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That wild week with a landlord trying to evict me over a cat I didn't own
Honestly back in 2019 I had this landlord in Edmonton who swore up and down I had a cat in my unit. Tbh I'm allergic so that was never happening. But he showed up three times in one week with photos of cat hair he found in the hallway which was obviously from the neighbor. I ended up having to file a complaint with the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service and it got sorted in like two days. Has anyone else had a landlord make up weird stuff just to try and get you out?
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loganburns23d ago
Wait, you actually got it sorted in two days through the tenancy board? I used to roll my eyes at people complaining about landlords making stuff up, figured they were exaggerating. Then my last landlord in Calgary claimed I was running a business out of my apartment because I got a package delivery every week for a few months. It was just my monthly comic book subscription. He even took photos of the boxes in the recycling bin. The whole thing dragged on for two weeks before I just moved out because it wasn't worth the headache. Seeing that you actually filed a complaint and it worked makes me think I should have done the same.
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the_ruby23d ago
Right, the "package delivery equals a business" thing is absolutely wild to me. Logan, what you went through is exactly what I mean about landlords just making up whatever fits their story, and it's honestly so frustrating to see someone just give up and move because of it. The thing is, a lot of people don't realize that the tenancy board is actually there for this stuff, and while it can feel like a total pain to file a complaint, it's usually way less work than actually packing up and finding a new place and dealing with moving costs. Like your comic book subscription? Dude, I get books every month too and no one's ever said a thing. You should have totally pushed back on that one, because if he's taking pictures of your recycling bin he's already being a creepy weirdo. Filing that complaint forced my landlord to prove the cat hair was from my unit and he couldn't, so the whole thing just collapsed in their face. Next time someone tries that nonsense, don't let them win by just leaving - make them prove it, because usually they can't back up their own lies.
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