Archive for the ‘Winnipeg landlords’ Category

How About Some Media Coverage Of Winnipeg’s Worst Tenants?

Monday, August 26th, 2013

August 25, 2013

Winnipeg landlords rights

The Winnipeg Free Press had a story about Winnipeg’s worst rental properties.

It’s very common for the media to make landlords (especially small residential landlords) their favourite whipping boy/girl.

We’re only the people who create safe and affordable housing for thousands of renters across Manitoba.

We’re easy to attack.  We don’t have the millions of dollars in resources the large corporate landlords have to hire lawyers and public relations specialists.

We spend our money paying our taxes on time and maintaining our properties in the hope our tenants will stay, pay the rent on time, not damage the rental unit, and maybe even appreciate the risk we take to provide safe and affordable housing. Hey, let’s follow the Ontario model of treating small residential landlords like serfs.

But that’s not sexy.  Stories about good landlords are boring, plain…vanilla in a media world that craves excitement and hits to their website. Who cares if the government creates rules that will lead to less investment and lead good landlords to invest outside the province.

 There was an excellent letter to the Free Press from a landlord’s perspective.

 It surprising it was even published because it was so honest.

Re: Revealing the ‘Peg’s worst homes (July 2). I have been a landlord since 2010 in the North End. I bought two houses, both of which were restored to prime condition. Each time a tenant moved, I had to spend thousands of dollars to restore the home to a livable condition.

I recently sold one of the houses, because I had to spend about $15,000 to restore it. The tenant had called Manitoba Health to complain about the condition of the house. Manitoba Health condemned the house, doing us a huge favour.

They got rid of the tenant legally, where as a landlord, I couldn’t. This house was restored and sold. I now look at stories like this with more open eyes. Is the landlord a slum landlord or is the tenant a slum tenant?

The Free Press writes stories about slum landlords all the time. Don’t you think it’s about time to write about the slum tenant?

PAT KRAHN

Winnipeg

…

To Discuss this and other landlord and tenant issues go to the Manitoba Landlord Forum.

 

 

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How Is the Winnipeg Rental Market? One Tenant Is Leaving

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

May 5th, 2013

Winnipeg rental market tenant leaving landlords

After a terrible experience with Winnipeg’s rental market, a Nunavut woman who just moved in to Manitoba as a tenant said she’ll move back north.

According to a report on CBC News, tenant Madelaine Napayok said in March 2013 she had paid a total of $1,900 for rental payments and damage deposits to Property 1 Management since she moved to Winnipeg from Whale Cove, Nunavut.

Sadly the different property the company has moved her into has a lot of issues such as a broken window, walls with holes and a kitchen without a stove.

“Unbelievable,” she said. “The province of Manitoba and their tenancies? My goodness galore! I lived in Nunavut and I never saw anything like this” she added.

On March 1, Napayok has paid $800 for the rent and $400 as a damage deposit for the apartment in Selkirk Avenue however she was told the apartment was not yet ready.

“So they moved us to a house on Valour Road which had no stove,” she pointed out.

Then Property 1 Management offered her a suite in a house at Pritchard Avenue.

She moved in on the 12th of April and the suite had mould, windows broken, dirty walls with holes, bathroom fixtures with cracks and leaks.

“This is horrendous. It’s like Halloween III,” Napayok said as she refers to the horror movie.

“I was expecting a nice fancy place for 800 bucks — like, proper running water and [a] proper door and clean house.”

Roger Seyforth, the owner of the Pritchard Avenue house told CBC News he’s paying Property 1 to manage his rental unit. Seyforth lives in British Columbia and had no idea someone was living in his unit.

The house was previously trashed by crack cocaine dealers and was evicted with the assistance of Manitoba Justice. “No one was going to go into that suite until we completed the repairs,” Seyforth mentioned. We’ve heard these types of stories all over Canada, especially in BC and in Ontario.

One of the Property 1 officials told CBC News that they are trying their best to help Napayok. The official said she chose the suite in Pritchard Avenue and did not pay the rent for April.

As of the moment the suite is under repair and Napayok is staying with friends. While we hear many landlords are leaving the market, in this case the tenant is planning to move back to Whale Cove by the end of the month.

The North End Tenant-Landlord Cooperation Program believes that Property 1 owes Napayok and has filed the papers with Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch to recover the $1,900.

To discuss this and other landlord issues go to the Manitoba Landlord Forum

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Winnipeg Low-Income Tenants Worry Over Renovations

Saturday, August 4th, 2012

August 3rd, 2012

LL’s Don’t Make Improvements, Tenants Complain.  LL’s Make Improvements and…

What’s the Story?

