Blog
Maintaining Existing Rental Stock Challenges - Part 3
Posted on 5/16/2013 9:15:43 AM by Erin Breier
So now you've seen the cyclical and one-time cost estimates prepared by one of our members, for a typical 50 year old, 3 storey frame, 40 suite rental apartment building in Vancouver. Assuming you agree with the estimates, what this tells us is that the cyclical and one-time costs to keep this rental apartment building in Vancouver livable for tenants totals in the order of $2M. So where's the business case to do this?
There are limits to how much can be economically spent on renovations on these older buildings. The reality is these old buildings cannot be renovated to the level that will compete with new construction.
Tenants want in-suite washers and dryers. They want dishwashers. You can't retrofit a 50 year old building to have these. There's not enough power to run an in-suite dryer, not to mention the absence of any venting. As for washers, there's the issue of drainage. In most cases, there is no space for dishwashers even in a renovated suite. What about the issue of sound transfer between suites in these old buildings? It can't be controlled.
Even if an owner decided to do all of the cyclical and one-time upgrades summarized in earlier posts, the building is still an old frame building with a very inefficient use of land. And most importantly, these buildings are
frame construction and prone to fire hazard and possibly a danger to tenants. Essentially money is being poured into a sinking ship. Most of these buildings are too old to be maintained economically. There is better
use of the land by building new, energy-efficient, higher density rental housing.
Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.
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Maintaining Existing Rental Stock Challenges - Part 2
Posted on 5/14/2013 9:04:32 AM by Erin Breier
These one-time costs were compiled by one of our members for a typical 50 year old, 3 storey frame, 40 suite rental apartment building in Vancouver. Add in the cyclical costs of $1.3M (see 5/10/13 blog) and you're close to $2M to keep a 50 year old building in existing rental stock
One-time costs:
Replace windows with double pane, $3500 per suite x 40= $140,000
Major elevator work: $100,000
If cantilevered balconies, wood rot gets into building frame $5000 per balcony x 30 = $150,000
Proper sprinkler retrofit, $3,000 per suite x 40 =$120,000
Total one time costs: $510,000
How do these costs compare with your own experience as an apartment owner?
The closer is coming in our next post.
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Maintaining Existing Rental Stock Challenges - Part 1
Posted on 5/10/2013 10:09:11 AM by Erin Breier
A BCAOMA member recently estimated the cyclical costs for a typical, 50 year old, 3 story frame, 40 suite rental apartment building in Vancouver. Do you agree? We'd like to hear from you!
Roof, 25 year cycle: $120,000
Repaint exterior, 30 year cycle: $25,000
Repaint halls, 30 year cycle: $20,000
Re-carpet halls, 25 year cycle: $15,000
Replace heating system, 40 year cycle: $80,000
Redo only a part of perimeter drainage, 40 year cycle: $60,000
Reline or replace copper water lines, 40 year cycle: $150,000
Total 30 year cyclical costs: $1,270,000.
Do you agree with these estimates? If you're a BCAOMA member, log in and leave a comment!
More to come next week...
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VPD: Police Access to Buildings During Emergencies
Posted on 5/1/2013 2:11:17 PM by Chris Sui
Police Access to Buildings During Emergencies
Current Situation
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is currently faced with alarming and increasingly frequent incidences in which VPD members are unable to gain access to buildings and subsequently the floors of buildings during emergencies. Many members of the public erroneously believe that the police may gain access to buildings as Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services personnel do, but the VPD and other first-responders do not have that same power under the Vancouver Fire By-Law. Due to increasingly stringent security systems in the newer condominium buildings, the barrier has placed the safety of the public and the attending members themselves at great risk of serious harm or injury. The VPD has launched an initiative to remove this barrier so that the members attending emergency calls may gain access swiftly to reduce the likelihood of serious harm to the public and provide the high level of service that the citizens of Vancouver demand.
Authorization
VPD members enforce laws under federal, provincial, municipal and common law authority. During an emergency, police officers have the authority to enter a private dwelling under the common law to protect life and property. What this means is, if police officers believe a person`s life is in danger of imminent harm or death, they may enter a private dwelling, without warrant, to protect the victim.
