Real Estate

Tenant not fixing damage to property - Need Help!

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  • Jul 13th, 2021 2:18 am
Deal Addict
Apr 4, 2017
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Tenant not fixing damage to property - Need Help!

Hi RFD,

My SIL owns a home that she rents. About 6 months ago, her tenant drove into and cracked her garage door (about a 1m crack in length). He said he was going to fix it and admitted fault. It's been 6 months and he still hasn't fixed it. We have sent many emails and have talked to him many times. He keeps saying he will do it later.

Other than going to small claims court, what can we do? Is there any way we can resolve this issue without going to court? We have been very patient and do not want to cause any further issues. All we want is the garage door to be fixed.

Thank you.

Location: Pickering
Last edited by IHavocI on Jul 12th, 2021 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
8 replies
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Mar 23, 2008
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IHavocI wrote: Hi RFD,

My SIL owns a hone that she rents. About 6 months ago, her tenant drove into and cracked her garage door (about a 1m crack in length). He said he was going to fix it and admitted fault. It's been 6 months and he still hasn't fixed it. We have sent many emails and have talked to him in multiple occasions. He keeps saying he will do it later.

Other than going to small claims court, what can we do? Is there any way we can resolve this issue without going to court?

Thank you.
Since it was an auto accident, I think you should have contacted his auto insurance company directly. Or your SIL could talk to her home insurance company and see if it's covered and whether they'll go after the tenant instead of charging her a deductible and increasing her insurance. She also has the option of going to the LTB (assuming he's still a tenant), and getting them to issue a judgement against him, which can then be enforced.

But in general, if someone doesn't want to pay you money that you think they owe you, your only real recourse is the courts. In this case, either the LTB or Small Claims. Until you get a judgement against them, you have no way of making them pay you. Why do you want to avoid the courts?

C
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Apr 4, 2017
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CNeufeld wrote: Since it was an auto accident, I think you should have contacted his auto insurance company directly. Or your SIL could talk to her home insurance company and see if it's covered and whether they'll go after the tenant instead of charging her a deductible and increasing her insurance. She also has the option of going to the LTB (assuming he's still a tenant), and getting them to issue a judgement against him, which can then be enforced.

But in general, if someone doesn't want to pay you money that you think they owe you, your only real recourse is the courts. In this case, either the LTB or Small Claims. Until you get a judgement against them, you have no way of making them pay you. Why do you want to avoid the courts?

C
We're worried they might make things difficult in the future, like not paying rent.
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IHavocI wrote: We're worried they might make things difficult in the future, like not paying rent.
There's literally no option that allows your SIL to collect the money from the tenant without hard feelings from the tenant besides going through your SIL's insurance policy (if they'll pay without going after the tenant). I have no idea if that will be covered by her insurance or not. She did tell her insurer that it's a rental, right? And then she'll still be paying for increased insurance in the future.

Frankly, I think it's time for your SIL to "man up" and force the issue. If the tenant stops paying rent, then you can evict and go after them for damages AND not paying rent. But bending over for bad tenants isn't a good business model.

C
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IHavocI wrote: Hi RFD,

My SIL owns a home that she rents. About 6 months ago, her tenant drove into and cracked her garage door (about a 1m crack in length). He said he was going to fix it and admitted fault. It's been 6 months and he still hasn't fixed it. We have sent many emails and have talked to him many times. He keeps saying he will do it later.

Other than going to small claims court, what can we do? Is there any way we can resolve this issue without going to court? We have been very patient and do not want to cause any further issues. All we want is the garage door to be fixed.

Thank you.

Location: Pickering
Sorry to say but this was an awful idea right from the beginning. Do you really want this guy "fixing" the home?? Even if he did it, imagine the half-assed DIY job he would do, or perhaps he would hire the cheapest contractor he could find on kijiji.

Your SIL should have gone through insurance immediately, and not even given him the option to fix. I don't know if there's a time limit for this kind of thing, but she may want to still try this route. Ask him for his insurance info, else you can provide his basic details (name, license plate, address, etc) and I'm sure her insurance company can easily find who he's insured with.

Oh and hopefully she has some record of him admitting fault, like though an email or something. Else he may just deny to his insurance he ever did it.
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rob444 wrote: Sorry to say but this was an awful idea right from the beginning. Do you really want this guy "fixing" the home?? Even if he did it, imagine the half-assed DIY job he would do, or perhaps he would hire the cheapest contractor he could find on kijiji.

Your SIL should have gone through insurance immediately, and not even given him the option to fix. I don't know if there's a time limit for this kind of thing, but she may want to still try this route. Ask him for his insurance info, else you can provide his basic details (name, license plate, address, etc) and I'm sure her insurance company can easily find who he's insured with.

Oh and hopefully she has some record of him admitting fault, like though an email or something. Else he may just deny to his insurance he ever did it.
Sorry, to clarify the tenant said he would find someone to fix the garage door.

It is a terrible situation and we have learned our lesson.

I will definitely look into going through insurance.

Furthermore, I might be able to get a police officer to file a report because this was a motor vehicle accident. This in addition to going through insurance.
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Dec 23, 2012
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I would offer them to pay half the cost. it's not right but but if they agree it might be better than going to court with them still being your SIL's tenants.
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As mentioned make sure you have written confirmation that they are responsible, by e-mail, text, whatever. And not just a i will get to it, something where they acknowledge fault.
Then form a plan, talk to them and say they have to do it within 3 months or you will and send them the bill. Line someone up and get quotes. Or if you are going to DIY price it out.

If you worry they will stop paying rent then you are held hostage to their whims and they can damage anything they want with impunity because they know you will always back down. Once they realize this they will take advantage of it. Remember that withholding rent is functionally one of the only things you can kick a tenant out for in Ontario.

So be cordial but firm.

That said there is an 800 number for the LTB, call them and get the proper procedure for this and follow it to the letter (making sure everything i have said is correct).
If you are unable to hold tenants to account for damage they caused then you can't be an effective landlord.
In fact in Rand McNally they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people

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