I have been trying to find a site where I could let people know, especially with the Alberta BOOM about bad apartment management and properties to stay away from. I am in the process of leaving a downtown highrise that has been a nightmare. I really do not want anyone else to be in this position. If any of you have had bad apartment rental experience, management that will not adhere to their half of the lease obligations and any other bad experience, please let me know about your situation. My building is one of many owned by a giant corporation concerned only with getting the monthly rent cheques, not with the safety and well being of the tenants who live there. I am originally from NS, but moved here 16 years ago, I see all these people coming to the City and not knowing where to get a place and be safe. I will be happy to help anyone with information if I can.
Beware - Bad Apartments In Edmonton
- Thread starter Stanley
- Start date
For starters, we have homeless people (at least that is who we are told they are by management) living in the stairwell at the top of the building. We have found, women's underwear, used condoms, small bags with the remainder of drugs inside, porn and pools of urine. We were told that it isn't the building owners problem, that it is the tenants in the building who are letting them in and so we CANNOT BLAME THEM. I don't know, if owned a building and this was going on, I would step up security measures to prevent it from happening again, and not tell my paying tenants that it isn't my problem.
yes that sounds horrible. and it is the managements partial responsibility at least. certainly letting them in was the responsibility of whomever did so, but getting them out, cleaning the place etc is down to the management, along with ensuring no-one's dumb enough to let them back in again. There's probably some group you can report them to
a colleague of mine says he lives in a building owned by that lot. he complains too. I have warned all those i know of to avoid them.
surely there must be a regulatory board for landlords? some kind of consumer watchdog?
surely there must be a regulatory board for landlords? some kind of consumer watchdog?
They are like the "Walmart" property management. A huge company that doesn't care about the tenants as long as they are getting their rent cheques. We are also having a really difficult time with heating, when the outside temperature gets to minus 20 or colder, our apartment is around 12 degrees with our heat turned up as far as it will go. I checked with the Alberta Health Standards on the website and the inside of a persons house/apartment/condo, must be at least 20 degrees. We complained to management and were told that they couldn't do anything about it. We asked for a rent decrease to cover purchasing space heaters and we were told no. Then we asked if we purchased space heaters and gave them the receipts, would we be reimbursed and they again said no.
Part of the problem is that, if you are living in a BoardWalk apartment complex, it was likely even worse before they bought it. They pick old slums, put a new coat of paint and some new siding on, and then turn around and charge twice what it used to get for rent. I have friends who have had mixed results living in BoardWalk developments. While they try to keep things upgraded, the buildings were often so run down before they got them, that stuff breaks constantly, and, it's next to impossible to keep the old crowd from slowly making thier way back in.
If you want an apartment with no homelessness problems, you simply can't get an apartment with more than 20 suites or so in the building, or, you get an apartment with outside acces, rather than the shared hallways. Otherwise, it is next to impossible to keep the homeless people out, and the company, which as has been pointed out, watches their bottom line, and security personel are expensive, especially given current labor shortages.
If you want an apartment with no homelessness problems, you simply can't get an apartment with more than 20 suites or so in the building, or, you get an apartment with outside acces, rather than the shared hallways. Otherwise, it is next to impossible to keep the homeless people out, and the company, which as has been pointed out, watches their bottom line, and security personel are expensive, especially given current labor shortages.
i have trouble understanding why there are beggars in edmonton. every store seems to have "help wanted" in the window. it's worse than london, even sheffield
alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness......
but, you do see a lot of young kids in very nice clothes, down near where you live, panhandling. It frustrates me to no end, as it makes people very jaded towards anyone asking for help.
I hope this link helps: http://www.acjnet.org/docs/landten/LTGuideNov04.pdf
Read the section about the "Public Health Act" as your landlord seems to be violating this. There should be information about how to remedy the problem in that link as well.
Read the section about the "Public Health Act" as your landlord seems to be violating this. There should be information about how to remedy the problem in that link as well.
I've just found that renting in Alberta is a pain. The landlord is given the majority of the powers, while the tenant has little recourse. So many people I know do not get their damage deposit back, despite there being no real reason for it to not be returned. It gets chisled away by little things...little excuses for you to not get that cash back. I find the situation very frustrating in Alberta.
I agree, the landlord does have the upper hand. I also think it is crazy that Alberta does not regulate rental rates, so the landlord can basically raise the rent however much they want and the renter either has to pay it or move out. It really isn't fair, especially considering the lack of available housing good or bad. I called about an apartment and was told that the pet deposit was $450.00 per pet, per year, another place I called told me it was a $250.00 pet deposit per pet, and an additional $100.00 per pet, per month. I think the "non-refundable pet deposit" needs to be looked at as well. I fully agree with paying for any damages you may cause to the rental property, but when you are paying a large sum in advance that is non-refundable, I believe that a lot of people are being treated unfairly.
this isnt just alberta. as far as my experience goes it's worldwide. I've had trouble with landlords in every corner of the UK, and heard tales from australia, germany, wales and canada. Basically it's easy enough for a tenant to screw a landlord over BIG style, so the landlords cover their arses with legal crap and those who have had a bad time tend to give it too.
I understand what your saying, but in almost every other Province in Canada there are regulations for rental increases and more guidelines for landlords to follow to protect the rights of the tenants. When the boom started in Alberta, the news were discussing the issue of Alberta NOT having these regulations and guidelines in place to protect the tenants and they were concerned that the housing shortage would become worse because rents would become so high that people just could not afford to rent at all. I have no comment on the UK or any other country in Europe, or the rest of the world as I have not lived there, however, in Canada it makes sense to me that if a majority of Provinces have these regulations, it would seem fair to incorporate it into the remaining Province or two. It clearly works for everyone, the landlords are still allowed to raise the rent, but within reason and not every 6 months or a year, and they have to give adequate notice.