Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) May 25, 2018 7:21 PM
Ontario Election Woes (by RB [MI]) May 26, 2018 3:59 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) May 26, 2018 5:58 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by Richard [MI]) May 26, 2018 7:30 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by RathdrumGal [ID]) May 26, 2018 8:10 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by AllyM [NJ]) May 26, 2018 8:53 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by Landlord ofthe Flies [TX]) May 26, 2018 11:50 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by Robert,OntarioCanada [ON]) May 26, 2018 6:48 PM
Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) May 26, 2018 7:08 PM
Ontario Election Woes (by Robert,OntarioCanada [ON]) May 27, 2018 7:50 AM
Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) Posted on: May 25, 2018 7:21 PM Message:
Here in the Great Province of Ontario the election is looming in a couple of weeks and the news is that the New Democrats are enjoying a surge of popularity which is extraordinarily bad news for landlords. The CBC's poll tracker has the NDP and Progressive Conservatives essentially tied. Their prediction has the PCs at 77% likelihood of forming a government because their vote is more efficiently distributed around the province while the NDP vote is concentrated in certain urban constituencies (chiefly the GTA). But momentum appears to be on the side of the NDP; their vote is rising daily and the Liberal vote appears to be collapsing. The CBC reports the vote share as NDP 36.0%, PC 35.9% and Liberal 21.0%.
Why does this matter to Landlords? Because the NDP are socialists and among their loopy policies is a commitment to end so called vacancy decontrol, meaning that when a rent controlled tenant leaves the very same low rent would have to be charged to the next incoming tenant. Crazy! I predict an exodus among Ontario landlords if this madness passes. They can do many things but they cannot make it compulsory to be a landlord. People are going to take a long hard look at their rental units and determine which ones they are willing to hold onto and bide their time until the NDP are kicked out of office and which ones are marginal and they refuse to re-rent at cut rates, potentially locking in a long term tenant to leech off you and take advantage of the NDP's laws. The net result will be that the already vanishingly low vacancy rates in major urban centres in Ontario will get worse.
After all the stories on this board about the craziness in Ontario and the toxic environment here for investment in rental property you may have thought it could not get worse. Well, it can. If Ontarians are foolish enough to elect the NDP then vacancy decontrol may be but a memory along with workable cash flow and an ability for landlords to balance the books amid rising operating costs.
Another winning NDP idea is that we should become a sanctuary province. The idea is that anyone who is of undocumented immigration status should be able to present themselves to any provincial facility and receive free government services, no questions asked. This includes free healthcare at doctor's offices and at all hospitals! It does not take much imagination to see how this might be open to flagrant abuse.
Most people are getting their news from TV which is not helping the situation so we are on the precipice here. The leader of the Progressive Conservatives is unpopular and seen as liable to cut services, although he has pledged to only reduce spending by 4% after many years of growth in program spending. It does not help that his brother was the late Mayor of Toronto who had problems with cocaine. In short we have the ideal storm here and the rental housing business looks like it could be collateral damage. Pray for us, we could use the help.
--70.30.xx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by RB [MI]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 3:59 AM Message:
Praying for change is one thing,
but "Taking Action" to make things change
is another.
Sounds like your Outnumbered and Surrounded. --47.35.xx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 5:58 AM Message:
RB - I am going to the advance polls today if that counts as "Taking Action." Avoiding the crowds on election day.
I am actually spending the day showing a unit to nineteen prospects in hopes of signing a lease. It has been tough sledding. The tenant pool is not strong. The participation rate of those adults involved in the work force in my part of Ontario has fallen from 70% fifteen years ago to 61% today. If the New Democrats get in they will of course further add to incentives to stay at home on government benefits and avoid work. Neither Ontario Works (welfare) nor Ontario Disability Support Plan (ODSP) can be garnisheed in the case of rent arrears or damages, so such tenants present great risks to landlords. Basically, you are left holding the bag since they are judgement proof. Such tenants will offer that the government will pay rent direct to the landlord but what they won't say is that the tenant can stop this at any time and have that money redirected to them as part of their cheque! The landlord is then completely without recourse. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has ruled that it is a breach of human rights to discriminate based on source of income. It places landlords in a very difficult position.
We can expect more such craziness with an NDP government and of course an expansion of the Liberals' minimum income experiment which involves paying people significant sums to do nothing. --70.30.xx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Richard [MI]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 7:30 AM Message:
I feel sorry for all who have to deal with this craziness. I had to put up with it myself but finally threw in the towel, so to speak, and sold out in the areas where this lunacy happened. Moved to a place where there is currently still some sanity. However, if these socialized ideas show up here, I will sell again and move my investments elsewhere. --66.188.xx.xxx |
Ontario Election Woes (by RathdrumGal [ID]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 8:10 AM Message:
So sorry you are having to experience this. I am afraid it is the fate of LLs where renters exceed 50% of the population. An easy way for short sighted politicians to buy votes is to promise rent control, "first in line" approval, outlaw so-called "no-fault" evictions, (we would call them non renewal of leases), etc etc etc. This is happening in Portland and Seattle, so US LLs should not feel protected.
