Ottawa landlords say they were victims of ‘professional’ tenants

Edriam Salter “can’t believe” she has to deal with the damage she says was caused by her former tenants. The 29-year-old woman claims they haven’t paid their rent for three months and owe her more than $35,000.

It was my family’s house where I lived. I had my traditional wedding here, but today I look at the living room and it’s not even a happy memorysays the owner.

The latter invited CBC to visit the premises within minutes of collecting the keys after a long battle before the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

The visit revealed the damage: holes in the walls, broken lamps and faucets, clogged toilets, broken banisters and stained carpets.

Edriam Salter explained that the tenants, Megan and Justin, moved into her house in August 2023 and were evicted 13 months later. CBC chose not to disclose their last names in order to avoid identification of their children.

According to Ms. SalterMegan and Justin are professional tenants and they have no intention of paying their rent.

I’m not the only one Megan has done this to. There was another owner, then another, and another [qui ont vécu la même chose avec elle].

These tenants who play with the system

According to the co-founder ofOpen Rooma website that allows landlords and tenants to research city ordinances CLITHE professional tenants are often repeat offenders.

In my opinion, a professional tenant is someone who knows how to game the system and knows what to do to save timecommented Weiting Bollu.

CBC was able to speak with Megan, but she did not agree to an interview. She also did not respond to written requests for comment. She simply denied any allegations that she and her partner are professional tenants.

CBC also spoke with three former owners of the couple. The three own homes in and around the Orleans neighborhood. They all had similar experiences with the couple.

In all, the landlords say Justin and Megan have racked up nearly $100,000 in unpaid rent. That amount does not include other fees of thousands of dollars, they said.

Misghina Kidane said he rented his house to Megan and Justin in July 2020. He decided to rent out his place to earn some extra money while he lived with a friend while waiting for his family to arrive from Sudan.

They lived here for a year, a month and 15 days. She paid me the first and last month [de loyer]. She added $1000 and then nothing. She stoppedexplained Mr. Kidane, specifying in passing that Megan had told him that she had lost her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province of Ontario has suspended residential evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide a lifeline to tenants facing financial difficulties. The temporary moratorium was lifted about a month after the couple moved into Mr. Kidane’s property, but by then the backlog of cases at the Landlord and Tenant Board had increased and landlords were not Didn’t have many other options.

Misghina Kidane said she negotiated an exchange of keys for money with her two tenants. He claims he gave them more than $3,000 to vacate his property, although he says he didn’t receive any rent payments for most of the year.

The couple finally moved out in mid-August 2021.

A treason

That’s when Janie and Taylor Bastien entered the picture. They lived nearby and rented their family home in the Orléans neighborhood while working in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Janie Bastien says she trusted Megan, even though she couldn’t get in touch with the references the tenant provided. Today, Ms. Bastien realizes that her confidence was misplaced.

It’s like a betrayal. I trusted this woman to come into my home, I entrusted her with some of the furniture.

The Bastiens say they noticed something was wrong when the second payment of the first month’s rent was not made.

Taylor Bastien said that by October, Megan and Justin were already two months behind on rent payments. Around this time, he returned to Ottawa to fix a plumbing problem in the house. He used his visit to offer tenants a clean slate if they packed up and left.

Megan looked at me and told me with a big smile that they weren’t going anywherehe alleges. I will never forget her, because it is clear that she was a professional. She knew the system, the name of each form and the number of each form.

The Bastiens told CBC that the first eviction order from the Landlord and Tenant Board was canceled when Megan and Justin paid the six months of rent they owed. They claim the tenants received funding through Jordan’s Principle, a legal provision ensuring that First Nations children living in Canada have access to the services and supports they need, as well as an aid fund emergency through the City of Ottawa.

But after that, payments stopped again, according to the Bastiens, who were able to reinstate the eviction order when the tenants failed to pay the fees of a law enforcement officer, or sheriff, who was supposed to assist in the initial eviction.

The tenants were forced to move out in August 2022.

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No recourse for reimbursement

A court order issued at a hearing of the CLI in November 2023 concluded that Megan and Justin owed the Bastiens approximately $11,000 in back rent.

According to the documents, the tenants were not present at the hearing despite having received notice, so the hearing proceeded with only the landlord’s evidence.

But there’s no way to enforce it, so we haven’t seen a single dollarregrets Ms. Bastien.

The Bastiens allege the renting couple caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to their home. However, a decision of the CLI handed down in October 2023 rejected their attempted claim for these damages. Megan and Justin were ordered to pay approximately $1,200 to cover unpaid utility bills.

The tenants then moved to another house, in the Orléans district, in August 2022, according to an order from the Landlord and Tenant Board filed by their landlord at the time. This indicates that the tenants lived in this property until August 2023 and that they did not pay rent for most of this period.

If the unit is not vacated by August 31, 2023, the owner can file from August 1^is September 2023 this order to the court (sheriff) so that the eviction can be carried outwe can read in the order.

CBC agreed not to reveal the identity of the third owner who testified because she was afraid of reprisals. She declared, through a written statement during a hearing of the CLIthat Megan and Justin had not paid their rent for nine months and owed him more than $24,000 in arrears.

Megan and Justin also claimed they were approved for a rent financing program to help pay arrears, but those funds were never receivedthe statement said.

Documents from the Ontario Small Claims Court show Justin was ordered to have his wages garnished in order to repay the debt. CBC was unable to confirm the amount refunded.

No eviction register

Between 1^is April 2022 and March 31, 2023, the CLI Ontario received 37,690 termination and eviction requests for non-payment of rent. This data is slightly up compared to the 31,240 requests received between 1^is April 2021 and March 31, 2022.

The Commission does not track the results of the applications it receives. It is therefore difficult to know how many of them led to expulsions.

Licensed lawyer at KLP Paralegal Services and Landlord SolutionsKathleen Lovett says professional tenants know how to manipulate the system to their advantage.

Ms Lovett doesn’t know Justin and Megan or their history, but says professional tenants generally use all angles [morts] and all possible deadlines to extend their rental.

She gives the example of the fact that a tenant may not appear at a hearing, although the CLI sent him a notice, claiming he was sick or that he did not receive the notice.

In this case, the order is suspended and the matter is remitted for a new hearing which may take place two or three months latershe explained.

Edriam Salterwho rented his property to the couple, said exactly that happened to him. She estimates the total cost of repairing the damage to her home to be about $40,000, saying her insurance won’t cover that amount, which doesn’t include unpaid rent and other expenses.

Mme Salter added that the whole experience proved draining for her, both financially and emotionally.

With information from Robyn Miller et Ryan Garlandof CBC News