CRRA Members Report Nearly 2 Million Dollars In Tenant Damage for 2019!

CitysearchCalgary - Sunday, August 9, 2020

By Jordan DeBarros

The Calgary Residential Rental Association would like to thank our members for recently completing a survey regarding tenant damage! We are grateful to the 165 members who took the time to complete our tenant damage survey and we truly appreciate their feedback.

The survey asked two questions regarding tenant damage that occurred in 2019:

What was the total amount ($ value) of repairs due to physical tenant damage for your rental property/properties in 2019?
What was the highest single incident cost ($ value) of physical tenant damage for your rental property/properties in 2019?

The total tenant damage amount reported was slightly less than 2018 although the average damage per unit increased slightly.

Of the 165 responses, a total of $1,609,789 in tenant damage was reported for 2019; equating to an average of $71.15 in tenant damage per rental unit based on the 22,582 rental units represented in the survey.

The average damage cost per CRRA member in 2019 was $9,756.30, far surpassing the average damage per member in 2018 of $8,897.94! The highest single incident of tenant damage in 2019 was $151,013 - with two additional members each reporting damages from their tenants exceeding $35,000.

What can you do to minimize tenant damage?

1. Conduct thorough reference and tenant credit checks

Although reference and tenant credit checks are not an absolute guarantee that the tenants you rent to will not damage your property, they are a great tool for helping minimize financial risk.
CRRA President Brenda Blaney outlines her company’s process by stating:

“Landlord, employment and credit checks are equally important to us in trying to determine financial stability and if a tenant will be less likely to cause damage. Nothing is fail safe, but with all three checks, we generally get a fairly good idea of the tenant’s lifestyle and what we can expect during their tenancy.”

All CRRA members receive exclusive discounts with Rent Check Credit Bureau on tenant credit checks. Please visit our alphabetized Service Member directory at http://www.crra.ca/search/newsearch.asp to obtain Rent Check’s contact information.

2. Conduct regular inspections of each unit in your rental portfolio

Property inspections are a great tool for your business and should be conducted every three to six months to help prevent damage to your rental property and to ensure that items requiring repair are fixed before it is too late. CRRA member Victor Didkowsky of Living Well Rental Communities is a strong proponent of conducting regular inspections as a tenant damage mitigation strategy:

“We conduct tri-annual inspections of each rental unit in our portfolio and do monthly building inspections. Each building also has an on-site resident manager which helps to notice issues that may arise in the building that may otherwise be missed. We also have specific email addresses for our residents to use to assist them with specific inquiries such as maintenance requests”

3. Ensure you obtain a security deposit from your tenant at the time of lease signing

Security deposits are deemed optional under the Residential Tenancies Act but can be a great financial safeguard in the event of tenant damage. Remember to always conduct a thorough move-in and move-out inspection with each tenant so that you may legally deduct for damage from the security deposit if necessary.