Slum Lords
Slum Lords
As a young adult in Winnipeg renting can be very risky. For some reason landlords don’t feel the need to be honest with their new tenants, and with the outbreak with bed bugs most aren’t doing enough about it. Back in November as I struggled to find a affordable, decent place in the Winnipeg school division I found it very difficult. When I asked the landlords if there had been any previous issues with bed bugs every one of them told me no. Later on I found out from friends and people’s tips on Kijiji that three of the places did have bed bugs before. But bed bugs aren’t the only thing they will lie about. They also won’t tell you of many other things. Once I thought my search was over and I had landed a cozy bachelor suite. I later found mould mildew all in the bathroom that someone had tried to do a cheap job at covering up, and mice which they even denied knowing about after confronting them. So let this be a warning to all new tenants and anyone looking for an apartment, don’t always trust what the landlords tell you. They may be a slum lord!
by Sarah
cindym Said,
November 3, 2010 @ 10:55 am
I totally agree with the writer about slum lords. I think that the landlord should have agreement that there are no bed bugs. They should sign a letter saying in fact that there are no bed bugs, so that if by chance there are then you should be able to get out of your lease agreement and that they should pay for new furniture and moving cost. I just think that having a written agreement will work for both landlord and tenants.
Brittney Said,
April 8, 2011 @ 10:24 am
Being a student and for my age of 20, I find it hard to find a nice decent place. I live in a 2 bedroom duplex and it has mice. So I’m with you on the slum landlords, I think they should maintain their properties, for other people.
Tony Said,
April 8, 2011 @ 10:27 am
Most landlords tend to hide such problems only to turn a better profit with the income of the renters and ignore the big problems. If such a problem persists with the current landlord, I suggest moving entirely as they are not interested in your needs and just their own.
josh bruce Said,
October 31, 2011 @ 11:56 am
That’s sick! Landlords are greasy when it comes to that stuff. Thank God I don’t have bed bugs or mice.
martin Said,
October 31, 2011 @ 12:09 pm
Unfortunaly slum lords are a problem in our city. My girlfriend used to live in a house that was brutal and had lots of problems. She had mice and some mould in the bathroom and dirty old carpets. Finally she had enough and just moved entirely. Now she has a nice place. Don’t rent from “helmut” lol
shane Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 11:56 am
I agree fully, but if you do get word of any type of bed bugs or anything in that nature, get rid of it fast. it doesnt take a scientist to figure out that in order to have a nice cozy bed bug free apartment, you need to clean all the time. I myself am a very clean person and my apartment is never dirty, and if it ever is, I get up and do something about it.
Jasmine Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 12:07 pm
I completely agree with all of the commenters. I do believe that it is the landlord’s duty to be truthful to the tenants and basically it is the tenant’s right to know what problems they might have with their apartment.
jessica Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
Yupp, Winnipeg is bad for slum lords. It’s hard to find a decent place that is affordable anymore, and the places you can are falling apart and bedbug-infested. It’s hard to find decent living when the prices of places just keep going up and the working mininum wage barely covers the rent. If you have kids you don’t want to live in a run down crack shack. But that’s about what you can afford after taxes, rent and other life expenses and you barely have enough to afford to eat.
Vic Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 1:11 pm
I have to agree with everything, you all have stated. There is no doubt that I have had my share of run-ins with slum landlords. One place we lived in was so bad we did not stay there very long. The house was very nice on the outside with a very nice fence and the inside wasn’t too bad either, but when we moved in we started noticing disgusting things like mould, mice and other types of bugs. Suffice it to say, we were not there very long.
So to refer to what Cindy M said, I think that if you are going to rent from iffy people, get an agreement stating that there is no indiscretions with the household. It is the only way you can ensure you will have a nice place to live.
eddy Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 1:16 pm
I agree in regards to lots of the the landlords. I have one right now who refuses to do any kind of maintenance for even things as small as fixing mailbox locks.
Myron Thompson Said,
November 4, 2011 @ 1:27 pm
RE: Martin Said ,October 31, 2011 @ 12:09 pm
I happen to know someone who rents from the landlord “Helmut”. I don’t know him personally but from what I hear he has plenty of houses in the inner city. I wouldn’t suggest renting from him either; I hear his houses are pretty nice. He gets new drywall, new carpets, windows, etc, but there seems to be mice in most of the houses that he’s renting out. There are also basement leaks in some of the homes and he takes his time on dealing with these issues. Personally, I think renters should be given the right to get landlords to sign an agreement stating that they will get rid of any problem that arises while living in the rented space. If renters are signing a tenancy agreement, Landlords should also be signing some sort of agreement as well when renting out a home. In other words, equal rights are not practiced enough. It isn’t fair when only the tenant is agreeing to meet the needs of the landlord and the landlord is getting away with everything else. Why doesn’t the city deal with issues like this.
Glennis Said,
November 10, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
I totally agree with everyone’s comments. Bedbugs are such a big problem because many landlords don’t maintain their properties and because the tenant may feel embarrassed about the problem.
