Landlord Woes

[Julianna]

Hi, folks.

This is way off-topic, but I thought I'd throw it out to you all incase someone has some insight/advice.

I'm currently renting studio space in an old warehouse, and the owner has recently sold the building. To cut a long story short, there was some missunderstanding/miscommunication, and the new landlord has two sets of post-dated cheques for rent from me---the set I had originally written for the former landlord, and the set I wrote for the new landlord. I've been trying to get one set of the cheques returned to me, but the new landlord has been completely unresponsive.

Aside from this, the washrooms aren't as well attended, and we no longer have access to the nearby parking lot (which is owned by a thrid party).

Unfortuneatly, none of this stuff is covered in the contract (yeah, I know I should have been more careful, but I had verbal agreements with the former landlord about most of this stuff), and the commercial tenants' act doesn't do much other than tell me that I can't withhold rent just because my landlord isn't holding up his end of the bargain.

So...before I plunge into the legal realm, does anyone have any suggestions? (Other than buying a house and working out of the back yard? ;))

Thanks.

J

[Araich]

You can selectively cancel a cheque by calling the bank with the cheque number... but I'm sure you're worried about upsetting the new owner. Do you have receipts for all those payments? The first set would surely be in a different name?

[Julianna]

The answer to all of the above is "yes" ;)

The bank charges $10 for each cancelled cheque, and I'm anxious about which set to cancel. Technically, I should be cancelling the set made out to the first landlord (and it is made out to a different name), but the new landlord has cashed the ones from the first set (i.e. not the ones made out to him).

I obviously want to have a friendly relationship with the new landlord, but he's not exactly helping out. I've talked to him in person about this, called him, and written two letters---and he's not signing for the second one (I sent it registered so I have proof I sent it).

....whatever happened to artists being able to, you know, just worry about their art?....

[Araich]

How long before your next rent is due, perhaps you can just let those be future rent...

[obseq]

Julianna,

Unless during the sale of the place from the old owner/landlord to the new owner/landlord, you were made to sign a new lease (which is rare), the new landlord must adhere to the terms of the original and current lease you signed.

The new owner/landlord cannot simply take away prior access (parking lot), unless this was a written and notarized stipulation during the sale of the building that was made clear to all parties, including the tennants.

The thing that makes little sense is why you even had to make two sets of checques. All funds should have been given to the original landlord and then transferred to the new one without having to involve you.

Furthermore, a landlord must furnish tennants with any and all reciepts requested. He is violating landlord/tennant agreement by not being cooperative, especially if there is any issue of him holding money that should be returned to you. Look in to the statute of limitations on your specific lease--Make sure you have a copy especially if the new landlord decided to make changes without your consent!!!!!

You have been clear that you would rather remain on good terms with the landlord but this sort of thng represent sufficient ground for you to end your lease.

Keep us posted and good luck!



P.S. Julianna, verbal agreements are also legally binding. As long as money was exchanged and there is some sort of record of this it should be as good as a written agreement/lease. I would suggest contacting your former landlord and having him sign something regarding the terms of agreement. See if s/he will contact the new landlord--The realtor handling the sale really should have mediated everything here. :mad: I'm sure you know this but get EVERYTHING signed, in writing with the new landlord, regardless.

[Julianna]

The new landlord has two post-dated cheques for each month until November. The former landlord had endorsed his cheques and given them to the new landlord---but this I learned from another tenant after I noticed that the wrong cheque was cashed. The problems with the two cheques is that I might not always have enough money to cover both in one month, and that at this point, I don't know wheter I want to stay past my lease.

The sale of the building happened very quickly... at least it seemed so on my end. One day I got a letter saying that we had a potential buyer, and that the sale may or may not go through. Aprox. a month later, I got a letter saying that the sale had gone through and that there were "no forseeable changes" and that I should make future payments to the new landlord unless I was contacted to do otherwise...and I haven't received any other communications from anyone since.

Basically, I found out about the changes from other tenants. And because I keep odd hours, I haven't been in touch with anyone in the past few days.

Contacting the realator is a good idea! And I'll definately be getting everything else in writing from now on. :( It's frustrating that the new landlord feels he can be so irresponsible.

[obseq]

Julianna,

I know from experience that this quickly becomes frustrating. I was a landlord while in college.

After your last post it is abundantly clear that the tennants were left out of the loop.Moreover, no self-respecting realtor would have executed the sale without a thorough examination of the existing leases--verbal OR written. All of you tennants should have been notified in every step. It seems that the new landlord thinks s/he has carte blanche to meander through the legalities of the situation.

My advice: Contact any of your neighbors to compare situations.

Collect any copies/receipts/documents connecting you to the residence. Create a short statement regarding the terms of your lease as you know it--take this to your old landlord and have them sign it either confirming the terms of the rental agreement/lease. Encourage your neighbrs to do the same.

