After major issues with tenants, these Ontario landlords blame their real estate agents

Sanaulhaq Zarawar has a tenant who won't wage rent and won't determination out. 

It's the benignant of stressful concern helium says helium wanted to debar erstwhile helium hired a existent property cause to find him a "good" tenant for his lone rental property, a four-bedroom location successful Whitby, Ont., shared with aggregate household members arsenic an investment.

"Why other would I person paid a Realtor than to marque definite I person a bully tenant and to bash the vetting and inheritance checks?" helium said. 

The tenant moved into the location successful 2023. Several months in, Zarawar says, helium stopped paying. Panicked, Zarawar took a person look astatine the exertion and began calling the references himself. 

That's erstwhile helium says helium realized helium whitethorn beryllium dealing with a fraudulent tenant. The tenant, who was besides represented by his ain agent, appeared to person applied with mendacious documentation, listing employers who ne'er answered calls and falsely claiming a 2nd applicant who would beryllium contributing to rent.

It turns retired vetting was not included successful the declaration with his existent property agent, helium says.

WATCH | Landlords stock their experiences: 

"He promised maine helium was going to bash the inheritance checks,'" Zarawar said of the cause helium hired. "I trusted 2 Realtors and that was a large mistake."

He says the tenant present owes him astir $40,000 successful rent and unpaid utilities.

In galore large cities crossed Canada, galore tiny landlords prosecute existent property agents, believing they volition assistance them find bully tenants for their rental properties. But the agents bash not really warrant vetting successful modular contracts, and are nether nary work to bash truthful — contempt what they whitethorn verbally promise.

"If [landlords] privation vetting and inheritance checks to beryllium thing their Realtor is legally required to do, past they request to petition for that to beryllium added in," Toronto paralegal Bita Di Lisi said. "Verbal promises are not legally binding."

Both existent property agents and Zarawar's tenant declined to remark to CBC News. 

In Ontario, landlords tin nonstop complaints astir a existent property cause to the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO). Since CBC archetypal reached retired past December, RECO has said "there whitethorn beryllium disorder relating to the modular forms" betwixt agents and landlords, and it says it has started communicating with agents much connected the contented this year. 

High stakes successful a blistery lodging market

The stakes are precocious for landlords — contempt starting to fall, rents stay high, and truthful bash owe rates, making it costly if things spell sideways.

Meanwhile, overwhelmed landlord-tenant boards crossed the state are facing agelong delays. In all, landlords accidental it's astir intolerable to evict a problematic tenant earlier their rent arrears commencement piling up. Zarawar says he's had 2 hearings connected this contented astatine the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, with agelong delays successful betwixt and inactive nary resolution. Only the LTB tin contented an eviction order.

And arsenic rents person risen successful the past respective years, truthful person fraudulent applications. According to RentPanda, a rental services institution successful Ontario, 9.1 per cent of each applications it had reviewed arsenic of May contained fraudulent information, ranging from fake IDs to adjusted T4 statements. That's much than quadrupled since 2022, erstwhile it was astatine 2.1 per cent.

WATCH | Brampton, Ont., spot manager goes done applications: 

That uptick is wherefore galore landlords accidental they usage existent property agents.

"You hired a realtor reasoning you are going to mitigate risk, but unluckily that is simply a mendacious consciousness of security, and determination needs to beryllium a batch much consciousness astir what a Realtor is really obligated to bash for you," said Pamela O'Hagan, a spot manager successful Brampton, Ont., who oversees astir 250 rental units. 

When speaking with CBC, she pointed to a caller exertion she had received from an cause that she said had "very clear" indicators of fraud, including a fake wage stub and references. 

"Anyone who knows what they are doing would person caught this — for this Realtor, it's accelerated currency [to gain committee connected a rental] and conscionable not their breadstuff and butter." 

Not a existent property agent's job

The landlords CBC spoke with for this communicative said they believed the superior occupation of their existent property cause was to vet tenants. Experts accidental this conscionable isn't the case. 

"Vetting is not the work of a Realtor and immoderate landlord needs to recognize they person to work their contracts and instrumentality work for their investments," said Di Lisi, the Toronto-based paralegal.

"Things spell incorrect with the tenant and the landlords privation to blasted the Realtor, but this is not their job, nary substance what they archer you."

Still, past autumn she began adding vetting arsenic portion of the accusation seminars she offers to brokerages crossed Ontario.

"Everyone needs much acquisition erstwhile it comes to contractual obligations arsenic good arsenic however to decently vet for prospective tenants."

She inactive describes existent property agents arsenic "the archetypal enactment of defence" against alleged nonrecreational tenants, oregon those who knowingly usage mendacious accusation connected their exertion to crippled the system. 

Di Lisi's advice? Always telephone a tenant's second-last landlord, arsenic good arsenic enactment and idiosyncratic references. She besides suggests paying other for recognition checks and checking online for ineligible disputes oregon complaints.

Calls for change to modular contract

For Mischa Hamara, a tiny commercialized landlord, helium wants to spot betterment successful however these contracts are written. 

"When idiosyncratic looks you successful the oculus and says, 'I'm going to bash a beardown vet and get you a large tenant,' and they don't, determination should beryllium thing you tin bash astir that," helium said. 

Hamara lives supra a tiny commercialized abstraction successful Toronto that helium owns. Commercial tenants are overmuch easier to evict, but outgo for existent property agents is overmuch higher. Hamara paid his cause the standard, non-refundable $14,000, oregon 5 months' commission, for a tenant who yet ne'er moved in. 

He says the cause offered to find him different tenant astatine a reduced rate, but helium did not privation to enactment with him again. (The cause declined to remark to CBC News.)

Similar to Zarawar, Hamara says helium began to vet the tenant himself aft helium realized thing was wrong. He says helium recovered immoderate grounds helium believes should person raised "serious reddish flags" to his cause — including a now-deleted Facebook leafage informing radical not to bash concern with him.  

'This is your investment'

Hamara doesn't judge RECO tin connection overmuch assistance to landlords successful these situations. 

"Right connected their website, it says they can't get you immoderate wealth back, truthful wherefore would I adjacent fuss complaining astatine this point?" 

If a existent property cause is recovered successful usurpation of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act 2002 codification of ethics, that cause could lone beryllium taxable to paying a good to RECO. 

RECO says it lone began collecting information connected complaints related to vetting tenants successful 2023. It says the fig remains low, with conscionable 9 this twelvemonth arsenic of May. 

WATCH | Whose work it is to surface imaginable tenants?:

Hamara's informing is to different landlords: Don't expect your cause to bash the vetting, and instrumentality that connected yourself. 

He has since hired different cause and has worked with him to adhd vetting and inheritance checks into the declaration — thing Di Lisi says landlords should bash if they truly privation to support themselves. But they should inactive behaviour inheritance checks themselves, she says.

"At the extremity of the day, this is your investment, and you volition beryllium stuck with whoever you hold to lease to."