$100K to get out? Landlords say they’re facing outrageous 'cash for keys' demands 

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My husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to pay off our mortgage early. We were both still working, and took the payment amount that we had been using to pay off our mortgage faster and we put it straight into investments. We were able to retire early because of almost 7 years of putting away what would have been our mortgage payment as well as maxing out our 401K/403B plans. Thankfully we were taught by both of our parents the value of living within our means. Thank you for your advice. I know it will help people. we are interested in investments that could set me up for retirement , I mean I've heard of people that netted hundreds of thousands during these crash, I listened to someone on a podcast who earned over $650K in less than a year, what's the strategy behind such returns?

That tenant advocate is the biggest clown out there.

The rental advocate: "I think fraud and extortion is great when it's my team"

My grandma passed away, the house was rented out, the person renting didn't want to pay and leave. So, I took my mom and just moved into the house while the tenant was staying there. The tenant soon left. Sometimes you just gotta play tough with tough people.

The Middle class fighting the lower class while the upper class laughs and counts its profits

The government has created so many problems. This isn't a landlord or tenant issue. It's a government issue.

No way in hell I'd be a landlord these days.

If you sign a 12-month lease, both sides should honor it. If the tenant fails to pay rent, the rental agreement should be null and void and an eviction order should be enforced without the non-ending legal path. That simple…

Why was there no attention given to the broken Landlord Tenant Board?? Regardless of who’s in the wrong there’s no excuse for such painfully slow adjudication of cases!!

What you’ll end up with is small landlords selling the property to corporate landlords or consortiums. Due to the legal and financial resources of these entities the tenants will really be screwed then

A similar issue existed where I lived in New England. A trend of difficult tenants eventually caused most private landlords in the area to sell their properties to rental corporations, which were not willing to negotiate with tenants and not only evicted them, but sued them for back rent, damages to the property, and attorney's fees. If tenants aren't willing to negotiate with their landlords and settle on a reasonable cash for keys agreement, they may find themselves not just facing higher rents to make up for rental risk, but corporate entities that have little patience for non-paying tenants and greater resources to pursue lawsuits. Tenants in this story may seem to have the upper hand now, but it will result in a rental environment where all tenants are worse off in the longer term.

Aren't contracts signed between owners and renters? Canada is not enforcing property rights and is failing to fulfill their obligations.

The problem with the LTB, and the current landlord tenant situation, is it only benefits those who are willing to act unethically, on either side.

Lawyer: ‘Unfortunately these tenants know their rights….’ 😅😅😅

Canada does not have eviction ??? That’s ridiculous! One more reason NOT to live in the crazy place called Canada….

The higher the risks, the higher the rents landlords are going to ask for. The more tenants that dodge rent and make higher demands, the more other landlords are going to ask new tenants to pay.

This is what happens when you let governments and banksters conspire to treat housing as a speculative investment instead of what it is - a place to live…

I've been a landlord and I've been an tenant (simultaneously for a period of time). There's too much BS on either side and people are just too unreliable. It's not the landlord's job to solve the country's housing issues. Now I just own one home and won't invest in real estate anymore.

My partner & I moved to Vancouver for work from Ontario. We found a 450 square foot apartment in our budget three years ago, always paid on time and took care of the property. We still received an eviction notice this week for landlord use. Our landlord refused to renew a lease with their other tenants on their property for their ‘mother’ moving in - who never did. Now, we are facing the worst rental market in Canada. This market is unaffordable for a working couple without kids with post secondary education.

And this is what happens when government gets involved in what should be free market enterprise.

I wish this topic would have focused more on the delays of the landlord tenant board tribunal, they are the root cause of all the current issues with the renting in this province, cash for keys is merely just a byproduct of the abysmal wait times

I've been on both sides of this situation. I rented for years and often found myself at the mercy of greedy landlords. The legal protections for tenants very often either did not exist or were not enforced. Years later, I bought a small rental house with my savings. It came with a mortgage, of course. Then my first tenants refused to pay rent on time, then not at all, then they re-keyed everything so that I was blocked from the property. After months of this, I hired a group that offered ejection services. They broke into the property after midnight and forcefully ejected the tenants along with their belongings. The tenants notified the police who contacted me and demanded an explanation. I explained and the police did just as the ejection service told me would happen. Nothing. I cleaned the property up and sold it the next month. I would never be a landlord again for any reason.

