Unfortunately it’s normal for a landlord (or a slumlord in your case) to have keys to tenents apartments.
You said you’re a student. Is there a legal aid office on campus? A lot of campuses have those for students that need legal advice. I’d look into it.
I don’t know about Canada, but in the U.S. it is very illegal for a landlord to enter your apartment without your permission. However, if you’ve asked for something to be fixed, they’re allowed to enter, even if you’re not there. That’s what I was told when I came home and discovered my landlord had been in my apartment and called to complain.
Kudos to you for taking in the girls, and with you being so young yourself. You’ve taken on a mighty big load and there is absolutely NO shame in asking for help. Don’t forget that.
I am trying to keep records of everything. But for some reason i’m missing some pretty importamt papers. Perhaps I should hide everything in a differnt place. Everyone else is trying to stop me from doing what i am about to do, with the whole rental board thing. But i am so going to send a fax in the morning, and i’ll also let them know that i want everything in writing. I don’t this right now. grrr stupid exams
Sounds like the creep has already snooped, and taken papers from you. Get to legal aid, have the lawyer take a look at your apartment, that should help “make your case” and prove you are not exaggerating. Count your panties, clean and dirty etc. too.
Poetchick - I think your sister should be getting her Family Allowance cheques forwarded to you - I assume they’re still going to your mom - you should make arrangements to have this changed. (It’s probably about $75/month at this point - it was $48 when I was 13 which is a LOOONG time ago.)
It will help out a bit. Secondly, can you or your sister get a part time job to help with extra funds? I’m not sure if you’re allowed while receiveing social assistance, but your sister certainly could.
Any steps you can take to move out of this place are good ones.
** lezlers ** , i know a landlord should have my keys, but see, he doesn’t have they keys for the aprament with men living in it, only for mine, the all girl place. Yes, I am a student, but, its at a highschool. I don’t think they care much.
Also, alice_in_wonderland , i am not too sure what you mean by family allowance, but there is the child tax benefit. Only, in order for me to recive this, I think my mom has to give up all rights. Further more, it would be subracted from my wlefare check, so i would not be any further ahead. But I am pretty sure my mom is still getting money for mym sister, even though she is not living at home anymore. That is very much agianst the law, but hey, there ya go. Also about the part time job thing, I am trying to get a job, it is just hard to do so. Right now a lot of people who are better quailfed than me are also out of work, and one would assume they would get a job before me. My sister did have a part time job briefly, but anything she took the money and spent on herself.
oh. I thought you were a college student. I bet if you visited a college campus they’d have one though. It’s worth checking out at least. And yeah, it’s weird that he doesn’t have the key to the other apartments, but it’s not illegal. Maybe you could change the locks and just “forget” to tell him? Then, you’ll know exactly when he tried to enter your apartment without your permission and you can record it. If he asks you why, you could just tell him that you noticed someone had been in your apartment awhile back, and shuffled through your things. It made you feel unsafe so you changed the locks. Then he’d have to admit to being in your apartment without your permission as well.
I came home the other day and my front door was ajar. My landlord and myself are the only people that have keys to my apartment (I got my key back from my X but he’s still a “suspect” in my mind because of other little things i’ve discovered), and I NEVER forget to lock and shut my door. They’re doing foundation work to the house, so who knows who was in my apartment. Nothing was missing, but I felt violated nonetheless. Thank goddess my indoor cat was still there.
Anyways, I went down to Home Depot and bought new locks that night. I changed them and haven’t given my landlord new keys. I’ll wait until he asks, then I’ll know if he tried to enter my apartment without permission, as I haven’t asked him to fix anything. If he asks, I’ll tell him that I came home and my front door was ajar.
I suggest changing your locks immediately. It’s quite easy to do, it took me about 20 minutes. Do it today.
This may sound strange, but have you considered buying your own place? You may not be able to afford much more than you have now, but all the time and effort you put into fixing it up will pay off to youwhen you sell it (instead of paying off for your landlord). Especially with interest rates the way they are right now…
It may be that you won’t be able to afford to buy, but you’ll never know until you sit down with a banker (or several bankers, if the first one won’t work with you) and a real estate agent. When I bought my first place, many people told me that I was crazy and there was no way I’d be able to buy a home at my age and on my income - I lived there for 9 years and just sold that sucker for a $15,000 profit and purchased my second home for 2 1/2 times what I sold the first one for.
When I bought my first place, I went through 5 or 6 real estate agents before I found the right one. She cared about getting me the right place, helped me find better financing than I’d been about to find myself, and took care of all kinds of little details that would have stopped me in my tracks. She did it again when I bought the place I’m in now.
If this would be of interest to you, please let me know (in this thread - I haven’t been checking my email since I just moved). I learned a lot when I bought my first home at the age of 21 and would be happy to share with you. The most important thing I’ll tell you right now is not to sign anything (such as an exclusive contract with a realtor - you may need to try several to find the right one) or give anyone any upfront money until you’ve decided exactly what you want to do and mapped out a plan for how to do it. You don’t want to be giving a bank $50 to run your credit report, then deciding later you’d rather be with a different bank, etc etc.
One more thing - I had more than one realtor tell me to call them back after I’d saved $3000 or so for a down payment - bullcrap. I bought my first home with $0 down. You just need to decide if it is the right thing to do for you and your family, then find the right players for your team to help you make it happen. Good luck!
