Credit checks critical in vetting tenants
Landlord says she was too trusting and ended up with a bad tenant
Oct 8, 2011
Page CL.6
"The person I spoke to said she made $62,000 a year," says [Stoymenoff], who acknowledges she should have done a credit check.
"My questions always have been, 'Do they have a secure job and what is their income?' She came through with flying colours and both her references said she was a very trustworthy, good person."
Stoymenoff also didn't realize until the tenant was evicted that she had been renting out rooms in the house to other people and the property had fallen into disrepair.
She gouged out the doors and frames to install hinge locks with padlocks in the dining room and all three bedrooms.
Finally, in March the tenant was ordered by the Landlord Tenant Board to pay $3,400 and to start paying monthly rent.
She paid the $3,400 and one month's rent of $1,750. In June, an order was issued to pay the full amount and Stoymenoff received $5,000.
[Shirley] was finally evicted in August, nine months after the first application was filed, owing $13,820 in unpaid rent and more than $3,000 in unpaid utility bills. Add on legal fees and the repairs required for the house and she is out more than $28,000.
"The registrar told me 'we know her' and the sheriff's office knew her, too. The police have also told me they're investigating her for fraud," Stoymenoff says.
