Vacancies are Such a Pain
Photo: Flickr user ellievanhoutte
For a while there things were going pretty well. I had evicted a troublesome tenant, I was fully rented, and most importantly I was collecting rent from everyone more or less on time. In December when I went by to collect rent, one of my tenants informed me that she’ll be moving before the end of the month. First, off she didn’t give me the required notice period (her lease does not expire until June 2010), and second she didn’t even pay me a full month’s rent. She thought she only needed to pay 1/2 rent and I just keep the damage deposit. Great.
This is a real pain because this particular unit is the hardest of all my units to rent. It’s a decent apartment, but it is a basement unit and on the small side. Because of that I can’t put a more mature family in there as it’s really too small for any more than two adults and a couple of young children. Also most people are put off by basement units, even though this one is quite bright, clean, and dry. On top of this, Christmas is around the corner and it’s really hard to rent a place at this time of year; I’m busy with my holiday running around and prospective tenants aren’t that inclined to look either.
So even though my tenant technically owes me rent until the end of June, I know I’m likely not going to collect it. My best bet is the get the place rented as soon as possible and limit my losses. I can pursue the tenant for rent (and she may yet pay) and even take her to the tenancy board, but its unlikely worth the effort. Right now I’m still trying to collect the 1/2 month’s rent she still owes me, but of course she’s no longer answering her phone. Even better she now lives about 45 minute out of the city (if she gave me the right address) and to show up at her door will be really time consuming.
So for now the unit is vacant. I’ve done a few touch ups painting doors that had peeled and generally cleaning it up and it shows very well now. I do have someone interested in renting for February, but I’d like to recover some rent from January so I’ll continue and try to rent it before I commit to a February lease. At least I’ve got a buffer with my new mortgage. This vacancy will not cost me money as it has in the past, instead I’ll break even.
