Landlord/Tenant problems, getting out of contract?

[240SX92]

Hey guys, figured some of you may know the situation, thought i'd post. My mom bought a condo about a year or two back, and rented it out to a woman who signed a lease for a years term. The tenant now sent my mom a package claiming a notice of hearing as a "residential tenancy dispute resolution service" with the Government of Alberta over some problems at the condo. All of the problems were out of my moms control, the place has just had some shitty luck. Everything that has come up my mom has tried/paid to fix and done her best to fix the problems, but the woman is a real bitch about everything, exaggerating and finding the tiniest problems (although a few are problems, including that murder at the party, as this is in the Mackenzie town condo place that had the murder last year). But the murder was in early february, she is claiming another problem about evacuating due to carbon monoxide that happened in early may, these are two of her main problems, yet she signed the lease 2 weeks after her biggest problems happened? Now i'm wondering what the deal is with her being able to escape this lease? The tenant would be causing my mom a shitload of trouble, as my mom lives in Ontario, and is requested to this hearing, or to find a lawyer/representative to go. Anyone in here a lawyer who can lend some advice? Or represent her? Haha

[97'Scort]

Er, I'm not really sure what the problem is. What I get from it:

- mom bought a rental property. There are admitted problems with said property.
- the only problems you detail are A) there is a problem with building evacuation procedure due to a carbon monoxide problem in the unit, and B) she is worried about ghosts or something from a murder.

If your mom wants to evict her, she can. Easily. If the carbon monoxide problem was your unit, and it's fixed (furnace issue?) then that's not a problem. If the woman wants to leave because of the murder, that's not your mom's problem and the woman can terminate the lease provided she give enough notice.

The dispute resolution service is simply arbitration and the woman can't demand that you show up at her convenience. Your mom can call the office and request that you act as a representative or anybody she knows in Calgary, or she can conference call in to the meeting.

Now, I imagine the REAL problems are that there are OTHER things wrong and this is the real reason she's taking you to arbitration. If these items (say, bad wallpaper, old carpets or a sticky window) were in place PRIOR to the rental contact, then that's fine, she doesn't have a leg to stand on. If shit's broken, then your mom needs to fix it. That's part of the agreement.

[broken_legs]

^^^ Good read of the situation.

I'd like to know what your mom did from Ontario when you say:


Everything that has come up my mom has tried/paid to fix and done her best to fix the problems


What did she fix/try to fix?

[Kloubek]

Pics of mom?

[Xtrema]

Why are you keeping someone in a lease that giving you headache anyway? What's the condo management company say to the problems?

The fact is, if your tenant is not happy and you know you already bend over to solve it, may as well let them go. People who doesn't respect your property will cost more damage to it than its worth to keep the lease.

[240SX92]

Other then those problems, there were two repair problems that my mom fixed promptly. Some shelf broke in a closet that she had repaired, one however has come back, and my mom has worked her ass off to get fixed. (Someone from upstairs has a leak, that has run down a wall, and a tile keeps falling off in the shower.) She has hired someone to come in and re-caulk (haha) and glue the tile on before, but it has come off again, due to the leak (It is the heavy tile with the soap holder on it). It is also a decent sized problem but it's out of her hands and not her fault, not to mention shes on the phone with the condo complex / health inspectors / others every night trying to fix the tile, along with catering to this womans every small demand.

She would want to get rid of the tenant but she doesn't want to have to sell it and take the hit in cost, and it is a huge pain in the ass right now to replace someone as she can't meet new tenants.

Edit: Forgot another plumbing problem that was the condo's fault, bad install when the condo was built, she had the plumber come in and fix it as well right away.

I and my mom both know the condo has had some shit luck, but everything that has come up me and my Mom have worked to fix it within the week... This bitch just is always on her rag and blows everything out of proportion. It would make a lot of sense for my mom to get rid of her, but she's not able to deal with the inconvenience of looking for a new tenant at the moment as she has a lot going on.

[Xtrema]

Then you should try to turn operation over to property managers.

Being a landlord from remote is hard enough especially for someone with a lot going on.

[240SX92]

Alright thanks for the suggestion, I'll let her know to look into it.