"If a tenant knows their rights", they hate that.

I owned two small apartment buildings in NY state. The pandemic ruined me. NY took away my property rights and ignored contract law. Most of my tenants decided they didn't have to pay rent. I also owned a house, which I just remodeled to be rented out .. the tenants stopped paying rent immediately. I couldn't go to court for evictions. It lasted a year and a half. I had put a lot of money in the apartments, remodelling them, making them a nice as I could. I did not charge top rent. My tenants could text me for any issues, and I responded immediately. I sold everything with a huge loss. Our government is totally against the small business person. They want everything owned by the big guys.

This is why I put my money into the stock market, not buy a second home, after I paid off my mortgage.

I'm sorry, but if a tenant is still under contract they are under contract. If you sell your property and it's still under contract then they have a right to finish out contract. If there is no contract then the landlord has they right to kick a tenant out. This is crazy.

No enforcement = useless laws Who is responsible for the majority of the cases clogging up the tenancy board? I've read that corporations have been using it quite extensively which sounds like a problem they helped create to me. I could never imagine doing this to a person renting out their property but I've also been on ends of deals while renting where I couldn't believe what other people were willing to do to me, I see both sides of this issue. Its up to the government to deal with this stuff and they really don't seem like they care to do that.

Canada is becoming a country I don't recognize anymore. Time to leave.

Months for an eviction hearing is crazy.

All this will do is take even more properties out of the rental market. Not smart.

That tenant advocate dude is wrong on so many levels, its laughable how such people live in a society.

This just means that less people will be mom and pop landlords, which means, the rent will eventually go up even more

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless." - Thomas Jefferson

There should be no "Upper Hand", it should be even straight across the board. The Land Lord and Tenants Act should be followed word for word....just to keep it even and fair for all...rewrite the Acts if needed in order to make fair

I've always been a month to month renter, I balk at the sign of a lease. My last landlord wanted to tear down the house, build a new one and move in. He gave me 3 months free rent, let me leave whatever I didn't want behind and 500$ cash (my rent was 700). We didn't bargain, I thought that was fair so I accepted. I live in BC and this was 4 yrs ago. People have changed.

In the U.S. if you owe money to a landlord it goes on your credit report. Good luck finding another place to rent because literally every landlord will run your credit and absolutely not rent to you if they see you owe money to another landlord.

I used to want to be a real estate investor until I realized that it’s a really dirty business. This kind of behavior led to the rise of abandoned properties all over New York City in the 1970’s - 1990’s.

The small landlord will disappear therefore less homes to rent…

@5:29, this guy reminds me of child in an adult's body. Landlords are not your parents, pay your rent or get out, why is that so hard to understand?

Never thought I'd feel for a landlord. That poor lady w her kid, and the scumbag who didn't pay rent, then subleased out a property that wasn't even his.

I used to rent houses back in the 1980's in Toronto. We paid our rent every month on time. When owners wanted to sell, we were given the number of months' notice that was agreed upon in the rental agreement that we both signed. We looked for new accommodation and moved on the agreed-upon date. No fuss, no argument, no refusal to leave, no extortion - and this IS extortion we're talking about in this story. If people have an issue with crappy landlords or shitty tenants, it should not be taken out on ALL landlords and tenants. Bide by the signed agreements. Period.

The days of having a tenant finance your retirement should never have happened in the first place.

A tenant enters into a lease contract to pay monthly rent for a limited period of time. If they stay beyond the time, they are thieves. They should also be reported to the credit bureau.

Never put yourself in a position where if rent isn't paid , you risk losing your property.

