A man standing trial in Calgary, accused of beating his roommate and then leaving him near death at a Regina hospital, used a fake identity to secure an apartment lease.
The landlord, who testified last week at the tenant’s trial, said he did not run a background check before renting an apartment to Dustin Paxton, who police say is a violent criminal who may have attacked others.
In his testimony, reported by the Calgary Herald, the landlord indicated that he felt comfortable with Paxton, and did not feel compelled to run a tenant background check.
He discovered later that Paxton gave a false name–that of his alleged victim, when leasing the apartment, according to the report.
The landlord also testified that while Paxton was a tenant, he did have to respond to a couple of noise complaints, including loud thumping noises overheard by a downstairs tenant. In response to the noise complaints, the landlord told the court that Paxton was responsive and promised it would never happen again.
Paxton is currently on trial for beating, starving and imprisoning his former roommate. He denies the accusations and claims the man was in his care. The landlord testified that he did not see or meet the alleged victim.
This post is provided by Tenant Verification Service, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening, Tenant Background Checks, (U.S. and Canada), as well as Criminal Background Checks, and Eviction Reports (U.S. only).
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
