Renter Laid Off - Proof?

[stealth]

So I had my renter call me and said they were laid off from their job. She was given a career counselor and is hoping to stay in the townhouse and finds another job. She told me she is willing to help show the place and have me list it just in case she doesn't find a job.

Has anyone ran into this situation? She signed a 1 year lease from September, I have had dead beat renters before tell me they got laid off and they up and left.

Should I be asking for proof, is that too personal?

[HiTempguy1]

https://www.landlordandtenant.org/wp...yment-ends.pdf

Why does it matter? She signed an agreement, she needs to pay up. There is a reason there is EI and whatnot.

On the flipside, no use trying to get blood from a stone.

As for showing the place, I wouldn't want my tenants showing my places. Her "help" is her not having it be a pigsty when you come to show it, wtf else can she do?

[ExtraSlow]

Not sure what it would change if you had this proof. At some point, your goodwill has a limit, and essentially, you have to be considering giving her some kind of subsidy, or why does it matter at all?

[Kloubek]

As has been said, whether or not she got laid off is really not that relevant; the fact is that she is signed to a lease and is responsible for it. This is real life.

Great that she is willing to help show the place and if you want to be nice you can exempt her from the remainder of the lease once you find another renter, but she should be held responsible for the time she spends there at the very least.

This whole Canadians living paycheque to paycheque thing has gotta stop.

[zhao]

Forcing someone to stay invites them subletting it out to a crackhead or having a hero complex bf trash the place cuz "your screwing her over!". Easier to just move on to the next one regardless of the lease Imo if this is a nice new unit, unless this is already a borderline slum and they can't really trash much then you can hold her to the agreement if you really want to spend theeffort

I'd also start with eviction proceedings at the first missed payment even if it's by a day. Avoid falling in to sob story traps as renters will fuck you as much as they can thinking you have billions in the bank and owe them as much as they can milk out of you .

[FraserB]

She’s either telling you she wants to leave or not, there isn’t really a middle ground. Say you list it and show it, then get an offer; is she going to leave right away and somehow find a place without a job?

Have her continue to make the rent payments she is obligated to, non-payment is grounds for eviction even if you lose your job. If she decides to give you notice she is leaving, then you list it and give appropriate notice when you have showings.

You could also drop the rent if you think you can’t find another renter. But I wouldn’t personally, because a few months down the road, they’ll be on the phone asking for another reduction because the reduced amount is too high.

[revelations]

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So I had my renter call me and said they were laid off from their job. She was given a career counselor and is hoping to stay in the townhouse and finds another job. She told me she is willing to help show the place and have me list it just in case she doesn't find a job.

Has anyone ran into this situation? She signed a 1 year lease from September, I have had dead beat renters before tell me they got laid off and they up and left.

Should I be asking for proof, is that too personal?

She sounds honest, but this is business not a charity. Proof of situation (X) has no bearing on the rent (Y) thats still due at month end.

In her case, if shes been a good tenant, I might be ok with, say a 5 day delay for the rent, or even partial payments - but nothing that goes on past 30 days.

I've given my condo tenants breaks like this before as they were model tenants for a few years to begin with. One tenant wisely asked if they could rent out the parking spot to help offset a temporary drop in income.

Newer tenants, no way

[EnRichii]

What a nightmare. This is why I can never go into buying properties to rent out. People have zero respect for your shit first of all, and then they run shit like this on you, how aggravating. She signed a fucking contract that obviously means fuck all to her, I'm assuming shes a loser, BIG time. I mean Jesus Christ OP can't even throw her out if she decides she can't pay, and thats obviously what she's doing here, she's looking for a way out. I think she probably has lost her job, and she's looking to actually help you find another tenant or sell the place. Nightmare... Good luck bro ;(

edit. wait a sec..

is she hot? cause that changes everything.....

[dirtsniffer]

Good to see you are just as ridiculous as last time

[Disoblige]

Oh yeah, she lost her job so she has zero respect for OP's shit. What a BIG time loser, right?

Classic En/InRich retard. Time doesn't change stupidity it seems.

[JRSC00LUDE]

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Good to see you are just as ridiculous as last time

I feel as if the Gestalt troll came back as EnRichii, new fun.

[revelations]

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. I mean Jesus Christ OP can't even throw her out if she decides she can't pay

What province do you live in? Here in AB we have the ability to toss people very quickly (compared to BC) for non-payment.

[rx7boi]

You shouldn't be having to ask for proof as it's a moot point. Hoping to stay in the townhome while she job hunts? What the fuck does that mean? Help showing your place and finding a tenant? Not her job and definitely not in lieu of paying rent.