The police are permitted to make a forced entry into private premises, including a dwelling house, if the following preconditions are met:
- - the officer has reasonable grounds to believe an emergent situation exists involving:
- - preservation of life, or
- - prevention of serious injury and
- - proper announcement is made prior to entry, including:
- - notice of presence
- - notice of purpose,
- - notice of authority
In extreme and rare instances, announcement is not tactically feasible
This principle not only applies to circumstances involving the prevention of an offence likely to cause death or injury but equally applies to a situation to prevent death or further injury which may result from injuries already sustained during a completed offence. The police must be able to articulate the reasonable grounds upon which they acted.
The Supreme Court of Canada has also acknowledged a police officer`s duty in checking the health and safety of persons who call 911. The importance of the police duty to protect life warrants and justifies a forced entry into a dwelling in order to ascertain the health and safety of a 911 caller.
Authorization in these circumstances does not provide authority to force entry into private premises for the purpose of simply pursuing an investigation.
Solution
The Vancouver Police Department is proposing that the property manager and/or each strata corporation of each building voluntarily provide access to the VPD during emergencies. The VPD would provide the administrator of the building`s intercom panel a telephone number to be programmed into the intercom`s directory under a secure code. Upon arriving for an emergent call, the intercom panel would dial to Ecomm and the Ecomm operator would be able to grant access to the public spaces but not to private residences, just as any occupant of the building would. The solution is cost-effective and can be implemented immediately upon entering into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Vancouver Police Board and a strata corporation.
Terms of Use
The terms of use by the VPD under an MOU with a strata corporation would be strict and must be documented and approved by a supervisor. Under this program the police are only being granted access to the common area(s) of the building, and would still have to comply with the laws with respect to entry to any of the private dwellings in the building. The following are examples of when this procedure would be used:
- · Hang-up 9-11
- · Domestic Disturbances
- · Home Invasions
- · Weapons Calls
- · Suicidal Calls
Unauthorized Use:
- · Break and enter report where there are no suspects
- · Surveillance
- · Warrant arrests
- · Curfew checks
- · Noise complaints
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AGM & Trade EXPO: Feature Hightlghts
Posted on 4/17/2013 11:33:07 AM by Chris Sui
Dinner & Keynote Speaker: "Do We Get The Government We Deserve?"
Ballroom, 6:00pm - 8:15pm
Trade Show & EXPO:
Exhibition Room, 1:45pm - 6:00pm
Services and products to meet all your rental management needs
Rental Housing Seminars:
The latest topics with industry expert speakers
Tratoria Room, 1:45pm - 4:55pm
More seminar info - click here.
Appy Hour -
Tratoria Room, 2:00pm - 4:45pm
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CFAA Report - Federal Budget Release March 21, 2013
Posted on 3/22/2013 11:09:59 AM by Chris Sui
CFAA`s report on the federal budget released on March 21, 2013 can be downloaded here (PDF).
The key points of the report are as follows:
- The 2013 federal budget does not appear to include any tax reform measures directed at rental housing providers specifically, either positively or negatively.
- Several general corporate or trust tax changes may have some effect on some rental housing operations or investments.
o A reduction in the dividend tax credit for CCPCs
o Thinly capitalized trusts may face limits on the deduction of interest paid to non-residents
- The Community Improvement Fund will provide money for municipal infrastructure work, which will provide a modest reduction in the pressure for increases in municipal property taxes, typically a landlord&rsquos largest operating expense. More detailed information about the impact of the budget is found in the attached report.
The 2013 Federal Budget can be seen at the following link: http://www.budget.gc.ca/2013/doc/plan/toc-tdm-eng.html
Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations
Fédération canadienne des associations de propriétaires immobiliers
1600 Carling Avenue, Suite 640 Ottawa, ON K1Z 1G3 Cell: 613.809.5357 Tel: 613.235.0101 Fax: 613.238.0101 Email: communication@cfaa-fcapi.org Website: www.cfaa-fcapi.org
CFAA represents the owners and managers of close to one million residential rental suites across Canada. CFAA is the sole national organization representing the interests of Canada''s $80 billion private rental housing industry, which provides homes for more than eight million Canadians.