Re: Martins comment
I happen to have “Helmut” as my landlord! When i first moved in I took over a friend’s lease, and he told me i had to pay my friend the damage deposit, and the damage deposit is the same as the rent! Meanwhile, you’re supposed to go through the landlord to get your damage deposit back. Second, the damage deposit is supposed to be half the rent, not the same as your rent! He has a sticker on his van that says “I work hard because many welfare people depend on me” yea right! It took him a over half a year to get my carpeting in. We also offered him to get rid of a run-down garage in our back yard for a minimum price, because he wouldn’t do it! Someone ended up burning it down last month – which left him a bigger mess to clean.
darcy Said,
November 10, 2011 @ 1:38 pm
I agree that it is getting harder and harder to find a place that is affordable let alone allows pets in their homes. My husband and I are trying to find a place that allows pets and is affordable.
Sharon-Rose Bear Said,
February 24, 2012 @ 11:23 am
I think that slumlords are the most greedy in the city. They not only know that there is a large number of young mothers on low income, and yet they raise prices on sh**y places so it takes most incomes young mothers have. They never help out with fixing things and lie about good things in the building. There should be something done about this because it’s not only the renter that is having a hard time, it’s the children that have to live in this environment.
Allen Said,
February 24, 2012 @ 11:30 am
There are very good comments on this site. For about a year I had to live in a slum dwelling with mould growing all over the apartment, along with some mice. This was reported several times but nothing was done. So when my lease was up I got out of there!
Rebecca Said,
February 24, 2012 @ 2:27 pm
I’ve lived on Bannerman Avenue for 12 years and the first 7 years I had a nice landlord until he decided to sell. Then this young guy bought it and he was a real jerk. Since I’ve stayed there I’ve never complained. Then the neighbors upstairs complained to the city and he blamed me for everything and he even evicted me. He even said “I’ll give you a good reference” but that liar lied and I got turned down on other places I found. So watch out for liars like that. They’ll back stab you.
Andrea Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
I feel that there should be a background checks on the houses to see if there were any outbreaks with bed bugs, cockroaches, or mice etc. Oh and the landlords especially!! The city needs to make a “Ban on Slumlords”. It’s getting to be down right disgusting already.
Darren Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 12:10 pm
People need to keep in mind that a lot of the slumloards ( landlords ) in this city don’t have actual ownership over the properties and are just managing them them for other rental companies. I just moved out of such a place where I was in a rent to own agreement which went sour when I found out I needed a new $5’000+ high efficiant furnace and that the basement floor needed to be dug up due to a sewage pipe that had burst. With this said landlords like this are just hoping to get what they can from tenants before the establishment can’t be lived in.
Josh Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 12:17 pm
I find this funny for some reason. I don’t know why it’s just funny hearing ppl complain. But yeah, landlords should do a better job at maintaining their properties.
Christian Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 12:19 pm
I have been renting for about 14 years from the places I have seen and the landlords I have dealt with just never matched. Some of the apartments were nice on the inside with the landlords being not so nice on the inside and outside. Many landlords in this city especially knowing your whole situation because you need to tell them, they tend to belittle you or lie straight to your face and they are all about money. Landlords now a days just want to get you in no matter how run down the apartment is or what is going on between the walls and then they decide when you leave because there is always someone else that will take your place with a better lifestyle in their eyes. You will always be wrong in any case of fighting them on something even if you are right they will go to the ends of the earth to try to prove you wrong. Most people are too scared to complain and taking your complaints to residential tendencies seems to be like a good idea at the time but then in most cases you end up with an eviction notice. In the end these landlords will do what they do, no matter what the problem is. For every person that complains and loses to them there is always someone that is going to take the place no matter what happens no matter what these landlords get away with. It is a lose, lose situation for all parties involved. Renting anything seems like such a bad idea but you do what you have to do.
Jarret Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 12:24 pm
Slum lords are a dime a dozen, in it for the money and will stab you in the back if it will benefit them. I’ve lived in the same place, on Ellice Ave, for 4 years now and in that time, I’ve encountered many landlords come and go from my building. When I first moved in, I asked if there was a bed bug problem. Being the honest person he was, he admitted to me that there was a problem but it had been solved and cleared and assured me that if a problem of any kind should arise that I should contact him and he would try, to his best ability, to help and solve it. Well that was quite a while ago and he has since left the company and is no longer the landlord. I admit that I do miss him, as he was the best landlord an apartment building could have on Eliice Ave. In closing I would like to say that although most landlords out there are slum lords and really don’t care about their tenants, there are some really good landlords out there as well and to find an honest one, which may be hard, is also really rewarding.
Brittany Said,
October 29, 2012 @ 1:02 pm
Most people should be looking extensively when checking out an apartment, and to do their part to get the landlord to fix it before renting an apartment. Like at least, be smart about the situation before making the situation worse on you. They have pamphlets for people who are moving into their first apartment, so nothing like your situation would happen to anyone else. Nice to know people have everyone’s back on that one.
Jenny Said,
November 9, 2012 @ 2:08 pm
Hi. Yeah, I have lived in many different apartments and have had two slumlords. As of right now I am renting a house somewhere on the west-end of the city. I would call and call and somtimes his phone would be off and he would not get that call until two days later. Or I would leave a voicemail and he would not recieve until two days later also. What if it was an emergency or something? He has fixed the minor things that he can get to fix around the house but what about the other things? I’ve lived in this house for almost three years now and sometimes I am getting sick to my stomach that nothing is getting done around my home. That is why I am planning on moving out of that house and into a better one with my four children. If you don’t have the courage to fix an apartment or a rental home then why be a landlord? The money is the only main power they have. Sometimes they will threaten you to do things or your own. I have been threatened two times already and I have had enough of it. I totally agree on all of the comments here.