Garbage flung from Kipling highrise creates ‘a landfill site, minus the seagulls’ http://t.co/kYNEYJgLQD via @torontostar #Torontorentals
— Landlord Relief (@LandlordRelief) May 14, 2015
The Toronto Star article referenced in the above tweet is a reminder of the principle that:
“If the landlord doesn’t respect the property then the tenants won’t respect the property”.
This means that if you want your tenants to respect the property, you as the landlord should demonstrate respect for the property. Remember also that the value of a rental property (unless it is also a single family home) is proportional to the amount of the rents. The amount of the rent is proportional to (among other things including accessibility to public transit) the “quality of life” in the building. The key to successful landlording is attracting and retaining good tenants. Tenant turnover is very costly for landlords. All small landlords should review the principles for finding and selecting good residential tenants.
Excerpts from the Star article (and a message for Toronto landlords) includes:
The clean-up blitz is part of the city’s Multi-Residential Apartment Building audit program, or MRAB, which inspects and enforces building standards at rental properties. On April 30, MLS inspectors issued the landlord a notice of a bylaw violation ordering him to clean up the site. When he didn’t, the city hired the crews to perform “remedial action.”
Although the tenants may be the ones tossing their garbage, Mark Sraga, director of investigation services for MLS, says the property owner is ultimately responsible. “We have a landlord who doesn’t look after their property properly, and the tenants get to a point of, ‘If you don’t care, we don’t care,’” he said.
The landlord will be sent the bill for the cleanup. Sraga couldn’t say how much the operation would cost, but said this is the biggest “remedial action” carried out since MRAB began in 2008. A similar, smaller job last fall came out to about $30,000.
“This is an example of us trying to communicate to the property owners: If you don’t look out for your property, we the city will do it for you, and you’re going to pay for it,” he said.
For Toronto landlords, the message is:
The landlord is responsible for the actions of the tenants. Therefore, landlords should choose their tenants carefully!