What you should be focusing on is if she can uphold her obligation to pay the rent, with or without a job. If she can't, time to leave and you keep the deposit for the broken lease, no?

+1 on what FraserB said. This isn't a case for giving charity but that's your call.

[zhao]

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What province do you live in? Here in AB we have the ability to toss people very quickly (compared to BC) for non-payment.

Yup, I had someone out in 14 days in Alberta, although it would have taken longer if they really wanted to drag it out.. probably a month at most from what I remember which is real quick imo. Fortunately my bc property has a guy who's been there 7 years and has been pretty decent, so haven't had to navigate that (bc landlord laws) land mine field yet.

[max_boost]

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is she hot? cause that changes everything.....

Right!

[AndyL]

Cut losses and let her leave.

It's a bad scenario - but vacancy is still low. Choose to be a douche say lease is the lease and cause the renter to be bitter and feel trapped, or let them out early get someone new in and move on.

Option is yours at the end of the day - but if they can't pay for it, they can't pay for it. Sure you can get a judgement and get costs etc - but at the end of the day can / will you be able to collect it - and what's the time / frustration / interest worth to just get a new tenant in.

[Xtrema]

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So I had my renter call me and said they were laid off from their job. She was given a career counselor and is hoping to stay in the townhouse and finds another job. She told me she is willing to help show the place and have me list it just in case she doesn't find a job.

Has anyone ran into this situation? She signed a 1 year lease from September, I have had dead beat renters before tell me they got laid off and they up and left.

Should I be asking for proof, is that too personal?

You do know that 1 year lease for Alberta Landlord is more a formality right? At best you can hold her over is the difference between now and until the house is rented out. So how far are you going to go/spend to chase may be $1-$3K?

If she's helping you list, list and move on.

The last 3 years, it sucks to be landlord. Many has sold off their unit because the clients are of lowest quality and reliability. Even fully furnished 2 bedroom AirBnB is renting for $52 a night. That's with full cable/internet/utility included. It's tough out there.

[msommers]

I'd list the place and tell her she needs to continue paying until you have found a suitable replacement. Pay any penalty for breaking the lease. You'll be a good reference for her new place. Shit happens sometimes.

I'm either quite naive as a landlord or I've just gotten lucky with tenants (maybe I'm super picky and also very good to my tenants too), but people are not as shitty as all these horror stories you read about. Obviously it happens from time to time but my impressions and experiences are that they're far from the norm.

Be reasonable with discussions, don't try to be a hard-ball asshole about the situation waving the lease in their face like you own them. But be mentally prepared to have them just up and leave, and get on with your life - it's not worth stressing over.

[lasimmon]

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You do know that 1 year lease for Alberta Landlord is more a formality right? At best you can hold her over is the difference between now and until the house is rented out. So how far are you going to go/spend to chase may be $1-$3K?

If she's helping you list, list and move on.

The last 3 years, it sucks to be landlord. Many has sold off their unit because the clients are of lowest quality and reliability. Even fully furnished 2 bedroom AirBnB is renting for $52 a night. That's with full cable/internet/utility included. It's tough out there.

This.

Get another renter with a job in or you will just cause yourself more head aches I bet.

[Rocket1k78]

Like others have said, proof or no proof means nothing because at the end of the day all you need to worry about is whether they can/will pay for the months theyre in there.

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Yup, I had someone out in 14 days in Alberta, although it would have taken longer if they really wanted to drag it out.. probably a month at most from what I remember which is real quick imo.

Unless its an extreme circumstance or the tenant is cooperating, 14 days is not happening in most cases.
If its a simple thing like non payment(to the courts) and the dead beat really wants to drag it out you could be looking at more than a couple months if you're lucky. The initial court meeting with the tenant is typically 2-3 weeks out and thats with RTDS, COQ is sometimes double that or more. The tenant will plead their case and 99.9999999% of the time the judge will give them time to pay. If for some "odd" reason they dont pay, you cant just go and take your place back on the last day of the agreement that they signed in front of the judge. Now this is where im not sure because thankfully i didnt have to go this far but i would suspect youd have to go back to the courts and potentially set up another court date with the deadbeats and at that point the judge will give the tenants another shot to plead their case. If the stars align in your favor the judge will not give them another shot they will give them a date to move out which wont be over night or quick. If theyre still in your place on the move out date im sure you will have to go back to the courts to let them know and thats probably where they will give you the legal right to hire bailiffs to take back your property but again thats gonna take time to set up.