MONTREAL – Landlord Adrian Erbiceanu had the shock of his life when he walked into his Côte-des-Neiges apartment after his elderly tenant moved out.
He’s owned the building for years, and said the man had been living there even longer.
“Each time a tenant leaves, they are supposed to leave it in good condition,” Erbiceanu told Global News.
“In reality, people don’t take care of the building and they just leave.”
Items left behind included an old carpet, a pair of shoes, a few pillows and several garbage bags, all strewn across the floor in disarray.
“He left everything a mess, he took the furniture out and left everything else,” Erbiceanu said.
“I received, two days ago, a notice from Hydro-Quebec that he already cut the power … he abandoned the apartment. The man left without telling us. He just left the key on the concierge box and that’s it, bye-bye.”
Erbiceanu explained it’s now up to him to hire a crew to clean the apartment and said he’s tired because this is something that happens way too often.
“I had one where you couldn’t even walk on the floor because there was no place to put your feet,” Erbiceanu told Global News.
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“It was so bad. It cost me $10,000 with a company to redo that apartment. We cannot continue like this.”
According to the Quebec Landlords Corporation (CORPIQ), Quebec is one of the few places where measures are not in place to prevent reckless behaviour and protect landlords.
The organization is fighting for landlords to be able to require a security deposit before renting out their homes.
“It has to change because the law has proven that’s impossible for landlords to enforce the law and make sure the tenants respect the rules without the security deposit,” said Hans Brouillette, director of public affairs with CORPIQ.
“We have no means of negotiation, no consequences for the tenant.”
According to the civil code, tenants are responsible for making sure the apartments or homes are in good condition when they vacate, but a study commissioned by CORPIQ found renters in Quebec are responsible for about $100 million in household damages.
Of homes rented in 2015:
- 22 per cent were in very good state
- 38 per cent needed to be cleaned, but did not need any repairs
- 25 per cent needed to be cleaned, and needed repairs of less than $700
- 15 per cent needed to be cleaned, and needed repairs of over $700
Brouillette inspected the apartment with Erbiceanu Wednesday and said though there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage, there was a lot of garbage left behind.
“It’s a total mess and, as we can see, there’s no value in anything left behind,” he told Global News as he stood inside the apartment.
“The landlord has to find where the tenant is now, which is almost impossible and even if you find him, the difficulty would be to sue him.”
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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