She’s Gone!

I sit here typing this blog feeling numb. Reality hasn’t truly set in yet. She was in my life for 14 months. Will I miss her? No, absolutely not! Will I forget her? Unfortunately, she’s left a lasting impression on me that has left me scarred with trust issues. I, of course, am talking about my broke tenant. Or should I say ex tenant.

I have been a landlord for 2 years now. I came into this process excited to make extra cash. I was already doing very well for myself and wanted the extra money to buy and rent out more houses. It was a foolproof plan, or so I thought. I should’ve done my due diligence and educated myself on the laws in Ontario. The rights tenants have, and how difficult it is to evict someone who isn’t paying rent. At the very least, I should have screened my potential tenant candidates much better than I did. That is now all in the past and what’s done is done.

Let me tell you a little about my broke tenant. She’s your typical middle aged woman with a victim attitude. Meaning she’s never wrong, there’s always an excuse, and any mistake she makes are not her fault. I hate people who take no accountability, and always try to find a way to twist any situation they’re in. So my tenant was a single mom, working 27 hours a week. She was collecting alimony, and had 2 children under the age of 18, which means she had child support coming in. She quit her job 5 months into her tenancy, and proceeded to miss rent for that month, her new job was a contracted job providing her with 27 hours a week. She told me she could pick up extra hours if she wanted to, but chose to keep working part time and struggling to pay her bills. Her financial literacy was lacking very much. Imagine struggling to pay rent and then deciding to move into a more expensive rental. It sounds pretty dumb, right? Well, that’s exactly what she did after finally leaving my place. She wanted to have her cake and eat it too. The area my home is in is a pretty expensive location. When you don’t have the luxury of money, you need to compromise and move into a cheaper, more affordable place. My ex tenant had a different mindset. She doubled down and only looked for homes in my area. So, after not affording rent at my place, I am happy to announce she found a more expensive home to live in. When she starts to miss rent, naturally it won’t be her fault, she’ll have an excuse ready.

I really thought being kind and understanding would be the best way to go. But that’s not how you run a business. You can’t be weak, you can’t hesitate, you can’t empathize because everyone has problems. As a landlord, you need to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of. Now I am mad, I’m pissed off. When I look back at the last year and all the additional stress I had to put up with because of my broke tenant, I end up shaking my head. I would’ve started the evication process back in November 2023 if I wasn’t trying to buy another house at the time. I hate everything I had to put up with over the last 14 months. It almost ruined my outlook on being a landlord.

I’m exhausted right now. I’m feeling indifferent about the whole situation. I am happy she’s gone, but at the same time I am not looking forward to renting out my place again. To all future landlords out there, be careful because when you’re stuck with a broke tenant it’s next to impossible to remove them. A cash for keys deal is the only way to go to expedite the process. Here’s an article of a poor landlord in Ontario who has spent years trying to evict his tenant. https://globalnews.ca/news/10688780/toronto-condo-doesnt-pay-rent-cant-evict/