Do you wash your clothes in cold water?
If you do, then there is a Burnaby rental for you. For everyone else, you’re out of luck.
That’s the story shared by K.R., a Burnaby renter fed up with being lied to by her “illegal” landlord who operates suites without permission from the City of Burnaby.
Now she is warning others to be careful about renting a unit without doing your due diligence in several areas
“If you rent an illegal suite, you are at risk of having to vacate,” she said. “If the City receives complaints, they will come to the residence to do an inspection and, in all likelihood, all rental units will have to be disassembled and the City will force the landlords to give tenants an eviction. This isn't up to the landlord at that point. If the landlords ignore the City, the City can impose daily fines … When renting suites, always ask prospective landlords if they are legal/registered and ask for proof. Any landlord who does things on the up and up will have no problem providing you with that documentation. If they don't? Run. Don't walk - run. Do not even entertain the idea of renting from a landlord who cannot be honest.”
The lying continued when it came to the washing machine.
“I found out my hot water wasn't attached after moving in, and the landlord now refuses to connect it,” K.R. said.
“If parking is included in the rent but the parking spot provided to you is on the street, then the landlord cannot charge you for street parking and this actually has to be reduced from your rent. If you are being charged for parking in the rent, the landlord must provide you a parking space on the property - either on the driveway itself (front or back) a carport or garage, and give you a FOB if one is required to access the parking space.”
And when it came to the mail, K.R. said the landlord had the only key to the mailbox so she had to ask just to receive it.
“Locking tenants out of a mailbox is actually illegal. You can contact police if they do that and they can be fined and/or arrested. There is also a law applicable to this with Canada Post, and you can also file a complaint with them so that they can get involved as well.
“So many little things that I wish I would've thought of to ask, that I now regret not asking, and I hope that this saves someone from the trouble and stress that I've been having to deal with.”
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
