Like in any university town, the student renters and landlords of Halifax have an often contentious relationship. Students might not be as calm or clean as other renters, and landlords might try to pull a fast one on their unsuspecting tenants.
Drew Blair has been one of those unsuspecting tenants on a few separate occasions. He currently works for Manulife in their customer service department, but back when he was a student he had some clashes with his landlords.
In one of his rental properties, he made sure it was cleaner when he moved out than when he had moved in. But the landlord dinged him $75 for moving a shelf. Blair says it would have taken a second to replace, and his now ex-landlord claimed the kitchen wasn’t clean because Blair and his roommates had left a pen and a wrapper in it.
“We had a $450 security deposit, and we got none of that back,” said Blair. “Basically what they do is, they hire a cleaning service, they don’t monitor what costs are being allocated.”
Blair was also dinged the remainder of his damage deposit. He asked his landlord why he was charged $375 to clean his already clean apartment, and they replied that’s what the cleaning had cost for two people for two hours.
“If they’re making $375 in two hours, for two of them, I want that job and I’ll do it for the rest of my life,” said Blair.
Zach Pajtasz is the marketing and social media specialist at places4students, which is Dalhousie’s partner for student off-campus housing. Pajtasz has some advice for students who might find themselves in a similar situation to Blair’s.
“When you move into the accommodations, make you document the conditions. Whether that means taking some photos, taking a quick video – basically so you have something to hold up as proof,” he said. “Essentially what will happen right now is it will be more or less the students’ word against the landlord’s word about whatever damage may have occurred.”
If the students do have photos or video of the property both when they move in and move out, and feel like they are being unfairly charged, then they can take their case up in small claims court. Pajtasz recommends first going to the Dalhousie Legal Aid office, who can provide additional resources and information from a legal standpoint.
Pajtasz also pointed out the normal wear and tear provision for tenants, which states that it’s expected for things like carpets to slightly wear down over the course of a lease and the landlord cannot penalize the tenant for it. Pajtasz says that places4students is working on an informative blog post about it; they also have many other resources for student renters on their website, including a Q+A about the Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies Act. Check it out online for more info.
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