I live in Florida, if you sell a rental and someone wants to move into the place the person renting has 30 days to move out "with notice". If the renter refuses and has to be evited the renter can be held responsible for any money lost. My mother-in-law had to deal with a renter who refused to move out after she bought a place. It took 3 months to get a judge to evict the family and then they refuse to leave still. The police came in forced them out

The nerve of that guy telling boomers who are losing their life's work to just "suck it up". Really? I watched my mother and a few of her friends who already lost their houses over house squatters. This is just insane.

Jordie Dent needs to be criminally charged for counselling people into extortion.

Makes one think twice about ever having a rental property

'cash for keys' is a great sign of a broken ltb system

"Let's increase the demands we put on mom-and-pop landlords so that they stop doing it, and so that our only options for housing are corporate or government."

I definitely get a sense out of this piece that everyone who is not a landlord hates landlords. Clearly, tenants feel very much taken advantage of, and they’re willing to give them a taste of their own medicine, without nuance. I imagine things are going to get a lot worse.

more and more landlords who can afford it are not renting their properties just to avoid problems. Too bad for the honest renters.

If tenants are not happy and feel being taken advantage of, they can buy their own home

first the property taxes, now the greedy tenants and top it up with record interest rates. majority of the landlords are not rich. we just have an extra apartment that we saved up and worked hard for. Rediculous.

Well these rental laws definitely don’t encourage anyone to rent out their property creating a further housing shortage for renters.

In other words don't be a small time landlord in Ontario.

Invest your money elsewhere, don’t buy a property to rent out. Let the large corporations buy up all the properties and then let renters see just how high the rents will go.

Once the lease ends, is it not a squatter issue or lay criminal charges for extortion? Can the landlord transfer the case over to the criminal courts?

I have to admit that my landlady for 14 years was very good to me and my daughter. When she put the house up for sale,i was offered it but my bank only allowed me X amount for a mortgage. I bought a home for $105,000 3 years ago. My 14 years of renting ended with a monthly cost of $650 a month, slightly more than I'm paying now for my house.

Don't pretend that there is not a huge housing crisis. There is no housing to move to. Rents have tripled in tandem. Tenants are making these asks because they will lose the security they have and can't afford even more. They are most likely struggling to make ends meet as it is. Living expenses have gone up. They don't want to end up homeless. Tenants are hard working Citizens too and that rent goes back to the owner investor. Stop blaming tenants! This is the result of a housing crisis that was ignored for a very long time.

Can’t believe the so-called tenant’s “advocate” (Jordie Dent) thinks extortion is ok. He has no logic, no scruples, and doesn’t understand the law. I’d be embarrassed. Shame.

I could never do that to a Landlord. Its unethical and brings bad karma to yourself.

Exploiting others, whether it be the landlord or tenant, is simply wrong. Real estate in Canada is becoming such a nightmare for people on so many levels but it's indicative on how damaged our society can be or has become for a lot of people. I think if everyone made a concerted effort to operate with integrity and respect we would see our situations improve. I'm not holding my breath though, especially when our government is probably the most corrupt with the least amount of integrity and respect for its citizens.

Back in the 80's, I knew a few bikers in Toronto who for $1,500 from a landlord (Adjusted for inflation, around $6,000 today) would go over and have a short chat with tenants that weren't paying their rent. If tenants didn't get out within a week, they went back and broke bones. Their eviction success rate was 100%. That's a justice system that works.

i had CLV Group here in Ontario try and bribe me out of my apartment and offered a laughable $2000 to move so they could renovate and get more rent then i am paying from a new tenant. $2000 doesn't come close to covering 1st and last for a 2 bedroom apt nor does it even adress the moving costs and all the other costs associated PLUS i'm paying easily hundreds a month more . Just so they can hose a new tenant. If a Landlord wants me out its $10,000 minimum. cover 1st and last, moving costs and extra for the extra rent I'm paying for the next 2 years. I'm done with these companies and Landlords treating residents like were have bottomless pits of money for their increases. It has to come to an end., Yes Landlord's need to make money, but holy sh** ..they have this impression people have just wads of cash available. We are just trying to keep the lights on and put food on the table.. and enough is enough. making profit is one thing. Bankrupting your tenants and treating us like 2nclass citizens is something else completely.

