ALEC & Foster
Eviction Service Company, Process Servers
In an effort to help provide landlords with as much information as possible and as many options as I can when it comes to evicting a problem tenant, I met with Melissa Costea of ALEC & Foster to get some insights on what services eviction services companies can provide.
I created this in an interview format and I’m hoping to talk to some more of the eviction service companies out there over the next few months as well, so you can go forward as educated as possible about the Alberta eviction process. You’ll find the video just below and when you are finished watching it, I’d love to hear your comments which you can enter just below. Let me know if this helps and what additional interviews you might like to hear in the future.
Does a landlord have any recourse with a tenant who has a history with writing bad cheques (other landlords), writing false information on applications, etc?
How can she be stopped? When she is finally ousted from my rental, she will simply do the same to some unknowing property owner… She is a career scam artist. What consequence would be so great that she will avoid this behavior? She does it because there is a payoff. It’s the same as dealing with a young child; the behaviour continues until the consequences is too great.
What options exist to expose this fraud, living a double life as an educator in the public school system. I will not stand for this to continue.
Hi Heather,
You as a landlord have several options for helping protect other landlords, the problem is, other landlords don’t take advantage of the options, don’t know the rules, or simply don’t want the expense of performing credit checks and criminal checks.
Services like Tenant Verification Services provide options where landlords can report on tenant pay habits, but because it is a “closed” database, you need to be a client of TVS to access this or to do the reporting.
The biggest problem though is landlords simply aren’t thorough enough with their screening. If they won’t take the time to do a thorough screening, it just makes it easier for scam artists to slip through the cracks, get into their properties and then take advantage of the landlord and the laws.
I’ve actually put together a pretty thorough screening course that you may want to look at and share with other landlords. It covers what landlords need to do to make sure they have the best possible tenants and while not perfect (scam artists always seem to find loopholes or ways to influence decisions), it can help you avoid 99.9% of the problem tenants out thee.
You can find this free course here, Learn to Screen Tenants.
Hope that helps Heather,
Bill
Served a notice to vacate for non payment of rent.Tenant withheld $90 because Canada post would not deliver their mail. CV Ventures Ltd. is the landlord.
Tenant had previously advised the manager of CV ventures Ltd,that they may use the rent they withheld on the managers separate personal property not the CV Ventures property to secure other property prior to renting the CV Ventures property On a week to week basis as of August 1 2013.
Tenant had a history of erratic and late payments and had requested to pay weekly in April on a month to month tenancy of a separate property rented from the Manager of CV ventures Ltd the Current Landlord
On January 31 2014 the tenant e- transferred $85 and withheld $90 of the remaining $175 of the $225 due Jan 29 for the week Jan 30 to Feb 5 2014. because Canada post charged them $90 for a post box in town when rural delivery was available to those that chose to shovel the snow for access to the Rural delivery point. The landlords and tenant act does not address Mail delivery and it is not a condition or term of the week to week tenancy.
Canada Post indicated the tenant was to lazy to remove the snow from the site. .
Within !000 ft. of the old site Canada post has 2 Green Box sites available to the tenant which Canada
Post clears the snow to provide access
Then The Tenants withheld the $225 due Feb 5 for feb 6 to 12 and $225 due feb 12 for feb 13 to feb 19
As at feb 18 2014 the tenant is in substantial breach of the week to week tenancy by $90 Plus $225 Plus $225
for a total of $540 .
Eviction notice given Feb 6 for non payment of rent as Tenant indicated they would not pay . and subsequently did not.
The tenant is belligerent and rude and demands mail delivery access form the landlord thru its manager.
The landlord seeks possession for substantial breach of the written weekly rental agreement.
The Tenant had agreed to sign the agreement after possession of the current property.
The Landlord CV ventures Ltd. would not agree to occupancy prior to the signing of the weekly tenancy .
The tenant is aware of the redemption if the rent is paid in total .
