advice, renting

Realtor & landlord trespass in tenant homes

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92 Comments

There were a couple of interesting comments in last weekends free-for-all post on the same topic, the first from XYZ:

Well today was interesting. We left the house for an hour for a quick Costco run and when we were about 15 mins away from being home, my 16 year old daughter calls me really upset that some Chinese person just walked into her bedroom :O HER BEDROOM!!!! Apparently he closed the door and went on to wander through the rest of the house, and my son (11) noticed him when he got up from his computer to get his hourly snack and was in what I can only describe as state of shock.. Not every day you see some Chinese dude wandering around your house uninvited and unannounced.

Turns out this was the Realtor. (who’s name for know shall be withheld to protect the guilty, at least until I decide what my next course of action will be.)

Obviously I called the landlord and ripped him a new one. He said that he explicitly told the Realtor that they were not to disturb the tenants. Clearly the Realtor thought since our car was gone he would just waltz right in. :-O

We have an inspection scheduled tomorrow so the only thing that saved that Realtors a$$ from the cops being called was the fact that I needed a few minutes to confirm the inspection date and speak to the landlord.

All the while my daughter stood in her room scissors in hand ready to strike.

I definitely see a complaint being filed in the near future for trespass against this Realtor.

What would you do in this situation?

The second in a similar vein from DR:

Alright folks, I need a little tenancy agreement advice. I have been after my landlord to fix some broken tiles in the kitchen from a water leak. There are now several broken ones with sharp pieces continually coming off. The building is having some renovation work done as many of the units are being updated.

I have been trying for several weeks to get the landlords (as it is family run) to discuss the long over due repair. I just learned from one of the contractors that the landlord entered my unit without notice or permission this morning to look at the tiles. Rather than communicate with me, he decided to just check things out for himself.

This is a huge violation of my privacy and rights as a tenant. I am more than mad at the moment, but I wanted to see if any of you bears have had similar experiences and what your recourse was.

By the way, I have been a longstanding tenant in excellent standing, and the landlords were extremely appreciative when I notified them of the leak because of the potential for serious damage. However, this failure to communicate has become a recent trend as every phone call is never returned and some requests just end up getting taken care of (again without letting me know).

 

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Patiently Waiting

@squeako: “Renter attitude” is something you get when you sit on the deck with a beer in your hand watching your landlord mow the lawn.

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squeako

Renter attitude??
LOL, funny b/c that comment was soooo totally tarded.

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Anonymous

@Patiently Waiting: with your renter attitude, who would want to be friend with you anyway.

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jumpin in

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-09/canada-housing-bubble-talk-dismissed.html

“The head of Canada’s biggest bank and one of the country’s leading developers said the housing market is not in a bubble”

““When we look at the overall marketplace, there might be pockets of vulnerability but we remain quite comfortable,” said Gordon Nixon, chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada “Frankly, I’d like to see the rhetoric come down a little bit.” 🙂

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procrustes

@watson:
Don’t worry. According to the CMHC, the board’s performance has to be evaluated and reviewed- by the board.

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/about/cogo/upload/BofD-Terms-of-reference.pdf

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southseacompany

And Ian Watt says:

“Hey Vancouver Sun, TELUS GARDEN DID NOT SELL OUT !!!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-GaWa6YNbs

Interesting comment.

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Anonymous

@watson: Holy crap!! My jaw dropped when I read the bio’s of the board. Not one of those people should even be allowed to visit the CMHC office…talk about conflict-of-interest. What a joke. The lunatics are running the asylum!

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southseacompany

“‘Canadian condo craze’ gets crazier” Globe and Mail, May 8/12

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadian-condo-craze-gets-crazier/article2426997/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2426997

Love these headlines!

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watson

@ReadyToPop: CMHC is run by developers

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/about/cogo/cogo_004.cfm

who are only out to protect their gravy train of free taxpayer funding.

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Guy Smiley

“it’s a balloon” or “a bicycle tire”.

Maybe it’s a condom – with more and more holes in it everyday. Big changes are sure to occur soon because of those holes, and when they do it will cost some people alot of money, some people will run away to avoid the responsibility, some involved will mostly just shit their pants and cry.

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buffates

Price Change number seems to be increasing. Interesting to map PC/day.

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Curious George

My sister saw a “sold” sign outside our family home today. We lived their for 18 years through the 70’s and 80’s and have so many great memories. I was just curious what it went for.