Ontario is responsible for this mess. The province refuses to fix the LTB...

4 years ago, I lived in my unit for nearly 9 years. I had wonderful landlords. The longest dwelling tenant in our building was 22 years; shortest, 4 years and others, were roughly 8-15 years. Our landlords were elderly. Sadly, the husband passed and the wife was pressured by the children to sell. She sold to a consortium; and within weeks of the sale to the consortium, all tenants received a letter advising us that the building was in need of major repairs and all tenants had 3 months to leave and the company would compensate each tenant with 3 months rent and moving cost. Sure our building was not new, but our our landlords were decent, and maintained it relatively well. Long story short; the consortium had no renovations done to the exterior or the general structure of the building. All they did was knock out the bath and kitchen; and 6 months after, units were rented out at huge mark up.

@3:36 "Well if you have a tenant who knows their rights and who knows that they don't have to leave because they have the right to remain in the unit until a hearing is held." As opposed to having a tenant who doesn't know their rights and can be urged, manipulated, intimidated, coerced to leave.

One landlord/tenant rule : you don’t pay you don’t stay, period !

because Landlords will say they are gong to sell the place, then kick you out, and in the end put their family in there. Unscrupulous

If you're BORROWING money to buy a rental property, that's not your hard earned saves money. THATS DEBT.

This hurts both parties because who want to rent their place? And tenants can’t find a place? So no one wins…

This has been going on in New York City since the late 70's. People are being payed tens of thousands of dollars to move out. My grandmother was paid $25,000. to move. The rent for the apartment went up from $118. a month to $900. a month. Today, that same apartment is $4000. a month

The guy is wrong to say that tenants can ask for six figures. What a dunce.

I heard a rumour that they are going to start investigating some cash for keys cases as criminal extortion after all of the tenant review board cases start catching up. All these criminal renters who decide to not pay and ask for cash for keys might face criminal charges. Ironic for when they try to rent and have a police report and can’t rent. Or they can’t get a job because of a criminal extortion charge.

You know what's crazy, there's people who work 2 jobs and can't afford a house! Not just low wage jobs, but there's people with college degrees, working in demand jobs who can't afford a place to live....not even an average low end apartment! Now that's not just hurtful but outrageous!!

This is terrible. Potential landlords will weigh the risk of delinquent tenants and withhold units from the market. This will only exacerbate the rental crisis.

The whole system is broken that lets both or either tenant and landlord defraud one another. This all comes back to government policy and accountability and thus incompetent greedy politicians. One of those policies: allowing foreigners to freely buy property to boost up property prices pricing locals out of the market. Lots of politicians have investment properties so it was all self-interest and still is - not to let property prices fall. However, there is a third party to this and that is the banks. Banks have lent too much money to uneducated investors knowing that interest rates would be increasing massively in order to catch up to a level of inflation control, thereby inevitably and intentionally causing future defaults. They have known for a few years that this would all blow up as it has, as they sit on top of their record profits.

How the hell is this even legal? I know there are tenant rights but this is extortion.

I am a small landlord. But I used to be a tenant as a SINGLE MOTHER ON SOCIAL ASSISTANCE. And I WORKED and STUDIED, studied and worked to pull myself and my child out of the poverty. So should you. You feel very much entitled to deliberately ignore a small landlord. You do not have any right to do it.

The problem is that the current policy allows for so much pain for both tenants and landlords. The policy makers (aka the government) are setting back and ensuring the battle stays amongst people. If people wake up and realize the main issues stem from the utter failure and neglect of policy makers in regards to housing , I can guarantee the problems facing both tenants and landlords will be solved very soon.

My God, this is disgusting… I have been screwed over by more landlords than I can count.… Never in my life Would I consider doing what these neinius people are doing to small Mom and pop Landlords…. I mean come on if you’re gonna do this type of crap at least do it to the big companies and corporations that are the real problem in the housing crisis…

I am a mom and pop landlord in the USA. It took me 6 months to get rid of my last tenant. The tenant did $4500 worth of damage and I could not even keep the entire deposit to paritally cover the damage cost.

