Should landlords have to pay the costs of police calls to deal with nuisance tenants?
ARMCHAIR MAYOR POLL — City council is looking into a bylaw that would force landlords to pay the costs of police or fire services responding to complaints about nuisance tenants if the tenants didn’t pay, but should landlords be held responsible at all? Vote in the poll on the righthand side of the page.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
The city would have no way to coerce payment from a tenant so I don’t think there would be any choice but to bill the landlord.
First on the list of potential payers should be the tenant, billed for his transgression, then, after significant pattern, the owner.
I have neighbours that moved in over a year ago who throw nearly nightly parties till 5am – drunk, fighting, yelling, throwing used condoms into my yard, breaking bottles against my house, etc.. I have phoned the cops each and every time.. I have phone city by-law each and every time… I have contacted the landlord (who lives in Ontario) who has hung up on me… and NOTHING has been done. My kids are afraid of going outside for fear of reprisal from the problematics neighbours. I’ve gotten so fed up that I’ve sold my house and am moving away.
So who pays? Me.. real estate agent fees.. mortgage penalties, utilities hookup fees, etc…
It would be nice if the landlord was held responsible for renting to this trash that I’m finally getting away from.
Of course there should be recourse to fine landlords who really don’t care for their property or try to do anything about problem tenants. But usually, bad tenants cost everyone – the neighbours, the city and the landlords as well.
No. They should go after the people who caused the disturbance. Landlords aren’t parents….their tenants are responsible for their own behaviour if they are adults.
If the residential tenancy act was changed to make it easier to evict or police tenant activities, it could be different. Often, bad tenants also damage rental properties. Under the current rules and slow processes under the RTA, it would be overly pejorative to hold landlords responsible for tenant behaviour! Go after the bad tenants and make it easier to evict them!
Even a hearing if a tenant disputes a 24 hour notice for assault , or significant damage, can take up to three months to be heard. And the tenant gets to keep living there making everyone’s life hell.
The only time a landlord should be held responsible is if it can be proven that the landlord continually rents to sketchy people, with out doing their due diligence.