Posts Tagged ‘Landlord Forum’

Alberta Landlord PROTECTION MEMBERSHIP Is Now Available!

Tuesday, March 5th, 2019

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With The Challenges Alberta Landlords Are Facing These Days We Have Created A New Level Of Membership

Become A Success Member And Get Tools and Services To Help You Succeed All For A One-Time Fee

Several recent posts in the Alberta Landlords Private Member Forum have shocked landlords and made it clear that we face major challenges these days.

Landlords are facing big problems from midnight move-outs to tenants smoking marijuana in our units to bias against landlords at the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service.

It wasn’t long ago that we had a low vacancy rate, huge net migration into our province and lots of great tenants to choose from. It also wasn’t that long ago the the Mayor of Calgary accused us of “gouging tenants” (and  ALA members had to explain we were only protecting our rental businesses at that time.)

Lease Breaking, Midnight Move-Outs And Big Damages Left Behind

In the Alberta Private Member Forum a Calgary landlord asked for help dealing with renter who gave the impression of being decent and reasonable when she moved in. 

A few months later rent wasn’t paid and the landlord eventually found she had moved out and broke the lease. Not only that, but the property was damaged and a mess that would cost at least $10,000 to repair and get back to tip-top shape for re-renting.

Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Isn’t Fair and Protects Bad Renters.

Another landlord based in Edmonton wrote about his experience at the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS). He thought it was fair and filed after his tenants didn’t pay rent and broke a fixed term lease.

He was very careful and it was clear the tenant broke the rules and the landlord expected justice. Instead he found the whole system was in favour of the tenant and they treated him like dirt.

In fact, we have had many landlords say the same thing: the RTDRS has changed and is not fair. One landlord called the RTDRS the “Bad Renter Protection Machine” and “Not a Fair System!”

Lots of Great Renters Out There, But We Need To Be Super Careful!

Landlords across the province know there are a lot of great renters out there. These are people who pay the rent on time and respect you and the rental property. They follow the rules and treat the rental like it’s their own home. When you rent to these types of tenants being a landlord is a nice and often profitable experience.

We also know that good economic times will come again so it’s vital we get through these more challenging times.

Alberta Landlord PROTECTION MEMBERSHIP

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In these troubling times our ALA team put our heads together to find the best way we could help our Alberta landlord community. We’re all landlords too and we know what is needed and know we are all on a tight budget.

With all these new challenges our Alberta landlord team has come up with PROTECTION Membership to help landlords succeed. 

For only an affordable one-time registration fee (no yearly fee) Alberta landlords get access to a ton of amazing tools and services that can’t be beat!

Rental Kit Library

Get all the documents you need to succeed via your own online library you can access 24/7.

Access to the Forums, Including the Private Members Forum (for verified landlords only)

Network with experienced and successful Alberta landlords and property manager to you and your rental business succeed. Only verified landlords get access to our private members forum. This means you are networking and getting help from others who ‘have skin in the game’ like you do!

Discounted Credit Checks

Get huge discounts on credit checks. We have partnered with the industry leader RENT CHECK. Unlike some other credit check companies, RENT CHECK Equfaix credit checks will protect you from potential privacy rights and human rights complaints. With over 40 years in the industry RENT CHECK is the best credit check company for landlords. 

Tenant Friendly Credit Checks (With RISK SCORES from Transunion)

These are credit checks where the tenants don’t have to give you any of their personal information. Instead it all goes to TRITON who then provides it to you. It makes tenant applicants feel safe and it’s every easy to get them to pay for the credit check (and save you money!)

Criminal Checks

Times are changing and many experienced and successful Alberta landlords are making that ‘last criminal check’ on an applicant they want to rent to. And now as member you get a HUGE discount to make sure you ad your property are protected.

Insurance

Get Access to one of the est rental insurance packages in Canada. Also covers student rentals. You also get a big discount as a member

Property Management Software

Get a discount on premium property management software to help you get control of your rental business.

Become a Landlord PROTECTION MEMBER and get the tools and services you need need to succeed! All for a low one-time fee that helps us cover our costs…that’s right ONE TIME FEE!

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Posted in Alberta Evictions, Alberta landlords forum, Calgary landlords, Credit Checks, criminal checks, edmonton landlords | Comments Off on Alberta Landlord PROTECTION MEMBERSHIP Is Now Available!

Alberta Landlords – Is Rent Control Coming?

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

Is rent control coming to Alberta? According to an editorial in the Whitecourt Star it should be.

Rent control is when the government caps the amount of rent a landlord can charge. The Star believes it’s the solution to the low vacancy rate in Alberta.

Low Vacancy Rate

The vacancy rate is, in fact, very low and tenants are scrambling to find rental apartments.

According to the Canada Housing and Mortage Corp. (CMHC) not only are vacancy rates in Alberta decline, rents are also rising.

