If Richmond landlord Fudong Lu could choose again, he probably would have never agreed in June to let a tenant couple move into his rental home on No.3 Road.
“They refused to leave, don’t pay the rent, (he) assaulted me, and threatened me to not get close to the house,” Lu claimed to the Richmond News.
“And they told me there is no point suing them because by the time the court starts, they would have left the country.”
Lu, who owns a detached rental home on No. 3 Road just south of Blundell Road, was contacted by a man in June who said he and his wife were interested in immigrating to Canada from China and were visiting Richmond to check out the city.
They signed a contract to rent two of the rooms at the house and agreed to move in two days after.
“But they moved in on the same day without my permission,” said Lu, who believed the couple took the spare key he hid near the house as he revealed where it was while showing the rooms.
That, for Lu, was just the first red flag.
He said what the man never told him was that his wife was heavily pregnant.
Out of safety concerns, Lu, who lives at a different address, then asked the couple to leave the house and move to one of the so-called “birth tourism” hotels nearby.
They refused, according to Lu.
The baby was born in July and Lu claimed the couple stopped paying the rent because they said he never gave them the key to the house. They eventually paid after receiving a written notice from Lu.
Then, at the beginning of August, Lu said the couple refused to pay the rent, again, claiming that it was because the dryer in the house was broken.
And when Lu tried to reason with the man in the house, the pair got into a verbal confrontation, ending, according to Lu, in the landlord being struck on the back of his neck.
“I was walking past him to leave the house and, all of a sudden, he used a sharp thing, something like a chopstick or a phone, to hit my neck. I fell dizzy right away,” recalled Lu, who called the police afterwards.
No point going to Residential Tenancy Branch: Landord
However, Richmond RCMP said both parties made assault allegations.
According to police, the matter is “very convoluted” with “both alleging that each had been assaulted, allegations of paid and unpaid rents,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
“Parties were advised to consult with Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) and to follow its established guidelines.”
Lu, however, said the man told him there is no point going to RTB because by the time any hearing is scheduled, he “would have left the country already.”
The man, according to Lu, also threatened him multiple times and warned him not to come back to the house, otherwise he “won’t be nice” to Lu and his two kids.
Once, according to Lu, the male tenant sent him a picture of the cover of a Canadian passport and told Lu his new-born just received a Canadian passport and if anyone dares to harm the “little citizen, don’t blame me for not being nice.”
Lu said he has dealt with many tenants “but it’s the first time I’ve met someone who is so reckless of the local law and policies, and is violent and has no respect.
“I got assaulted, can’t collect the rent, can’t get help from RTB, and my and my children’s safety is now under threat, but there is nothing I can do but to wait for them to leave.”
“They can’t come to Canada and do whatever they want and just leave without being held accountable.”
Lu said he thinks being a landlord is a “high-risk” role and is even considering selling his house.
“People complain that there isn’t enough rental housing available, but it’s so hard to be a landlord these days and sometimes it’s just not worthwhile to rent out a property.”