As of Feb 20 the amount due will be 3 times $225 plus $90 for a total of $865.
Tom C For CV Ventures Ltd.
Hi Tom,
It sounds like you are on top of this, but I’m not sure what you wanted? Are you looking for someone to evict the tenants for you?
Bill
spoke with Kim as you recommended I thought she was a bailiff unfortunately she is not
The mail service is not addressed in the Residential Tenancy Act and TheRTDS
has advised of this,
The Tenant is To lazy to walk to the mail box they were using about 1000 ft and shovel the snow so the contractor can get access to the TENANTS delivery point.
They are with holding rent as a maneuver to delay payments because they can.
It is the tenants responsibility to pick up their own mail and Green Site boxes are available .
Most people drive the 1/2 mile but many walk .
The tenants said Canada Post denied them service at these sites TWO are close by
Since these site boxes are going to be the norm in the future the tenant is playing a game that results in going to court for a possession order.
Canada post is apparently suspending rural home delivery and site boxes are the way of the future. who would deliver their mail when this event occurs.
Meals on Wheels may be the next demand for EXTRA services.
Unfortunately Kim would not be much help in this situation.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Your message was really unclear about what type of service you needed, I wasn’t sure if you required an eviction service company or just had questions, so I referred you to Kim.
I’m still not sure what you need at this point, or what you are doing to get the tenants out?
Bill
I have issued an Eviction Notice Feb 6 and have given the tenant until Feb 26 to pay although the 16 dayso4 14 clear day would be Feb 22.
The tenants draw social assistance and get paid on Feb 24 .
So rather than trying to get blood out of a stone I extended the time frame in to allow them tho have tha cash.
One tenant may have a job and social assistance may cut them off cash flow may be a problem for them.
I will send a copy of the latest response to my email to them.
Regards
Tom
OK Tom, so at this point you haven’t filed at the courts for an eviction, you’ve just sent them an eviction notice, I’m assuming for non-payment. If they do pay your notice is then void.
If you registered on the site in the box on the top right of the page you should have received a walk through of the steps involved with an eviction.
A bailiff will actually be the last step after you’ve received a court order for their eviction. So in your situation, if they don’t leave, or don’t pay, you then have to go to court or the RTDRS service apply for a hearing, get a verdict, the tenants are then given time to move out, then you call a bailiff if they are not out by the court ordered eviction date.
Hope that clears things up,
Bill
Thank you Bill,
This was very good info, especially as we are not in Calgary, where the house is located. As it is our daughter that may need evicted it would also be a blessing to distance ourselves as much as possible.
Thanks again,
David
Hi David,
Glad this was helpful, I remember your emails and it sounds like Melissa could be exactly what you need. It will be a way to distance yourself from a difficult family eviction. I would just caution you that once you start this, you let Foster and Company deal with it and stay in the background! It’s not uncommon for it to get to a point where the problem tenant or relative starts to make “promises” that never actually come true. As they say, once you;ve made your bed you have to lie in it be.
Good luck,
Bill
Bill, This was great. This is a good example of the kind of info that I think people would gladly pay for: I would. The questions that I was left with after this were how much does this cost and a how does this process compare, from a cost and time to evict, with RTDS,
Hi Trevor,
Glad you enjoyed that. From what I understand the basic cost is $750 plus GST. Of course this can go up if multiple court appearances are required, there is extra traveling time or multiple bailiffs are required due to tenants having unsavory pasts. The time frame is also very similar to using the RTDRS.
In my opinion, using a service like this is ideal for an out of town landlord or someone who is having real difficulties with either a professional tenant or it has become to confrontational. It allows the job to get done without you being there. The other trade-off of course is cost versus time. If you have to take several days off of work to file, attend a hearing and serve tenants this could easily be quite cost effective versus your lost income.
Watch for some more interviews and Q&A sessions to start appearing shortly.
Bill
Alberta Eviction