Tenant Verification Services provides landlords and property managers with a variety of screening options. Select a market to sign up or learn more.
A tenant from hell recently was evicted. Now, she's looking for another rental home. Will it be yours? An 81-year-old Ontario landlord had to battle for months to evict a deadbeat tenant for failing to pay rent. After an initial LTB order to evict, the tenant abused...
Is your rental applicant telling you the whole story? A tenant credit check is a simple way to verify the applicant's qualifications and gain peace of mind. At the same time, it's an easy way to flag an applicant who is twisting the facts or holding back pertinent...
You asked your attorney to review your tenancy agreement before you provided it to your tenants. But your attorney isn't there to supervise the signing of the agreement. No matter how strong the language of the lease may be, simple mistakes in executing it can cause...
British Columbia has passed legislation that allows strata corporations to increase fines on short-term rentals such as those secured through Airbnb. Currently, strata associations can adopt bylaws prohibiting or restricting short-term rentals and enforce a fine of up...
If you are a savvy landlord, you asked your attorney to review your lease agreement before you handed it off to your tenants. However, it seldom happens that the attorney is present when it comes time to sign that agreement. No matter how ironclad the language of the...
Landlords in Bowling Green, Ohio are suing the city over its limitation on renting to more than three unrelated tenants regardless of the size of the property. There are no such occupancy limits on families. Landlords claim the ordinance violates their constitutional...
Seattle landlords are battling the city's new moratorium on using rental platforms that allow tenants to bid on rent. The move to ban the use of the websites is ironic given Seattle's reputation as the "new center" of the tech boom. Local lawmakers specifically...
A scammer recently victimized several people by stealing the "self-show" lock codes on at least two vacant rental properties, advertising them on Craigslist for far below market rent, and then enticing the eager rental applicants into wiring him money. Now, the...
In a tight rental market, landlords might not be thinking about how best to fill vacancies. After all, there are applicants standing in line. But that's the problem: too many applicants makes it more difficult to weed out the unqualified ones, and a tight market means...
It's official: recreational marijuana is coming to Canada October 17th. What that means for landlords remains unclear. The federal government has given the provincial governments the task of deciding how recreational marijuana will be regulated within the federal...
The Ontario rent increase guideline for 2019 is 1.8%. The figure represents the maximum a landlord can increase rent throughout 2019 without applying to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an above-guideline increase. The 1.8% figure is the same as the 2018 guideline,...
Repairs are an inevitable expense for every rental property owner. But that doesn't mean landlords can't enlist some strategies to keep those costs to a minimum: Understand Your Property's Personality Every property should have a routine maintenance schedule....
Tenants who suddenly vanish -- whether to avoid an eviction or because they simply wanted to move on -- create a plethora of problems for landlords. A lease agreement passes the right of possession of the property to the tenant. That's a legal right. The landlord...
A landlord in Alabama is facing a legal battle after refusing to rent a three-bedroom, single-family home to a mother with three children. The case highlights the need for landlords to understand today's rules regarding occupancy limits. These discrimination lawsuits...
While occupancy remains high across the country, rent growth has cooled, according to a mid-year rental market report from real estate technology and analytics firm RealPage. According to figures released by the company last week, the average rent increase currently...
The federal government announced that it issued pre-penalty notices to several landlords for lead-based paint hazards last month. These landlords face significant penalties unless an acceptable settlement is reached. The warnings were issued in conjunction with...
Heard any scary tenant stories lately? While nightmare tenancies are rare, each time one occurs it sends shock waves throughout the landlord community. No one can completely prevent tenants from hell -- and the blame rests solely with the bad tenant -- but there do...
According to a recent news report, there has been a marked increase in the number of privacy complaints filed by tenants against landlords. One major issue centers around tenant screening. Canadians landlords are subject to the requirements of the Personal Information...
A grassroots tenant advocacy group based in Calgary is demanding rent control measures in Alberta. The group has initiated a petition drive which so far has netted around 2,000 signatures, according to its website. Currently, Alberta landlords are free to raise rent...
Landscaping around a rental property improves curb appeal, attracts good tenants, and increases the property value. However, it has a downside. Done badly, landscaping can increase landlord liability: Landscaping attracts pests. Bringing a little nature to the...
