Why You Should Keep An Eye On Your Tenants

Photo Courtesy Edmonton Sun







I woke up the other day and, of course first thing, checked my email. My mom sent me this link with the ominous message of

"Do you see why I am terrified of renting?"

I keep suggesting that she rent out her house instead of selling it, the passive cash flow is a great source of supplementary income for retirement.

So I click on the link and read this,

House Left Covered In Crap - Landlord found post-eviction 'nightmare'

What a title! The images it invokes...not pretty.

The landlord rented the upper suite unit to a young woman, with three cats, for two years. He was unable to get references because she had just moved out of her parent's home. After an eviction notice due to unpaid rent, he came to change the locks only to find this:

"A "nightmare" of cat feces, garbage and a small pet cemetery greeted landlord Dennis Hillman when he went to check whether an evicted tenant had vacated his west-end rental suite Sunday."

"So revolting was the mess left in the three-bedroom main-floor suite at 8756 151 St. that the fire department refused to enter when Hillman called them yesterday, out of concern for the firefighters."

"Filth and trash coated the carpets and floors and the bathroom door wouldn't even open due to a mountain of trash."

"Cat litter and piles of cat feces were strewn throughout the suite and a couple of syringes were left in a bedroom."

"Perhaps the most disturbing discovery were several dead pets in cages in a back bedroom."


This kind of mess doesn't happen overnight. It takes care and attention and it would NEVER happen in one of our suites. Our property manager is diligent and we insist that she go through the houses about twice a year to see how the properties are faring.

The landlord said he didn't realize the state of the house because the curtains were always closed. However, the poor lower suite tenant got so used to the horrendous smell that she didn't even notice it anymore.

If you have a great relationship with all of your tenants they will tell you about the funny smells that you may be missing.

The lower tenant may have to move out during cleaning; due to the health risks posed by the parasites found in cat waste that can be passed to humans.

This is the worst scenario for a landlord - an empty rental property with extreme clean up costs and mortgage payments that still must be made.


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