While going through a separation, I purchased a home in the hopes of starting over. The plan was to move into my brand new home in September 2020. In the midst of the pandemic my husband (we were not divorced yet) fell ill last April and we soon found out he had stage 4 stomach cancer. The kids (daughters 20 and 17) and I took care of him, dropping him and picking him up at the hospital, though we couldn’t visit him at the hospital during COVID. At the same time my father passed away (May 21st, 2020) from Prostate cancer in another country, because of COVID I couldn’t attend his funeral. My husband ended up dying 3 months after his diagnosis. As you can imagine I was devastated after losing my dad and my husband in the span of 3 weeks.
I was getting ready to move into my new home, but the kids begged me to stay in their dad’s house for a year to grieve in peace. My place is 20 minutes outside of Ottawa, my daughter is in grade 12 so she wanted to remain at her high school in order to graduate with her friends.
So against my better judgement I decided to rent my house for one year, mainly out of convenience for my kids. I found this lovely lady (so I thought), although she told me her finances weren’t the best, she was working at the time. I soon found out that she left her work willingly as soon as she moved into my brand new house. Because of Covid I took possession of my house in November instead of September, so on November 12th I willingly gave her the keys to my brand new house, she moved in that same weekend.
1st month (December) – she paid me late because according to her, her account was frozen.
2nd month – (January) – She paid at the end of the month, she told me she had lost her job, due to a back problem. She said she’s trying to get EI, then emergency help.
3rd month (February) – No payment! When I contacted her work, the supervisor told me she left willingly 4 months ago which brings me to the month of November when she moved into the house. She told me her phone is not working. I got a lawyer involved.
4th month (March) – No payment! My lawyer started sending her N4’s for non payment, she chose not to answer any of our emails. She told me to stop contacting her as I was “harassing her”, that I couldn’t evict her due to COVID. I’ve made several attempts to communicate with her, asking her to call me so we can discuss a possible arrangement ( I have the emails in case you need them), she never called or made any attempts to make a payment plan.
5th month (April) No payment! Lawyer sent a proper form for eviction to LTB but because of the backlog I am facing at least 8 months before I get a response for a court hearing date. Tenant had presented me with a document from a rent bank program. I signed the document, she has not signed it, it’s been one month, I’ve come to the conclusion that she has no intention of paying me.
6th month (May) No payment – Waiting…
At the end of the lease she will owe me close to $20,000 (Imagine that! Having to lose this amount of money as a single mom). On top of that I am forced to pay lawyers fees as well. And let’s hope she will not destroy the house.
I must add that the house that I am living in currently is going up for sale next month, I have to find a place to live while waiting for a hearing date, the lease with my tenant will end in November, if she refuses to move out I will be homeless while she’s enjoying living for free in my brand new house. Doug Ford told us not to evict anyone during COVID, but there are professional renters who took his words literally, while they are not paying rent, they refuse to work and to cooperate with us. My tenant simply stopped any form of communication with me.
I am now a single mom, a grieving mom who is paying not only for this tenant, but also paying for my house, utilities, food, children etc… As a landlord I still have to keep up with my responsibilities if I don’t want to lose my house. This whole situation is causing me to have panic attacks and depression. It makes me so angry because I don’t know what else to do. This is my last attempt by going to the media. While the Government is shielding the tenants, us landlords have no help whatsoever!
This year was supposed to be a year for my kids and I to grieve in peace but it turned into a nightmare frankly. Where is the justice? Why is the government allowing these thieves to take advantage of the situation without repercussion? I hope to hear from someone because I am ready to go public with my story. There are countless landlords in my situation, the system is not working and we are at a breaking point. Please help us shed a light on our situation. I am at my breaking point!
“V” is a SOLO landlord with a Professional Tenant living in her brand new home near Ottawa, Ontario
