October 1, 2013
Calgary Landlord Finally Gets Back To See Her Rental Property
We wrote about the nightmare Calgary landlord Rebekah Caverhill was going through last week.
The good news is she is finally able to enter her rental property and see what’s been done to it.
After all, she hasn’t been able to get in for two years! It’s a story that has reached every outlet in the media including CBC news.
Background Story
A Calgary rental property which was occupied by a man claiming to be a Freeman-on-the-Land was finally vacated Friday last week.
The landlady, Rebekah Caverhill has finally got a look inside the property on Monday. She said her half-duplex unit along Parkdale was overflowing with trash, Freemen manifestos and old computer pieces.
In November 2011, the property was rented by a 48-year-old Sylvan Lake pensioner who calls himself Andreas Pirelli or Mario Antonacci.
He told Caverhill that he was a handyman and was able to convince her to make some unit improvements worth the three month’s rent in return.
Caverhill soon realized the tenant had swapped the house locks and even gutted the kitchen as well as the bathroom.
The man asserted he was a Freeman-on-the-Land taking the property as his embassy.
From a freemen’s point of view they are “sovereign citizens” who are off the hook of the government’s conspiracies and/or restrictions.
Afterwards Caverhill got an invoice of $26,000 for the work accomplished from the tenant’s private company and a notice of $17,000 lien on the property from the Land Titles Office.
A lien is a form of security arranged over to secure any debt or performance payments.
Caverhill shared her horrible story to the media and she was able to secure a court order to throw out the tenant from her property at the end of the week.
Landlady Finally Gets Her Home Back
On Friday last week, the police apprehended the tenant with the warrants issued in Quebec, where in 2007 he allegedly assaulted a former landlady in Montreal.
The tenant still owes over $10,000 for his rent, but he put additional lien on the property instead of paying the landlady.
The Importance of Tenant Screening
What happened to this landlord could happen to any of us. Unless we do proper tenant screening.
Calgary landlords are talking about this, but we all need to be aware of Freeman and their tactics.
The days of a friend’s recommendation or keys and free rent in exchange for repairs to the unit are over.
Alberta landlords protect your family and your investment.
Make sure you screen your tenants well, including credit checks and criminal checks.