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Online Payment Now Available
Posted on 3/1/2013 10:24:32 AM by Chris Sui
-
4 Easy Steps to Online Bill Payment
STEP 1
Login to Members area of the website using the email address you have provided to BCAOMA. Your password is your member number.
STEP 2
Select the GeoTrust button.
STEP 3
Your member ID number will carry forward to the payment screen. Enter the information requested. If you have not completed all the required fields the system will prompt for this information.
STEP 4
Select the SEND PAYMENT button and you are done. You will receive a confirmation email to the one provided and a second copy will be sent to our office.
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Q&A: Notices to Vacate from Tenants
Posted on 2/28/2013 3:39:43 PM by Chris Sui
Landlord Question
Dear BCAOMA,
Please see below a note I received from my tenant ...
As a landlord, my question is do I have to accept this notice from my tenant?
Answer
A letter written in this manner does not constitute a proper notice to end tenancy from a tenant. In order to be effective, the form and content of a notice to end tenancy from a tenant must include all of the following:
(a) Be signed and dated by the tenant giving the notice
(b) Give the address of the rental unit
(c) State the effective date of the notice
If a tenant's notice to end tenancy is missing one or more of the above criteria, you may advise the tenant in writing that the notice you received is not effective and to provide proper written notice as per the Residential Tenancy Act, section 53.
A Notice to End Residential Tenancy (from tenant) is available free in the BCAOMA members-only section of our website at www.bcaoma.com, under Forms & Tools. Simply sign in using the email address you registered with BCAOMA and your Association membership number. You can print a copy of this form and ask your tenant to complete it and return it to you.
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You Rented To One Person: Now You Have Four!
Posted on 4/27/2011 5:04:40 PM by Chris Sui
And you have no idea who the other three people are who are living in your suite.
This is a very common call to our office. There are some simple remedies for avoiding this situation initially or for quickly dealing with extra people immediately upon discovery.
Some situations are even worse—the original tenant has left and is no longer living in the rental suite.
Establish your building criteria
When interviewing prospective tenants, advise them of your criteria. For example, you have a one-bedroom suite for rent. Your criteria may be as follows:
... Click here to continue reading
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BCAOMA Tenancy Applications Recommended by Ozzy Jurock
Posted on 4/13/2011 12:20:08 PM by Chris Sui
BC's high profile real estate investor, Ozzie Jurock, noted in The Province newspaper the importance of landlords using BCAOMA Residential Tenancy Application forms in their tenant screening process. Read the article in The Province newspaper website, or click here for PDF version. Below is an excerpt from the article:
Do the legwork and be ready to seize the day
By Ozzie Jurock, The Province - April 10, 2011
... Q: I would like to know how can I screen my tenants more carefully and what questions I can ask?
A: Legally, you are allowed to ask for information on who their previous landlord was, who their employer is, where they bank and permission to obtain a credit check.
The B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association (www.bcaoma.com) has produced application forms, which ask all the above questions. Call (604) 733-9440.
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Does Your Tenant Have Mental Illness?
Posted on 3/30/2011 2:54:01 PM by Chris Sui
Three rental property owners spoke to BCAOMA member services reps recently about three different yet quite similar situations. Some of their comments were:
"My tenant has recently been diagnosed with dementia. She left the water running in her bathtub causing a flood."
"My tenant told me that the large cigarette burns in the living room carpet were caused by her falling asleep on her couch while smoking. She claims that she suffers from mild narcolepsy, a sleep disorder."
"My tenant has problems with drinking and often passes out while the stove is still on, causing some small fires. Thank goodness the tenant across the hall smells smoke and contacts me very quickly."
The similarity between these cases is that each of these tenants is dealing with some form of illness causing them to behave in a way that poses significant risk to your other tenants and to your property. These tenants may have been with you for many years, paid their rent on time, took care of the property and behaved reasonably. Over time, these same tenants developed diseases that could lead to major disasters within their rental suites and the property overall.