Don’t forget to take photographs of the problems in your place, especially the wiring. That sounds like a serious fire hazard, and should probably be reported to whatever authorities are responsible for code standards for electrical wiring.
Good luck, and I hope you can find some help. And like lezlers said, CHANGE YOUR LOCKS. Only takes a few minutes!
IANAL and this is just a WAG, but is there something in tenancy law saying that the landlord HAS to maintain the apartment in livable condition? I expect that big gaping holes in the walls and ceiling, unsafe wiring, and stuff like that would be a MAJOR violation. Please check with a tenancy lawyer on this idea (and ask for better ones, too), I think you might be able to withhold rent to pay for making the repairs. YMMV.
Good luck. And find some local support services, especially community legal aid.
Firstly, I would like to say thanx for everyone’s replies.
It means alot to me to have people respond to what I have to say. Also, I handed in my housing application today, but the min. waiting time for a two bedroom is 6-8 months. And it may not even be in the area i would like.
anyways, ** sperfur ** that does sound kinda strange, i mean buying my own place, but interresting. I just don’t know how I would be able to do so however. Plus, I may move to a larger town in a few years, I wouldn’t want to be tied down, but than agian it would be nice to have a house. lezlers , i have thought about changing the locks for serverl reasons, one being that he once broke in, claiming that he did not know anyone lived here, when he did that he screwed my poor door handle. Now my door lock is kinda sticky, like it won’t work all the time.
hmmm it is a good idea to take some picutres of the problems, I just wish I took some picutres when I first found the place , so i would have proof of how much i all ready put into this place.
I’m not sure if i want to withhold rent, It could screw up my chances to get into housing.
He broke in because he didn’t know anyone was living there?
The fuck?
He’s the landlord right? Didn’t he rent the place out to you?
This all sounds WAY creepy and not at all right. Get thee to a lawyer, straightaway. There are some out there that will do pro bono work.
If he fucked up the lock, replacing it might fix it. He probably twisted something, disengage the lock, take off the screws and check it out. You might have to pry a piece or two out but you should still be able to replace it.
If not, call a locksmith and send the bill to the landlord.
An application to the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal costs $45 and can order the landlord to: (1) do the repairs (2) reimburse you for doing the repair yourself (3) refund some of your rent for the time the repairs were not done (4) let you move out without giving proper notice. Often times the lanlord will comply with your requests (as they did in my situation) before your case goes to Tribunal.
My advice is to build your case now. Take picutes of aforementioned defects, take statements from other tenants, and show that you’ve performed your due diligence by sending evil landlord a registered letter detailing what repairs are needed.
He came in yeterday to fix my kitchen, agian. I had to leave but appeartly he chatted with my sis. He told her that “I have a bad attuide”, that “shit happens” and that “I need to get into the real world” . What an ass. Also, on my housing app. he basiclly said that I was a bad tennet. :rolleyes: whatever
However, my sister agrees with him, so now she thinks that i am a bitch and that my landlord is the greatest thign like ever.
glah
The only circumstances in which your landlord may enter your suite without written notice are, a) in case of emergency, b) if your rental agreement requires him to clean your place at regular intervals (which sounds unlikely,) or c) if you’ve already agreed to terminate your agreement, he needs to show the suite, and he’s made a reasonable attempt to give you notice.
You should also be aware that changing the locks will put you in violation of the act:
I’m sure that if you give it a good pickover, you’ll find plenty of ammunition in it. Your landlord sounds like a real prince.
Don’t really have much to say for advice, but I wanted to say that I admire you for taking on such a heavy burdon at such a young age, caring for others who really need it, and have a wonderful attitude about “other folks needing help more.” You’ll go far. Which doesn’t help much now, I know.
It sounds like you’re doing all the right things: looking for another place, looking for additional financial support, fixing what you can by yourself or with your father. Hang in there. You’re taking steps to make things better, and they will get there. It hasn’t really come up, but be sure to finish your schooling.
lezlers, I’m not saying she shouldn’t change the locks, only that she should be aware of the law.
If she just wants to be sure no-one is rifling through her drawers until she can find a less fucked-up place to stay, it’s probably a good option. If, on the other hand, she wants look towards a possible arbitration process, conforming to the letter of the law is a good idea. Scummy landlords also tend to be lying bastards-- without adequate documentation of the landlord’s transgressions, he could easily make up some ridiculous story that makes him the wronged party. “I noticed suspiscious smells, and suspected these horrible, untrustworthy youths were operating a clandestine meth lab on my property. They’ve illegally locked me out of it, and I want them all out on their ass as soon as possible so I can get some less cranky, bigger-titte-- err, more responsible tenants in.”
I don’t know what they’re called in Canada but in the US that’s a “firetrap” and a very dangerous one to boot… Most municipalities have an electrical code and your OP has at least half a dozen violations. I don’t want to alarm you but it’s a very hazardous situation.
No worries, lezlers– clearly my sarcarsm-detector needs recalibrating. (Besides, with hindsight I thought my post needed a little clarification there, anyway.)
Get to legal aid, have the lawyer take a look at your apartment, that should help “make your case” and prove you are not exaggerating. Count your panties, clean and dirty etc. too. 