There is a large pro-growth revitalization project plan for buildings in Winnipeg’s West End.

Sounds Great!  The Area Could Use It. So What’s the Problem?

Some tenants in the area worry the revitalization will lead to higher rents and force them to move.

How Do They Explain That?

According to renter Laura Jones, after the improvements are done to her building she expects her rent to at least be 2x what she is paying now.

Jones has lived on Furby Street for twelve years. She said it’s already very tough for low-income people to find affordable housing in Winnipeg.

Doesn’t Manitoba Already Have Rent Control?

Yes. Rental building owners are able to raise rents if they make significant capital improvements.

What Do Landlords Say?

According to a property management association, if landlords can’t increase rents, landlords won’t be able to maintain and improve rentals. Tenants should understand this and support improving rental properties in the city. They only need to look at Ontario where rent increases are strictly controlled and renters complain about the quality of available rental housing all the time.

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Former Tenants of Winnipeg Landlords are Speaking Out

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

July 6th, 2012

 

What’s the Story?

A tenants who rented properties from tow Winnipeg landlords is now speaking out about what she claims were terrible conditions in her former rental property.

Any Details?

The former tenant, Joan Ross, states she rented a house located at 270 Tecumseh St. from Kulijinder and Navdeep Randhawa.  She says the own and manage more than 40 properties in Winnipeg.

And…

Ross says the house had many maintenance issues, including structural, plumbing and electrical problems.

Anything Else

Oh, she says the house also had bedbugs.

What’s Next?

Ross says even after calling the landlord “five and six time” nothing was fixed.

So Why Did She Move There and If Things Weren’t Fixed Why Not Move Out?

There was no comment on this.

Anything Else about Kulijinder and Navdeep Randhawa?

Yes.  A  second rental they own at 495 Dufferin St. was actually called “uninhabitable” by the Winnipeg and Manitoba officials.

One of the former tenants said the place has rotten floor board, a shoddy furnace, and a bad water heater.

Former Tenant Means He Also Moved Out?

Yes.

What Else Does Ross Have to Say?

Ross has now moved to a social housing co-op.  She is angry her last landlord is still in business, calling her a “slum landlord” who “takes advantage of people living on disability and on welfare.”

Who Don’t People on Disability or on Welfare Be More Careful of Where they Move To?

That is the subject for another post.

A bylaw officer for the city of Winnipeg bylaw officer stated the city is going to be more “proactive.”

 

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Winnipeg landlords accused of abruptly evicting family

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

July 10th, 2012

 

Two Winnipeg landlords who have been criticized over the condition of their inner-city properties are now accused of suddenly evicting a young family from their unit.

Sandy Bruce and Desiree Boyd told CBC News they and their two toddlers were ordered by Kulijinder Randhawa, their landlady, to leave their rental unit in the 400 block of Victor Street on May 27.

Bruce said the abrupt eviction came after he called Randhawa to complain about a leak in the ceiling from the upstairs bathroom.

“She phoned me back and said, ‘Get the hell out of my house,'” he said in an interview. “She’s like, ‘I’ll give you back your rent money, your damage deposit — get the hell out of my house.'”

Kulijinder and Navdeep Randhawa, who own more than 40 rental properties in Winnipeg’s inner city, have been the subject of recent complaints from several former tenants who say their units were run down and poorly maintained.

Bruce and Boyd said they had moved from Poplar River, Man., to Winnipeg for school. But not long after moving to their Victor Street rental property, they said they saw exposed light fixtures, shoddy flooring, and mice chewing through the walls and ceiling.

A week after they were evicted, Bruce said the landlords have refused to refund his June rent and damage deposit.

The family, who are temporarily staying with relatives, has filed a complaint against their former landlords with the provincial government. They will appear before the Residential Tenancies Branch on June 15.

“The city should, like, take their houses,” Bruce said. “It’s inhumane how they make people live in them.”

CBC News tried to contact the Randhawas on Monday. One of their phone numbers was no longer in service, and a woman who picked up at another number said Kulijinder was not available and Navdeep was out of town.

No one from the City of Winnipeg was available for comment, but officials told CBC News they have no record of the Victor Street house.

The Residential Tenancies Branch, which handles rental issues for the provincial government, said in a statement that tenants should check its online registry before renting a unit from someone.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/06/04/mb-landlords-victor-street-winnipeg.html

 

VIDEO LINK!

http://video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/landlords-accused-of-evicting-family/16aliimii?cpkey=cbcc2012-0406-1913-0015-224227179000||||

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