The Whitecourt Star’s Argument for Rent Control in Alberta

The Star sent a reporter to look into the rental market in Whitecourt in 2012.

The reporter found there were a lot of tenants in the city looking for rental housing. The report stated there were not enough affordable rental units available and there was a long list of tenants waiting to find a place to rent “at any price.”

The Star editorial stated the Alberta economy was booming and more workers were coming to the province. Despite these jobs there are thousands of homeless living on the street because Calgary and Edmonton landlords won’t rent to them.

While investors and landlords have the right to profit from their rental businesses the Star argues people have the right to a place to live.

According to the Whitecourt Star ‘rent control’ is a way the government “can make this happen.

Rent Control Doesn’t Mean More Affordable Rental Units

The Whitecourt Star argument is wrong. Rent control doesn’t equal more affordable housing.

Other Canadian provinces have rent control

For example, British Columbia landlords can only increase the rent by 2.2% in 2014. Yet tenants there are still complaining rents are too high and something needs to be done.

And even better example is Ontario.

In 2014 Ontario Landlords can only raise the rent a measly 0.8% for their current tenants.

While the Ontario Rent Increase Guideline is tied to the CPI Index rent increases are ‘capped’ at a maximum of 2.5% no matter how high inflation gets.

With rent control and rent increases capped there should be a ton of rental available and rents should be low. 

Except there isn’t.

With so much government control many investors simply avoid investing in residential rental property in Ontario.

The vacancy rates in Ontario are nearly as low as in Alberta.

And there is a huge waiting list for affordable housing in Ontario.

Rent Control Is Not the Answer

Alberta landlords already know rent control is not the way forward for Alberta.

Anyone can see from what is happening in British Columbia and Ontario that rent control only hurts tenants.

Furthermore, landlords in Alberta are already facing increasing challenges.

We hope the Whitecourt Star editorial board thinks more carefully next time.

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Have a Secondary Suite? Make It Legal and Make It Safe

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

June 1st, 2013

Lethbridge alberta landlords illegal suites

According to a report in the Lethbridge Herald some tenants are being evicted because their rental home is a fire hazard. Instead of being legal and safe, the secondary suite violates fire codes, municipal zoning regulations and provincial health and safety laws.  And once the renters are gone, there’s little the city can do to make sure other prospective tenants don’t fall victim to the same kind of illicit accommodations.

We know there is political pressure in our province to make secondary suites legal and safe. The problem is the majority of renters who are heading to illegal properties know that they aren’t lawful right from the start. 

Groundhog Day

At the moment, it is very difficult to keep tabs on illegal suites.

The same property owners are being caught time and time again as they need to rent in order to cover the costs of owning a property. This is because once a person has been evicted, the inspectors will return to check the property to ensure nobody is living there.

However the inspectors return only once.This leads to some property owners to start all over again and re-rent until they receive the next complaint. The whole situation repeats itself. It is only in the most extreme circumstances that any landlord is actually fined under the Public Health Act.

Delayed Evictions

At the moment, inspectors are taking the stance where people are not going to be evicted straight away. In fact, many are willing to work with the landlords to bring the property up to scratch. Only if there is an immediate risk will somebody get evicted.

With the lack of affordable rental housing many tenants living in these rental apartments face homelessness if they let word get out. Instead, they are keeping quiet and not complaining. At the moment, there is one new illegal suite being discovered every two weeks, which means that a lot of people’s life are currently in danger as a result.

Tenants unwilling to find themselves homeless are less likely to report their illegal living situations, thus, the real number of illegal suites in Lethbridge remains unknown. 

Fire Prevention Officer

According to fire prevention officer Doug Braodhead, “There’s kind of a catch-22 in that situation, that if they come to me and say that ‘I live in an illegal suite,’ then there’s certain options. One is that they might get kicked out, because that’s the option that we give the owners – they have to vacate the suite. So they might be putting themselves in a bad situation,” by making a complaint.

Broadhead estimated he inspects at least one unregistered suite every two weeks. He says “The thing is, when they get caught is when they have a fire, and that’s when they’re really in trouble,” he said. “That’s the risk they’re taking by putting someone back in there month after month. In the long run, it’s better to just upgrade your suite, make it legal, make it safe. And then if there is a fire they’re not held liable for it.”

The system isn’t broken like other provinces, it’s up to individual landlords to invest back into their properties.

To discuss this and other landlord and tenant issues go to the Alberta Landlord Forum.

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Posted in Secondary Suites | 3 Comments »

Landlord Tips from the Terminator!

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Tenants are lying about not receiving the N4

What do I do if a tenant I’m serving an N4 to just says they didn’t get it? Even though I mailed or just put it in the mailbox like the Landlord and Tenant Board website says I should.
(more…)

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