What To Do When Tenants Leave Junk Behind
Don’t Allow Your Rental Property Junk Removal To Give You A Headache
Here at Junk 4 Good, we know first hand the challenges that property owners and managers face when dealing with tenants moving out or being evicted . We receive panicked phone calls from customers nearly on a weekly basis who have had tenants move out and leave belongings behind putting it on the owner to deal with the rental property junk removal. Often, these calls are prompted by City Bylaw leaving the landlord a notice to remove the junk asap. Here are our 3 tips for what you can do when tenants leave junk behind.
Act Quickly And Efficiently To Have Junk Removed
Our first tip for your rental property junk removal is to get the problem taken care of quickly, especially as these garbage items are often left outside or in a common space. By letting these items sit around while a seeking resolution with the tenant, they could potentially become a hazard to other people and the environment around them. Often, broken furniture will have exposed nails or screws or sharp pieces of wood or metal protruding which could easily injure someone living around these items.
If junk left outside a rental property goes unreported or untouched, often what will happen is a neighbour will report it to the City as a nuisance or danger. Bylaw will visit the site and send you a notice to remove the items with the risk of being subject to a fine. One big issue we observe on regular basis is other neighbours or tenants adding to a small pile of items, creating a bigger problem if left unattended. When people see items outside, many will take that as an invitation to get rid of theirs too. Again, if you have rental property or apartment junk removal needs, get them taken care of fast!
A reputable junk removal service provider should be able to respond to your request in a safe and quick manner within 1-2 days typically. By “biting the bullet” and taking care of this right away, you reduce the risk or further fines later on, and your neighbours will really appreciate you too!
Make Sure Your Junk Removal Contractor Is Properly Insured!
Fortunately for the consumer, due to the current state of our economy, junk removal services are in an abundance. This means that you can often get a cut-rate price from many willing individuals with a pick up truck and a strong back. The scary part is when you begin to think about the potential risks you take on as a landlord/business or individual when having these “ma and pa” companies out to do work. Working in a very physically demanding industry and dealing with potential hazards on a daily basis, every junk removal company should not only be carrying ample liability insurance, but also appropriate WCB coverage. The last thing you want or need is a contractor getting injured or injuring someone else while on your property.
Ever heard the saying “You Get What You Pay For”?
Unfortunately, this becomes gleamingly obvious when working with fly-by-night or “Kijiji” junk removal services. When you contact us at Junk 4 Good for your apartment junk removal, our staff will show up in a recognizable and branded truck, properly insured (for not only ourselves but also our customer) and fully covered by WCB (this is worth saying because our industry has the most expensive WCB rates along side roofers).
Bottom line is, do your homework. Any reputable company should be able to easily answer any questions you may have to make sure you hire a safe and reliable company. Additionally, you can even ask for proof of this before any work takes place. If you are speaking with a company who is dodging these questions, turn and run! There are lots of established companies offering great services who will gladly provide this information to win your business.
Do It Yourself
We know that as a landlord you will often have access to a truck or trailer. If you are a “hands on” type of person, in many cases you can take care of apartment junk removal and even general rental property junk removal yourself. What you will need is two strong backs (unless you are super-human), a truck or trailer and a way to secure the load. Assess the items that need to be removed be it furniture, scrap metal or appliances. Be conscious when looking through the junk to separate any chemicals or potential explosives. This will most likely have to be sorted and disposed of separately. Additionally, make sure to separate any mattress items as they will be set aside for recycling at your local depot.
Once you get the items loaded and tarped, locate your nearest Eco Station, Landfill or Transfer Station and proceed to their location. Here you will need to report what items you have to dispose of, pay the disposal fees and follow their instructions for sorting.
Performing the work yourself can absolutely reduce the cost of the service if you have the freedom in your schedule to spend the time loading, driving and dumping the items.
If you are looking for a reputable removal service, with a great online reputation and many happy customer reviews, give us a call, or book online today!
