January 25th, 2012

You are a small scale landlord.  You offer a great property at a great price and hope to find a nice and decent tenant.

Have you been “targeted?”

Here is a recent post on Kijiji:

Tenantrights2012

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:38 pm Post subject: Social Justice? LLs Won’t Rent to: OW/ODSP/Bad Credit!

More and more Tenants across Ontario are finding landlords are colluding and scheming to create a joint force of DISCRIMINATION against people on government assistance or have damaged credit!!

If you are on OW or ODSP, or have damaged credit get ready for rental doors to be SHUT on you!

Thousands of good Tenants face discrimination in the rental market daily and need to fight back!!

If you are on OW or ODSP or have damaged credit, here are some tips for you to get into a rental to make your home.

1. Do not waste your time with corporate landlords. They have policies of discrimination. If they know you are on social assistance they will shred your application and not reply. It is corporate policy! I acted as a landlord and called a building and spoke with a property manager who said their policy is not written down, yet every manager knows the corporate Minto policy is: NO OW, NO ODSP, NO GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE.

2. To avoid wasting time and money, it is best to find a “mom and pop” landlord. You won’t find them on most of the paid rental websites because they want to save costs. You can look here at Kijiji where ads are free. Or if you have a friend with a car, drive around and you will see some “For Rent” signs on lawns. Third idea is to go to local places like Price Chopper, Freshco, Metro, No Frill and look at their free bulletin boards. “Mom and Pop” landlords will put free ads there.

3. Mom and Pop landlords don’t check credit because they don’t like to pay $50 to check. Unlike the corporate landlords who all sign up to credit check services and have a policy of checking everyone. So if you have damaged credit this is your best bet.

4. Never say you are on “welfare” when you meet the landlords. This is an instant redflag for them. Say “Ontario Works” or “ODSP.” Many mom and pop landlords don’t know the terminology.

5. If the mom and pop landlords question you about Ontario Works or ODSP make sure you tell them it is “government assistance” and that means the rent money will come directly from the government to the landlord. The landlord likes the sound of this security.

6. To seal the deal, most Mom and Pop landlords rely on a former landlord reference. This is impossible if you are coming from a shelter or had problems with your last Misunderstood landlord. It’s a good idea to get friend with a cell phone to act as your last landlord. It may be a bit dishonest, but finding a home is about survival and having a safe home is more important than a little fib. Make sure you write down some details for your friend. For example, an address, an amount of rent, and the date you moved in. Also make sure your friend says some things the Mom and Pop landlords love to hear like

“She was very clean and quiet.”
“The rent came directly from the government.”
“I’m sad to see him go.”

7. Remember, even you pay a deposit it doesn’t mean you can get the place. You need the key and need to put some of your stuff in the property. That means legally it is your place and you finally get a few Tenant rights.

8. When you move some stuff in, take some pictures for proof you have possession.

9. If you have pet, do not tell the landlord. As soon as you move in, you can bring in your pet and you cannot be evicted for this.

10. When you are a tenant make sure you read the Landlord and Tenant Board website because you finally have some rights. The important thing is to get in the rental and get a Home.

Is the Ontario system fair?  Look into it.  Contact your local MPP.  Just realize: you have been targeted!