Editor:
Re: Burnaby landlord from hell banned baths and kids who ‘laugh too much’, NOW News
I read this article and it resonated with me because my landlord here in Burnaby does similar things.
Like the one in the story, my landlord shows up unannounced with all sorts of lame reasons why they need to come into my basement suite. They range from “concerns” about water pressure to wanting to “check” about a noise they think is coming from the heating system.
What it is all really about is to snoop around my suite because she’s obsessed with cleanliness. She warned me before I moved in that I need to keep the suite clean at all times, whatever that means. It’s none of her business if I’m messy or not (I’m not) as long as I am not damaging anything.
She’s always watching me when I come and go and asks questions if I’m bringing bags or boxes into the house. It’s none of her business.
Questions are one thing but a landlord can’t just show up unannounced and expect to come into a renter’s home unless there is something urgent like smoke. Landlords need to give written notice and so I have clamped down on this and am now refusing to let her into my home unless I receive that notice.
This has antagonized my landlord now and I worry about what might happen next, but tenants must draw a line in the sand and stand up for their rights.
L. Johnson, Burnaby
