Michael J.C. Anderson
A commentary by an Esquimalt resident.
We are two retired seniors who have worked hard all our lives and give back to our community.
We recently gave a mid-50s woman a hand up, renting our suite to her after hearing her story of living in a low-income housing unit with sketchy inner-city characters, lots of noise with partying at all hours.
I told my wife that I had a gut feeling the sketchy characters would be coming into our neighbourhood. I have never wished more to be wrong in my life.
The lease agreement clearly stated no pets and no smoking. However, there were two pets in our 400-square-foot suite and there was smoking. The suite was also occupied by usually three to four people (when we only rented it to one). It was so crowded on one occasion, two people slept under a tree beside the driveway.
The tenant and her many house guests showed us and our property little to no respect.
On the morning of June 11, the Victoria SWAT team, with dogs, arrested a felon that had a Canada-wide warrant on him. Our tenant had allowed him to come and go on a regular basis, a wanted felon and gang member.
We had no compassion left for the tenant or her long-term house guests. As the system looked after them, they continued to walk all over us.
Rent for June was never received, even though a large portion was paid by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. The cheque from the ministry was mailed but it was never received, even though it was in my wife’s name.
We contacted the ministry and they are looking into it — but basically, even if the cheque was cashed, we have no recourse.
You are wondering where the help for us is: So are we. The Residential Tenancy Branch was little to no help for the landlord. It’s all about the tenant.
The pendulum has swung way too far in favour of the tenant; time to move it back some. Changes also need to be made with regard to their approach in dealing with cases such as ours.
The most help that we received came from the Victoria police and a retired member, who is a friend. Their guidance and support helped to keep us grounded and with our sanity somewhat intact.
Sleep was precious; we were not getting enough with all that we had going on. We just wanted our normal life back, and for the nightmare to end.
We waited more than a month for an arbitration meeting, and the day before the meeting, the tenant texted to let us know that she was not going to attend and that she was cleaning to move out.
The meeting was one of the few positive experiences in dealing with our situation. We won our case based solely on the rent not being paid.
During this time we were constantly worried about what our recently renovated suite would look like after everything was said and done with.
The tenant did indeed move out, however, the suite was a mess, with things that have to go to the dump, and damage as well.
We are fed up with the bureaucracy. For the most part, they just seemed to drag their feet and support these individuals.
All the while we received nothing in the way of support.
All landlords are not slum lords. With some landlord/tenant disputes, it is time to make changes.
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