Now the ugly side of things

For the most part I've remained positive on the experiences of "Moving to Calgary".  I believe that finding the good in life simply puts you in a better frame of mind.  Yet, I've had complaints on this blog about how come I never point out the bad side of Calgary.   So I shall


Chapter 1:  If you are a renter

I've rented numerous apartments in my life.  I've had good and bad experiences.  I can say that home ownership brings it's own set of challenges (like making it hard to move if you live next door to a douche).

Renting in Calgary and in Alberta is most likely going to be a bad experience.  Rental costs in Calgary are as high, or higher, than what you would find in the West End of Vancouver.  Often, you will pay outrageous rental costs for buildings that are "sub par" on the best of days.  I know personally of people who have suffered through slum lord type of conditions.  In one case, I went to visit a friend in a building managed by a well known property company.  They had 1 elevator out of service & the other was on "move in".  The result was that everyone had to use the stairs to go up.  That day I just happened to be on crutches due to a previous accident.  7 flights of stairs with a near broken foot.  The person in the building later moved. 

And speaking from personal experience, I once lived in a building in Calgary in an urban area.  The landlord (another well known company) refused to put working locks on the door.  The result was all types of scumbags would come in the building.  Of course nothing says "surprise" like some crack head in your laundry room routing through your wet clothes.   A drug den was later set up behind the place & the company refused to put out any lights.  In fact, it was pitch black back there.  The result was several folks on my floor just vacated their units because they were so afraid.   I also vacated the property & was advised I was in "breach" of my lease.  My response was I had ample evidence of their negligence & told the property manager I would share my findings with every tenant & prospective tenant that came to the building.   I also said they were welcome to sue me (I quote "I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker").   The result was they found a "loophole" to get me out of the building mid lease.  The place was full of bedbugs too but thankfully were not in my unit.  Regardless, I slept on a blow up bed for 5 months for fear my expensive bedding would be ruined. 

Another time, while living in Edmonton, I arrived to find my new apartment still filthy dirty.  I signed off on the apartment as "filthy dirty", took pictures and cleaned it myself.  When I moved out, I left it as I received it (filthy).  The landlord made it clear I would be paying for the cleanup, but a quick trip to the Alberta rental disagreement people (use it) and I received my entire deposit back. 

In fact, this specific landlord (another major company) was unreal.  I met a guy who lived on my floor and was moving out.  He had to leave by noon on the last day of the month BUT was just moving down the hall.  The unit was empty BUT they told him he could not take possession of the unit until the next day.   He was forced to move ALL his furniture down to the truck, sleep in the truck overnight & then move it all back upstairs the next day...3 doors from his original place.  I'm not lying. 

I could go on with horror stories, but expect them.  If you can, buy a house or a condo...it'll save you the grief and it'll cost the same anyway.  

What should you do in Alberta if you rent?

1.  Understand that being polite & sensible does not work.  You are required to be an asshole & escalate EVERY issue you have to every single email you can

2.  Threaten to inform the rest of the tenants about your issues.  If there is a clause in the lease that prohibits you from doing this, threaten to stand outside on public property and hand out flyers.  And then do it.  You only need to do it once. 

3.  Document everything.  Take photos & notes of the problems, even problems that aren't affecting you.  List the time, date & where it happened with a photo (with a date).   When I fought the landlord that refused to put locks on the doors (which lead to addicts in the building) I had over 30 pages of complaints with photos & dates.   The result was that the "judge" in the case (it's some type of rental tribunal thing) chastized the landlord & set out a directive to have them fix the issues within a certain time frame.  In short, I won. 

4.  Just as important, mail your local MLA and the mayor.  Advise them of how SICK and TIRED you are of dealing with this type of treatment.  Once you've said that remind them that this type of issue does not make folks want to move here.  I'm a senior professional & I can find work in pretty much any city.  Why would I move to Calgary if I had to rent (and most people rent the first year or two).   I would simply stay put or go elsewhere.  In my own case, I did (Vancouver).