HACKETT’S COVE, N.S. – A landlord said he’s frustrated he can’t get tenants he accuses of having not paid rent for four months evicted.
“I’m not here to bash the tenants. That’s my responsibility. I was the one who signed the lease with them,” said John Robia, who lives in Boutiliers Point.
The tenants have lived in his Hackett’s Cove property since November. They stopped paying rent in August, he said, and have done thousands of dollars of damage to the unit.
He said he was told by the province’s Residential Tenancies program that he could get them evicted through a Landlord’s Notice to Quit for Rental Arrears. He filed the form, but the tenants stayed, and said he was told by an employee of the program that he would have to schedule a hearing.
On October 1, the hearing was scheduled for December 8.
Melissa Mosher, a senior policy analyst for the program, said a decision gets made within two weeks after a hearing.
“Both parties need to have the opportunity to explain their situation,” she said.
Mosher recommended that prospective tenants and landlords do research on each other to prevent these kind of situations.
“Google search them, Facebook search them, try to find out as much information about them as you can, so you know what you’re getting into,” she said.
Robia said, although he plans to go through with the hearing, he plans to sell the property.
“It’s not worth the fight,” he said.
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