Conscience tells us that one would be rash, unsympathetic or down right mean to evict a good tenant for dangerous behavior caused by a disease or illness that the tenant could not help or control. Owners ask us at the BCAOMA, "Can I evict? Would I be heartless and inhumane to evict? Would this make me one of those bad rental property owners you hear on the news? What if my tenant burns down the building or other tenants get flooded out of their suites, or causes injuries or death because of my reluctance to do something? Would my building insurance be voided if the insurance company considered my inaction to be negligent?"
Before considering eviction we suggest some of the following approaches:
1. Write simple step by step instructions that explain how to use the appliances in large print. Keep them posted in common areas such as laundry rooms or provide each tenant a copy for their own use.
2. Ensure smoke alarms are placed in the appropriate areas within each suite and do regular monthly checks to ensure that the batteries have not been removed. Hold regularly scheduled fire drills.
3. In some cases, you may have to dismantle the working elements of the stove and encourage the tenant to use the microwave only. You would have to ask permission - this might involve contacting the family of the tenant to get their assistance. On an annual basis update emergency contact information for each tenant so you are able to reach the appropriate family contact when need be.
4. If available, talk to the tenant`s home care or community health service worker to develop a safety and injury prevention plan or to arrange more frequent in-home visits. If the tenant does not have a community health service worker and you have no family contacts, give your local community health services department a call and express your concerns (Vancouver Coastal Health or Fraser Health Authorities).
5. You can ask to have a tenant mentally assessed if the behaviour has become extreme&mdashdangerous to themselves and/or other tenants through the Health Authorities. Explain that you are at the point of evicting your tenant.
6. A police officer or constable may apprehend and immediately take a person to a physician for examination if satisfied from personal observations, or information received, that the person
(a) is acting in a manner likely to endanger that person's own safety or the safety of others, and
(b) is apparently a person with a mental disorder.
When all prevention and intervention strategies have been exhausted and the situation has not improved, rental property owners may consider eviction. Owners may end a tenancy if the tenant has seriously jeopardized the health or safety or lawful right or interest of the owner or another occupant, or put the owner`s property at significant risk (RTA Section 47). A written breach letter must be served on the tenant as a final warning giving a reasonable date to rectify. If the situation is not corrected within a reasonable time, One Month Notice To End Tenancy can duly be served. Ensure that you keep a journal of every incident to corroborate evidence should the tenancy lead to eviction.
Rental property owners have the duty to ensure for other tenants in the building their rights to safety and security. When faced with these types of problems act promptly, document, and ensure you do your due diligence to take care of your tenan`s needs, your property, and yourself.
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Accepting Rent from Non-Tenants
Posted on 3/30/2011 10:49:41 AM by Chris Sui
Has your tenant’s girlfriend, boyfriend, family member, or occupant who is not on the tenancy agreement tried paying you rent? By accepting rental payments from a person who is not your tenant that person may now claim to be a party to the tenancy agreement whether you realize this or not.
What is the rationale for such a dubious claim you ask? We have seen many cases go to Dispute Resolution where the landlord’s action to accept rent or a security deposit from someone who is not a tenant can constitute the establishment of a tenancy agreement even if no formal contract is signed. Do not accept rent from someone unless you are prepared to recognize them as a tenant. The great misunderstanding is that a landlord accepts rental payments from a non-tenant believing that the money is paid on behalf of the original tenant. Unless the understanding is made clear, accepting rent from the non-tenant remains open to interpretation.
The key to avoid creating a tenancy with someone who is not your tenant is to make it clear to both the tenant and the person delivering payment that the rent is being accepted in the name of the tenant only and no one else. How do we make it absolutely clear?
Put it in writing.
If you are caught in a situation where you are presented with the rent from someone who is not the tenant tell him/her that you will only accept the payment if it is on behalf of the original tenant only and that you will be confirming this with a letter in writing after the money is accepted. If you accept a personal cheque follow up immediately with a letter. If you accept cash write it immediately on the cash receipt. Don’t wait long to issue a clarification letter in writing, otherwise you may find the non-tenant moving in a few days after if they have not moved in already. If the non-tenant delivering the rent argues with you saying “it is from both of us (me and the tenant),” or “I’m paying the rent,” or is ambiguous saying “It’s for unit #203” you should refuse the payment from the non-tenant immediately and deal directly with the tenant with whom you have the signed agreement.
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