The terrible stories from Burnaby tenants keep rolling in.
I had just finished posting this blog about a Burnaby landlord trying alternative ways to get more money out of his tenant through a sneaky parking fee, when another wrote in about how COVID-19 was being used to avoid repairs.
Antonio wrote to me about his Burnaby landlord’s long history of not wanting to spend a penny on repairs.
“If it’s a small item like a stuck door, forget about it – it’ll never get fixed,” he said. “If it’s a more serious item, it will eventually get done, but only after months and months of begging and pleading.”
Sure, people will write in and say, “Well, why don’t you just move?”
Well, in this housing market, that isn’t an easy thing to do. The vacancy rate in Burnaby is not good and prices are hideously expensive. Many landlords know this, so they don’t feel a need to keep their tenants happy because people have few other options.
But now the COVID-19 pandemic has offered some landlords a chance to spend even less money on the homes they rent out.
Antonio said that now his Burnaby landlord is refusing to have any work done because it’s “not safe” due to the pandemic.
This includes dealing with a serious plumbing problem that can’t really wait. The landlord has told him that he'll just have to wait.
“I’m not buying it,” he said. “I think it’s just an excuse because it will cost money to do repairs.”
I do agree that people must be cautious during this time, but I’ve checked out several companies that do home repairs and they all say they have plans in place to get this kind of work done.
So I’m not buying it either.
Tenants pay good money to landlords and it’s up to them to ensure things are working properly in the homes they rent out. A pandemic doesn’t mean repairs – especially to something as important as plumbing – just stop.
This sounds like a way to just get out of having to spend some money.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