This is why I don’t rent to anyone anymore. I’ve taken 2 rentals off the market with court cases and renters squatting . Happy to get out :)) took some time but I was determined and my tenants did nothing but abuse me and my property

I live in a partially finished detached mother in law apartment above my garage and was renting out the house itself. I didn't need that much room after the kids moved out and thought I'd help someone get a reasonably priced place to live. I only priced rent at about 3/4 of the estimated rental price for the house, living pay check to paycheck myself. All I got for my troubles was taken advantage of financially and a demolished house. and that was BEFORE these tenant protection laws. I stopped renting the house out after the last tenant left. I will never retire now.

Solution is simple. Don't go to courts. Make sure to mention terms in rental agreement about how many rents a tenant is allowed to miss. After missing those amount of rents, landlord can reclaim property by force or with help from cops considering tenant as illegal property occupier. Being nice doesn't work here. Keep no nonsense attitude.

the LTB is an outfit protecting bad tenants. It's a matter of time before landlords take matters into their own hands because the system has failed. The majority of landlords aren't giant corporations that can absorb a few bad apples, I'm in the real estate sector, and I've heard countless cases of renters taking advantage and not paying a dime for upwards of a year because of the backlogs. The worst part is these people have no assets, good luck trying to collect from them even with a judgement in your favor

Just got into a spat with my own, new landlord. He bought the property in December last year. His son (whom I have never met) showed up out of the blue in January, handed me a blank legal paper envelope, and literally ran to his car and drove away while I opened it and called after him ("What's this? Am I being served?"). Inside was an illegal rent increase. The landlord had decided that my unit was no longer "rent controlled" (ie. subject to the 2006 Residential Tenancies Act) because the previous landlord installed a fireproof backsplash behind the oven. So, in his mind, it was a "new renovated unit" (not how that works) and was going to raise my rent by several times what is legally allowable (capped at 2.5% for this upcoming calendar year). We argued for a bit, but eventually he backed down when he asked how I came to be knowledgeable in the Act and I answered that I _hold a Master's degree in development planning._ So we're rent control again, but who knows how long the peace will last.

The individual who appeared at 5:25 and then made his first statement that all Landlords can 'pound sand', is a perfect snapshot of the type of people who defend and support these actions, truly pathetic.

How is this extortion allowed and not prosecutable? It's a joke

I went to court no payment, utilities rears and damaged property, waited months and they let the tenant stay . The Tenant stop paying and destroyed more of my property.... Thanks LTB 3 years going.

House speculation was ridiculous and only the small landlords suffer, while large corporations have the legal power to resolve quickly

The commodification of human shelter, especially in such times of extreme inhumane scarcity, coupled with foreign speculative investment of residential real estate, is not exactly a climate conducive to conjuring sympathy for anyone, corporate nor small "innocent investor" getting bit by the same forces that those who paid rent to them have been systemic victims of for years.

Way to go Canada for paving the way to ppl feeling entitled to free stuff and destroying owners lives who will in turn need help.

It’s incredible Geordie Dent the tenant advocate how he promotes tenants abusing the system when the tenants who use those tactics are the ones not paying rent. Shameful.

Funny how this doesn’t make any mention of the renovictions trend of landlords over the past few years to force tenants out so they can become an airbnb. Where’s the file cabinet for those? STRs have been a huge contributor to the housing crisis, because each LTR converted into an STR means additional competition to find housing and less housing that can actually be lived in. This is on top of the issue of foreign investors buying housing and letting it just sit empty. We don’t have a supply crisis, we have a useable supply crisis.

A system, which rewards unethical behavior on both sides, is doomed to implode. Something bad is coming down.

Funny how landlords didn't mind key money when they were extorting tenants who were desperate to put a roof over their heads.

I am a retired condo owner here in Florida myself. This is kind of scary because this could very well happen here in the US. Ive been 100% retired for almost 7 years now and living on a fixed income gets harder every day.