Michelle has had enough.
For more than two decades she has owned rental units in the North Okanagan, but after dealing with a rogue tenant and her lack of legal recourse, the landlady is done with the rental game.
Because she has an upcoming court date regarding this particular tenant, Castanet has agreed to not use her real name.
Michelle said the tenant has not paid rent in several months while she has had to shell out thousands of dollars in legal fees and other expenses in an effort to reclaim her own property from someone who refuses to pay for the privilege of living there.
The problem, she said, is the rental tenancy act is so tilted in favour of the renter, the landlord is left with little ability to protect their property from deadbeat tenants.
And she said that is one of the reasons there is such a rental crunch in the province.
“A lot of people will not rent anymore,” said a frustrated Michelle who has been embroiled in red tape and paperwork for months.
Michelle said she has paid thousands of dollars to deal with the matter while the tenant has not had to pay a dime.
“I'm done with it. Why would I put myself through this?” said Michelle who was planning to use the rental property as a retirement nest egg.
But now she has to re-think her plans.
“I can't risk it,” she said. “All it takes is one tenant to go rogue on you and it can end up costing thousands of dollars.”
Michelle knows of other landlords who are putting their property up for sale rather than go through the hassles of renting – something she is considering as well.
And land owners deciding to sell rather than rent are adding to the province-wide rental crisis.
On Tuesday, all three levels of government, along with various agencies and even some realtors, gathered to hold a round table discussion on the lack of rentals in the area.
Several topics were touched upon and one area Vernon-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold said should be looked at is the rental tenancy act.
“Landlords are feeling beat up by the tenancy act,” said Arnold.
Michelle said she plans on bringing up the issue with Arnold and Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster.