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One thing is certain - this is going to cost you time, money and resources. It will cause you and your family stress and anxiety. If the rental unit is in a divided house that you also occupy, you'll expose your wife and family to an extraordinarily unpleasant episode. It will likely strain your marriage. If you go through arbitration you'll likely get an order of possession for the end date of the tenancy, which you'll have set out on page 1 of the RTO Form 1 Notice to End the Tenancy. An Arbitrator's order can be filed with the court system, which will issue a Writ of Possession in due course. The order and the writ must be served properly and separately, and if the tenant hasn't given up vacant possession of the premises as required then you'll be hiring a bailiff. Bailiffs start at around $1500 - $2000 and can roll up a bill pretty quickly. They don't take promises to pay at later dates and they have no confidence in personal cheques. Bailiffs like cold hard cash. They are what the public refer to as 'The Repo Man'. They're generally big, mean and ugly.
The bailiff will move in and remove the reluctant tenants, RFN. Depending on what you contract for, you'll then have responsibility for seizing and storing the tenants' possessions, for conducting inventory and notification, and you'll expose yourself to liability for loss and damage claims the tenant will probably make, which means you'll be back in arbitration defending yourself and your actions this time.
While the bailiff costs can be recoverable by separate action against the tenant(s), you're usually playing with people who don't have rent money so it is very unlikely that you'll get back the costs of bailiff services, inventory, storage, transportation, handling, disposal fees, etc.
Your property will not be producing income for some time; there will likely be damages caused to the premises as well. You'll experience a ton of anxiety, stress, expenditure of time and resources, and you'll have to pony up dough for the lawyer too. If you have kids and a wife living in the premises they'll probably be exposed to verbal abuse and taunts by the overholding tenants. Everybody can expect to hear words banned on television. In extreme cases vandalism will occur and even physical violence can result. I've had cases where guns and other weapons are produced. On more than one occasion there have been woundings and even death.
Being a landlord can result in you getting the full meal deal . You blew rule number 1.
I see this all the time: landlords getting into the game making fundamental mistakes that cost them plenty down the road. Then frequently whinge and complain about the rules they never bothered to find out about when they went into the landlording business. Many times what happens is that the get rich quick in real estate boys move in, having identified this as a distressed situation with what they call a motivated seller. People in tune with the rules and regulations of landlord-tenant disputes can turn your situation to their advantage and make significant money in the process, so you can expect mail delivery from loan companies, realtors, speculators, etc.
Get the guide 'Landlording 101'. Find out what rule number 1 is. Subscribe to the Landlords Network and participate in the frequent Teleconference Seminars. Get with the program or get out of the game.
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