Looking for advice on whether to puruse legal action against former tenant

Do it regardless. People like this need to learn that it is NOT OK and will not get away with it.

jb10071 wrote: ↑ Hey everyone.. looking for some advice. Single family home in Barrie. Tenant stopped paying rent last year, owed 8 months then just moved out. They left junk and significant damage. Cleanup and rehab ran about 30k, owed rents were nearly 10k.

Skip tracing found the tenant living in family housing where 30% of the tenants income is taken. As of today I doubt there would be anything to collect from this tenant. Does it make sense to get the judgement filed or would this just be a waste of time? Or is there a better course of action here.. never had to deal with this before. Thanks for any advice!

In Ontario anything under $35K you can go to small claims court, anything over you go to the superior court. If you keep the amount to under $35K, I believe its relatively inexpensive to sue in small claims court. You can even DIY and don't need to hire a lawyer, although consulting with a lawyer/paralegal is probably a good idea so you do all the processes correctly.

After the judgement, you would then need to pursue different avenues for collection. You can probably research different ways and what they would all cost. As you mentioned though, at the end of the day you probably won't get much if anything.

rob444 wrote: ↑ In Ontario anything under $35K you can go to small claims court, anything over you go to the superior court. If you keep the amount to under $35K, I believe its relatively inexpensive to sue in small claims court. You can even DIY and don't need to hire a lawyer, although consulting with a lawyer/paralegal is probably a good idea so you do all the processes correctly.

After the judgement, you would then need to pursue different avenues for collection. You can probably research different ways and what they would all cost. As you mentioned though, at the end of the day you probably won't get much if anything.

Good points. I would have to keep it under 35k but it sounds like it would just I probably wouldn't get far away for collections. Thanks

I want to be a landlord!

Buy a house first.

Furcorn wrote: ↑ I want to be a landlord!

This thread should be called “So you wanna be a landlord in Ontario”.

Unless there are definite assets as there doesn't appear to be much income then it looks like you could simply be throwing good money after bad. Getting a judgement will take time and money. You should though research how long a judgement will remain effective as it could be useful should the situation with your previous tenant change.

jb10071 wrote: ↑ Hey everyone.. looking for some advice. Single family home in Barrie. Tenant stopped paying rent last year, owed 8 months then just moved out. They left junk and significant damage. Cleanup and rehab ran about 30k, owed rents were nearly 10k.

Skip tracing found the tenant living in family housing where 30% of the tenants income is taken. As of today I doubt there would be anything to collect from this tenant. Does it make sense to get the judgement filed or would this just be a waste of time? Or is there a better course of action here.. never had to deal with this before. Thanks for any advice!

That is the exact formula for subsidized housing (I'm a former social housing worker).
Guy is in government housing... He is unlikely to have any significant assets for you to seek out. Even if he does... He would be hiding them very well in order to get that government housing.

I say just write it off. But again... its only a $300 ish in fees + time off from work... So maybe $1000 in opportunity cost to slightly maybe get back that $30k.... Thats on the chance that someone living in poverty somehow has $30k on him... which i doubt.

BrokeMillennial wrote: ↑ Do it regardless. People like this need to learn that it is NOT OK and will not get away with it.

Easy to say when you're not paying the lawyer. While I agree with you, OP could end up spending even more money and not get anything coming back. Even if the judgement is in the OP's favor, that doesn't mean he's going to get paid. Just be happy they left. I'd probably look into doing other things.

I guess what you have to ask yourself is it worth your time, energy and funds? Litigation is so consuming emotionally and people tend to forget that part. I absolutely wish people could make an example out of these individuals but so much of the way things work is in their favour. I don't think this former tenant has anything to offer financially. Perhaps if they actually had funds it could make sense but it seems they may not really have much. You could ask a lawyer for advice, I feel that even if this tenant had the funds he/she is clearly hiding it and in low income housing so nothing for you to recover really. Sorry you had to go through all of this, I hope it does not taint your view to be a landlord again in the future.

OP , if it was just owed rent I would say to let it go but since he purposely trashed your house I say go through small claims just out of principle (if you have time and energy)...I'm with @BrokeMillennial

I'd say do it if there are reasons to do it other than getting the money back (which you are unlikely to). Don't discount those other reasons, though. For example, it may make you feel better/help you move on if a judge/justice agrees you have been wronged, and you probably don't need to pay a lawyer to get there.

If you think you have a strong case and you are okay with reading the laws and other legal procedure matters, you don't necessarily need a lawyer.

You can DIY.

A lawyer may not give you an impartial opinion as he or she has self interest in getting more clients/work

BrokeMillennial wrote: ↑ Do it regardless. People like this need to learn that it is NOT OK and will not get away with it.

I fully agree with this.

If you do nothing, the system will continue to run the way it does. Doing this drives home messages to people like this that they cannot get away with it scott-free. You also can't say for certain whether you'd recover money or not. Best case if you proceed is you're still awarded some damages.

40k?! Wow. Sorry this has happened to you, OP.

Another thread to leverage/remind my wife and I why we will only buy investment properties in the states.

Super_Chicken wrote: ↑ I fully agree with this.

If you do nothing, the system will continue to run the way it does. Doing this drives home messages to people like this that they cannot get away with it scott-free. You also can't say for certain whether you'd recover money or not. Best case if you proceed is you're still awarded some damages.

The system will still continue to run the way it has been. This is all by design.

JayLove06 wrote: ↑ The system will still continue to run the way it has been. This is all by design.

This isn't be design. This is an exception to the general population of renters.

If it was by design, every renter would be skipping out on rent and trashing the property.

LANDLORD TENANT BOARD:
I would just go to Landlord Tenant Board to get a judgment against 10k in rent. Straight forward case if rent was not paid. No real legal advice needed.
Of course they will not pay anyway, and you will need to find out the source of income and try to garnish it. This is enforced through small claims court, so extra paperwork and detective work on your part.

SMALL CLAIMS:
The full 30k for damages will be tough to obtain if they show up to court to defend it. Expect final judgement to be much, much smaller.
Remember that 30k was spent bringing your house from "used" condition to "new" condition. Which is not your loss.

CONCLUSION
See if you can garnish the income first though the easier method of Landlord Tenant Board and go to small claims only if recovery is possible

jb10071 wrote: ↑ Hey everyone.. looking for some advice. Single family home in Barrie. Tenant stopped paying rent last year, owed 8 months then just moved out. They left junk and significant damage. Cleanup and rehab ran about 30k, owed rents were nearly 10k.

Skip tracing found the tenant living in family housing where 30% of the tenants income is taken. As of today I doubt there would be anything to collect from this tenant. Does it make sense to get the judgement filed or would this just be a waste of time? Or is there a better course of action here.. never had to deal with this before. Thanks for any advice!

Sorry this has happened to you, OP. I just when through the whole ordeal of evicting a tenant after non- payment of rent for almost a year. They also left their junk in the house.
OP, my suggestion is to file in the small claims court. I am also planning to do it. Can I get some suggestions on how to find an ex-tenant's current address.