Present this to the new landlord. Let them know that you have taken the appropriate steps during the transition in new ownership and that by law, you are entitled to the terms established in your original lease.

If the landlord is nonchalant about it, contact the realtor--they should be mediating this, not you.

All this is likely to be effective if you and your neighbors can provide one large complaint.

The new landlord doesn't seem to know what they got themselves into...Just be polite, assertive, and pretend like you know landlord/tennant law like the back of your hand :) Don't get pushed around--they are wrong here.

Good luck!

[Julianna]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and support! I've chatted with some of the other neighbours, and the general agreement is that the new landlord is neither responsible nor overly trustworthy.

For the longer term, I'm going to work with another tenant to organize some sort of tenant meeting about this. In the meantime, I'm going to call a few lawyers and make sure the whole rent thing is being handled to the best of my advantage.

I'll keep you posted....

[jwebb]

"KILL yo' landlord.".....just kidding. Please don't censor or kick me off the site. That's just an old quote from a Saturday Night Live skit. Seems appropriate though.

[kestonh]

That's right!

I'm gonna kill my landlord! I'm gonna C-I-L-L my landlord!

[sculptor]

That's right!

I'm gonna kill my landlord! I'm gonna C-I-L-L my landlord!

....she said while giggling nervously as she sharpened her hatched to a razer fine edge.........and contemplating the lyrics to a new melody concerning murder and mayhem.

or...
..wild guess.....your new landlord is feeling a tad overwhelmed by his/her growing responsibilities and cash crunch and is numbed out from anxiety and sensory overload------safe? maybe, maybe not....
....keep good records so you can negotiate from the strength of assured position.......should that become necessary....

and/or,
after I've honed my cutting tools I like to retouch the edge with jewlers rouge or a #4 arkansas oil stone

keep a good thought

[Julianna]

Teehee. Thanks for the uplift! You're all great!

On a more serious note though, I'm trying to put together a proper timeline and organize the scant documents I have (all...five? of them). Yesterday, I called some local law offices (they took messages and said they'd return my call) and the Artists' Legal Advice Service in Toronto (for reference, the number is (416) 347-2527) and left a message there too. So now I have to wait for someone to decide to call me.

All this hassle makes me realize why the sculptors I met last year were all trying to convince me to get a house in the country.... :p

[ironman]

Hi Julianna, YES, definitely a house in the country is the way to go and with some acreage if you can afford it. I have 5 acres, 2 1/2 miles from town and on a main road. I'm slowly filling it with sculpture. I've turned it into a gallery and every so often I get a sale. Jeff

[Julianna]

So it seems that laywers don't really do much in the way of this kind of situation. Most of them are more concerned with things like ending leases. I got a call back from someone—he seemed like a good guy, and said he would need to review the paperwork and situation in more detail... but his rate is $80 for the first half hour...ouch.

The good news is the landlord finally signed for the registered letter yesterday (I got the notification today), so I know he got the letter. At least I have that if it ever comes back that he couldn't cash the cheque.

Basically, it'll cost me less to cancel a set of the outstanding cheques and start looking for another studio than to take this into the legal realm. It's a shame though. :(

I probably don't qualify for a morgage or whatever I might need to setup in a house. It's awfully tempting to start looking for a bungalow in the middle of nowhere though. Maybe in a year or two when I'm not a high risk case for those banks.

[Julianna]

Good news!

I called my landlord today, and he said he was already on his way to the building. He visited me and we got things resolved. :) He had all of the uncashed cheques, and I was able to get one set returned. He basically appologized for being unavailable, and I thanked him for finding the time to take care of things.

Ah. All is good again. Now I don't have to worry about looking for another place! At least this was an incentive for me to chat with my neighbours! And, hey, I can get back to sculpting without this cloud over my head...which was the whole point in the first place, nes pas?

[obseq]

Julianna,


Glad to hear things were basically resolved relatively painlessly. You're luckier than most in this regard :p


Will you still have access to everything that you did under your prior landlord?

[Julianna]

Yes, it took a while, but things are finally returning to a happier status.

The washrooms are now properly stocked (we went a week without toillet paper a while back! most of us had to bring our own), but are still waiting for regular mopping.

I found out more about the whole parking lot situation. It sounds like there has been some misunderstanding with all of the he-said/she-said, and the actual situation is that the owner of the parking lot refused to either sell it to the previous landlord or allow the new one to rent it. The parking lot owner has been called greedy by more than one of my neighbours, because he's decided he would rather rent out a parking spot for $50 a pop than rent the lot in bulk. The gravel around our building is supposed to be paved and have lines marked for parking spots, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm expecting to need to rally my neighbours in the fall if it doesn't happen by then, because the snow will make parking on the gravel tough for those of us who don't have SUVs!

And now I'm preparing to negotiate some kind of thorough contract with this new landlord when my other one terminates, because he hasn't exactly shown himself to be too reliable. I guess I should really get away from the computer and finish some more sculptures so I can think about getting a house in the country ;)