OLA in "L'EXPRESS" (Semaine du 15 mars au 21 mars 2011)

[Skitter]

Ok........since you are listening:

I think the concept is an interesting idea. You are capitalizing on the gross unfairness of the ontario residential tenancies act.

But I have some concerns.

The premium paid by the owner is based on the rent, for example a rent of $ 1,000 per month, it will pay $ 35, "says Martin Poirier

That is a HUGE premium to a small landlord. As said many times here, many small landlords (me included) actually have transfer money from my paycheck to my rental property account eveery month just to pay the bills for the rental. The rents dont cover the bills. ANOTHER $35 per $1000.00 is simply too much. Ido recognize you are runnng a business and must turn a reasonable profit, but I cant afford a $35 rent reduction on a $1000 monthly rent.



You require that:

-the landlord must have done a proper credit verification of a tenant before giving them the keys.
-Further, the credit verification cannot contain any blatantly obvious issues that would render them an undesirable candidate such as a recent bankruptcy, a very poor credit history, or a history of unpaid rent. -
-the landlord is required to perform a full tenant screening process via a recognized credit verification agency.
-The credit verification of the tenant cannot contain a bankruptcy in the last 7 years, or any history of unpaid rent.
-The rent of the unit cannot exceed 30% of the tenant(s) total household income before taxes.

The reality is if landlords actually DID the checks you require, there would be far fewer problems for landlords anyway. If I do the checks you require, I probably wont need your services. Again I understand you are running a business and must know the landlord has done their due diligence prior to renting to the tenant (otherwise you losses/payout would be huge)


Bottom line..........if I follow your requirements, I will seldom need your services and because I will seldom need your services (insurance), I cant justify paying the insurance fee.

Further to this, your requirements while sensible.......are actually in violation of the OHRC. Its housing policy states:

"landlords must only assess whether an applicant has enough income to pay the rent. They must not assess whether the balance of an applicant’s remaining income is adequate for non-housing related expenses.”

"Income information should be limited to confirming that the person has enough income to cover the rent. “
"You can only use income information to confirm the person has enough income to cover the rent. "

-unless we are providing govt subsidized rental accomodation (and almost non of us are), we are NOT allowed to use a rent to income ratio. We are also not allowed to view no credit as the same as bad credit.......and in fact.......under the OHRC, we may not even be allowed to reject a propsective tenant because tehy have bad credit.

If I follow your requirements to purchase your services, I may actually be violating the OHRC!!

Ontario is a screwed up world!

[helga]

2. The credit verification of the tenant cannot contain a bankruptcy in the last 7 years, or any history of unpaid rent.
3. The rent of the unit cannot exceed 30% of the tenant(s) total household income before taxes.

Don't both of these criteria run counter to the OHRC?
Generally, tenants that fulfill BuyMyRent's criteria are usually not trouble.
Very little risk, so I wouldn't bother insuring their rent.

[Marc]

I'm interested in the program.

Very little risk, so I wouldn't bother insuring their rent.

Isn't that the point to all insurance? You are a good driver and don't expect an accident. You have fire insurance and how many fires really take place? Getting a bad tenant is more frequent than totalling your car or having your house burned down.

[ColdFire]

Thanks for the detailed feedback Skitter.

I have deferred your legal comments over to our Chief Legal Officer for comment. In the meantime, we are retracting the 30% income ratio requirement until the Directors of the Board have had a chance to meet and review your points.

From a strictly non-expert/layman point of view and opinion (as I am not a lawyer), it seems that the OHRC was referring to the limits that are imposed on the landlord in the context of what criteria they can or cannot use to exclude a person from housing eligibility. Because BuyMyRent does not provide housing, our service may not be subject to those same standards. Nevertheless, we do not wish to seem discriminatory in our practice, which is why a review of this policy is pending.

Regardless, this is cold-comfort for those of us who are forced to accept the candidacy from a perspective tenant that clearly demonstrates a great deal of risk to a landlord. We certainly sympathize with those who are put in such a position. Our best advice would be to seek legal counsel if you are faced with the prospect of accepting a tenant that may have a bad credit history and clearly little income to afford the rent as well as other living expenses. (Regrettably, this suggestion imposes more costs on to you, I know.)

As for our costs, it may be possible for some landlords to pass-on the fee down to the tenant, and build it into the price of the rent. I do realize that many of you may already be pushing the limits on what you can charge for your units, or many of you may already have tenants in your units that would make this idea impossible at the moment due to rent increase limits, however, you may wish to consider it if you are planning on renting to a new tenant.

We do offer discounts on those who wish to purchase plans in bulk for multiple units. Please contact us directly if this is the case.

As I stated in my previous post, this service may not suit all of you, but we hope that it will provide most of you with an option that will help you control your unpredictable costs.