Tony moved out from his mom’s place a long time ago, but is seriously considering going back to escape his terrible Burnaby landlord.
“That tells you how desperate I am,” the renter told me.
The Heights resident recently was given notice that the landlord would be raising the rent, which is now allowed after a long freeze from the provincial government.
Tony is fine with the rent being raised except that it was issued while the basement is currently without any hot water.
There is water, but it’s lukewarm at best, leading to pretty cold showers and an inability to wash his dishes properly.
"Imagine handing your tenant a rent hike during a major plumbing crisis," Tony said.
The landlord knows this is a problem in the house, but has been trying to fix the plumbing himself even though he has no idea what he’s doing.
“The guy told me he went to Home Depot after watching some YouTube videos,” Tony said. “He thinks he can fix the problem to get the water hot again but it’s been 10 days now and this is unacceptable. My landlord is cheap, cheap, cheap. He just doesn’t want to pay for a plumber. This has been a constant throughout my tenancy. Anytime there is a problem that needs fixing he tries to do it himself. He ends up doing a half-fix that only lasts a few weeks or months. And then it flares up again.”
The Residential Tenancy Act sets out clear rules for the care and maintenance of a rental home. Tony’s lease is also clear about there being working plumbing in the house.
Landlords needs to remember that the job entails more than just collecting rent. Many of these old Burnaby houses have constant problems with their electrical and plumbing and so landlords must be prepared to spend some money to fix them.
I get that they haven’t been able to raise the rents, but that doesn’t mean you can just ignore fixing problems like no hot water.
“I have threatened to withhold the rent until he fixes my hot water,” he said. “Hopefully that will get his attention.”
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
