seconds, but not all markets seem to have this. Presumably sales history is from the MLS?

@Luke Jackson an absolutely amazing resource for this is the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Guide to Tenant Screening. It outlines what you should be setting for criteria, defines protected classes to ensure you follow fair housing laws and has other great content all piled into one document. There are even infographics included providing a systemized view. 

www.biggerpockets.com/tenantscreening

Take a read of it and I am sure it has everything you're looking for!

Sounds like a very big bite to chew and if Ben is saying no there must be good reason. There are a lot of deals out there and if the upside is just "pretty nice" I would have to agree with Ben. For you to go through basically a demolition to a full rebuild will tie up your money, be very time consuming, and very risky for a first deal. If the risk is extremely high than the payoff better be extremely high. 

As newbies I think its fair to say we don't even know how bad a deal could really get so we have to be diligent in taking risks we can manage and work through effectively. Sometimes the best deals are the ones you never take. 

@Roy N. I would be very interested to see if infocanada is legitimate, but you are right the people must have opted in. That is very handy that information security and privacy is your "other" profession! 

So it must be a lot of ground work like driving for dollars to locate these distressed properties with motivated sellers and move on them that way as an alternative. Very smart to keep a database with properties of interest. Networking must be key as well. 

Can you let me know what information you are able to find on infocanada if you do look further into it? It would be greatly appreciated.