First Rental Property

The more I am learning about the eviction process in Ontario, the more I am coming to realize how much risk real estate investors truly take on.

In How to Evict a Tenant Part One, I spoke of the importance of being over prepared when you are in the process of evicting a tenant.  Over preparation can help you win your court hearing.  Again, ‘winning’ is a relative term.  You don’t really ‘win’ the hearing, rather you have judgement granted in your favour…if you are fortunate.

In How to Evict a Tenant Part Two, I spoke about the importance of having an Entourage at your court hearing.  Here is what I mean:

When I attended my court hearing, I made an interesting observation.  The landlords that were in attendance had come by themselves.  They had no friends or peers with them.  They were just there by themselves.

The tenants on the other hand came in groups.  The groups ranged in size from 2 to 4 people.

Before the hearing started, all of the groups of tenants gathered together and began to socialize, just outside of the ‘courtroom’.  I don’t know what the official name of the room was that the hearings were conducted in, however, it did in fact REALLY feel like a courtroom.

There were frosted windows around the perimeter of the door to the courtroom.  Therefore, the groups of tenants waiting outside in the hallway could peer into the courtroom.  Also, the people sitting in the court room could peer back through the windows and look at the tenants who were all gathered outside.

It did not take me long to figure out that a good number of the tenants at this hearing had been there before, probably on a number of occasions.  I have a gut feeling when it comes to these sorts of things, and I could tell immediately, that they had been here before and that they were very familiar with the process.

The People Inside the Courtroom

Prior to attending the hearing, I had considered brining one of my real estate investing peers with me for some moral support.  However, I opted against that as I felt that I was prepared enough to tackle any obstacle or challenge that presented itself during the hearing.

When I had located the room in which my hearing was taking place, there was a sign in sheet on a table which was just in front of the door.  There was a large gentleman guarding the door.  I assumed that he was a baliff, as he was dressed like one.

When I approached him, he asked me to put my name on the sign in sheet.  I did.

I entered into the courtroom 30 minutes before my court hearing was scheduled to begin.  I was the first one in there.

Over the course of the next 20 minutes, only 2 other people entered into the room.  It was a small room, with seating for about 40.  Picture a really, really small court room, similar to the one in the OJ Simpson trial.  That is what this room looked like.

The 2 other individulas that joined me consisted of one property manager, and one other landlord.

I could tell that they had both been here many times before.  I could tell this based on their body language, how they were dressed, and where they sat in the room.  Like I said, I have a sixth sense when it come to noticing these things…

In the next installment of How to Evict a Tenant, I am going to talk about the other landlord that was in the courtroom with me.  He had some really interesting stories that he shared with me.  He was a landlord with 40 years of experience, and I learned a great deal from him.

In closing, I am going to leave you with another tip on what you should take with you to your court hearing.  This item is a:

Transaction Summary.

In my next post, I am going to explain what a Transaction Summary is, and how it can help you ‘win’ your court hearing.

Until Next Time…

Don’t be afraid of non-paying tenants,

-Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you want to buy your first rental property, but you are too afraid to…  Follow my blog so that you can gain the necessary knowledge and confidence.  Don’t delay.  Follow today!  🙂