6446 Wiltshire Street
MLS# V928897
List: 3,399,000

My wife, daughter, and I went to an open house. Total time warp … everything was just my parents left it back in 88. The carpet, wallpaper, and most of the furniture. Even the shoe polish stains I made on the upstairs carpet trying to perfect my Michael Jackson moon walk back in 1983 lol.

I read this forum everyday and I think the train wreck has finally happened. I am just waiting for the reporters to show up and spread the news. Thanks to all the posters and the stats … especially Paulb.

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Guy Smiley

Re Drummond Drive area sell-off….

I think there may be a rush to cash in amongst some of the higher priced areas of town. I took my kids to lighthouse park on the weekend – it seemed like every second house along marine drive west of 27th street was for sale.

MLS view

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Yalie

@Vansanity:

Second, is what’s a bubble? They’ve never really defined it. That’s why they always say you see it after its popped.

And then there’s my favorite denial tactic: using a different term altogether. Like “it’s a balloon” or “a bicycle tire”. I find those alternative names particularly amusing, not only because of how pathetic it is to watch the pumpers desperately avoid the term “bubble”, but also because they don’t even realize they’ve chosen items that can just as easily pop, and just as explosively.

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Vansanity

@Yalie:

Just playin devil’s advocate but it seems to always come down to the definition. What’s the market? Canadian housing market? Second, is what’s a bubble? They’ve never really defined it. That’s why they always say you see it after its popped.

We all know what it is… but its the above technicality that allows CMHC et al to say such things and not be held accountable. It’s like the ultimate loophole. They’re good at creating loopholes, I digress.

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frank

@ReadyToPop:

A bunch of self-serving pathetic pricks who would rather bankrupt the whole country than admit there was a bubble and they had a hand in causing it.

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Anonymous

…What a beautiful day in paradise. I can’t wait to get back to my condo, sit on the balcony, and have a glass of merlot. My life is the epitome of urban chic….

Come on now, come clean. We know you really don’t want to go back to that 270 sq ft condo. As the Bare Naked ladies would say, ‘that’d be cruel’. But I must admit, sitting on the balcony, or rather sitting on the toilet with my feet out on the faux balcony, while browsing the internet for tiny furniture and while cooking dinner at the same time, does have it’s appeal.

Me, I’m going to go out for dinner every night for the next 17 years, for the same cost as the rain screen failure assessment you have pending. But hey; enjoy that wine, you deserve it.

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mak & cheese

“3737 Angus Drive, only on the market for 31 days.
Ask: $13.75 million
Sold: $10.7 million”

LOL looks like seller was very motivated

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Yalie

@ReadyToPop:

saying that despite concerns by Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, and many others about the real possibility of an overheated housing sector, there was no sign of a market bubble.

The fact that the CMHC has publicly stated that they see “no sign of a market bubble” is 100% proof that they are either completely corrupt or totally incompetent. There is really no other explanation.

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Best place on meth

@ReadyToPop:

Yeah, the Americans also kept denying there was a bubble.

The CMHC should be murdered, dismembered and buried.

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ReadyToPop

OTTAWA — It’s not often a Crown corporation bangs its drum loudly, appears to question market sentiment and misrepresents the central bank’s monetary policy — all in the same day.

Canada’s housing agency did just that on Tuesday, issuing an annual report that read like a defence of its business practices, and saying that despite concerns by Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, and many others about the real possibility of an overheated housing sector, there was no sign of a market bubble.

Canada’s housing agency shrugs off ‘bubble’ talk, defends role in debt financing

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N

365! It has a nice ring to it.

Thanks, Paul!

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paulb.

New Listings 365
Price Changes 157
Sold Listings 183
TI:17823

http://www.paulandlauren.ca

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Joe_Blown_Away_By_High_Housing_Costs

@Patiently Waiting (#10)

The Globe and Mail article about the ghost city phenomenon in Toronto has been edited after publication.

You quoted this alarming line: “CMHC estimates that roughly 25 per cent of condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area are sold but sitting vacant — shades of Miami at the height of its collapsed condo bubble in 2007. Other analysts say the 25 per cent figure may be too low”

That line has been deleted from the article. The headline has also changed, now with no mention of “ghost city”.

I’ve noticed this a lot lately–online corporate newspapers editing articles post-publication. It’s right out of George Orwell’s 1984. The writer must have offended the corporate thought police.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/daily-mix/how-condo-boom-threatens-a-ghost-city-phenomenon/article2426038/

(Although the URL still has the original headline…sloppy Orwellian editors!)

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