I read the Reddit Landlord board, where the moderators allow tenants to post. A high proportion of the posts are from Ontario tenants - not the other Canadian provinces --seeking ways to game the system. It appears to me that the Ontario rental rules have made people less satisfied and more concerned that their "rights" are being violated. Your laws in Ontario do not appear to be bringing peace to LL/Tenant relations, but rather causing more dissatisfaction. --98.146.xxx.xxx |
Ontario Election Woes (by AllyM [NJ]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 8:53 AM Message:
Stephen, if we get nuked down here like Kim Jung Une said he would, I will be heading up to Ontario so I can get free lodging and food until I can get settled. We all better pray because there is a news report from 2014 that says he wants to nuke DC, Austin TX, Seattle and Hawaii. Our Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced last week that he was only a few months from getting the capability. If you want to find the 2014 news article google Austin bombing and North Korea. I found it when I wanted more information on the Austin TX bombing last month. --73.178.xxx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Landlord ofthe Flies [TX]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 11:50 AM Message:
Wow, if Ontario becomes a sanctuary province, maybe Trump should build a high speed train from our southern border to your southern border, instead of a wall. Ontario might solve our illegal immigration problem for us.
I will be forever grateful. Viva la Canada!!!
--108.69.xxx.xxx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Robert,OntarioCanada [ON]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 6:48 PM Message:
Today voted in the advanced polls for Doug Ford leader of the progressive Conservative party of Ontario. As of October last year sold the last apartment building where invested then started to collect pension. Like many of the smaller rental housing providers sold out to very corporations which evict the majority of tenants, renovate then increase rent. Many of the smaller buildings like the ones owned are now owned by very large corporations which are going to charge a much higher rent. Rooming houses in Toronto and the greater Toronto area are being sold then converted back to single family houses as those houses can be worth a half a million to a million dollars. The number of rooming houses in Toronto alone has dropped to half. Smaller rental housing providers in the province of Ontario are a vanishing breed. The basis of rent control along with broken two tier rental dispute process is to bankrupt the private rental housing providers then the government takes over with no rent control. Many cities in Ontario smaller rental buildings like the ones now owned by very large corporations. In the last provincial election 45 per cent of the population voted where the majority of tenants along with those on social assistance did not vote at all. The election results will be split between rural and urban areas where some of urban areas will vote socialist. One of the leaders rides around in a million dollar highway bus. Finally those who become aware a government is going to pass bad legislation fight it tooth and nail so it does not pass so once it is passed there is little that can be done. --147.194.xxx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Stephen [ON]) Posted on: May 26, 2018 7:08 PM Message:
I was at the advance polls as well today Robert and that was another vote for the Progressive Conservatives. Doug Ford has his limitations and his plans could be more fiscally conservative but he is the only one who has indicated he will take a long hard look at the Residential Tenancies Act. There was an interview where he said he believed in markets, not rent control and then recently some of his candidates put out a press release saying that Ford would not take anyone's rent control away. So much for principled conservatism or indeed for harnessing market forces of supply and demand to do anything about the punishingly low vacancy rate that is making it so hard for people to find places to live. But maybe they might do something once in office.
These people who say they are going to vote NDP when the pollsters call them up on the phone, you do have to wonder how many of them are actually going to trek to the polls and exercise the franchise. It is one thing to casually express an opinion and another to spend up to an hour or so driving back and forth, presenting a poll card and ID, lining up, and going through the process. My bet is it is just talk for a lot of them. A bit like showings, you get a lot of callers and a lot of them sign up for showings but an awful lot of them are no shows and they can even be no shows after confirming the day before. A lot of people just don't deliver.
We have to hope that Conservative voters are organized and committed to action, and that the claimed NDP vote turns out to be soft. Ontario can't afford their mismanagement and misdirection. Their effect on the rental housing business would be devastating. --70.30.xx.xx |
Ontario Election Woes (by Robert,OntarioCanada [ON]) Posted on: May 27, 2018 7:50 AM Message:
Tenancy advocates do not even represent 0.01 per cent of the population where generous government funding keeps this insanity alive. Some of the tenancy advocate chairs actually own their houses so that is the reason they will not tell you who is in charge. At times the organization was receiving half a million dollars a year. With that kind off money show us they can do better job of running rental units. Basically the socialist do not believe in private sector rentals. There is a reason why the government owned rental units are not under rent control or follow the same landlord and tenant dispute process. Now will continue to receive pension along with income from investments as sold all the apartment buildings. What happens on June 7th no one knows. A majority progressive Conservative government would be able to pass legislation without any input from the other two left wing parties. Going to watch the political debate tonight at 6:30 to see what happens. After 5 years of struggle found there was no future as a rental housing provider in Ontario. Governments at all levels will never have the money to build non-profit rental housing. --147.194.xxx.xx |
Reply:
|
|