Composting Options

More and more people are trying to find ways to reduce their household waste. We all want to leave a smaller carbon footprint, and one of the easiest things we can do is compost.

The most common method is to have a compost bin outside your home or apartment building. If you are lucky enough to have the space for one, it can also be the simplest way of turning your orange peels and egg shells into soil. The downside to this method is that in an urban setting, it may attract unwanted rodents and takes up valuable space.

There are other options and they vary from “icky” to philanthropic. Worms are not generally something people like to have in their apartment, but it’s the new craze... For a fairly small cost, everyone can have “designer worms” under their sink or in a utility closet. The worms eat the waste and produce rich soil that can be used in any type of garden.

If the idea of worms in your building doesn’t work for you, there are other options. Several private companies in large areas provide composting services. You just fill up the bin, and they take it away! The cost over time definitely adds up, but you could save that money in reduced garbage fees. A way to simplify this is to find out if your municipality has a program, as they don’t always advertise this. If not, try to get on some type of composting program by writing a letter to a private company, the person in your municipality or regional district who deals with waste management, or a sympathetic elected official.

The most cost effective solution is donation. Within most communities (especially larger ones) there are people who call themselves “urban gardeners.” These guerrilla green thumbs are always looking for cheap ways to obtain good soil. Placing an ad on Craigslist or in your local newspaper for free compost might be your way of ridding yourself of those unwanted apple cores and coffee grounds.

Generally you would have to deliver the compost directly to the garden, but a small amount of travelling could bear the fruits of sustainable urban living.

--

Hunter Boucher

Bed Bugs - Heat Treatment vs. Pesticide Treatment

We are often asked about the difference between heat treatment and pesticide treatment. Here is a side by side comparison of a heat treatment, and a typical pesticide treatment for bed bugs:

Pesticide Treatment	Heat Treatment
30 Minute-2 hour process	6-8 hour process
Minuimum 2 services; potential 3 or more!	One Service
Bed Bug eggs not killed	100% eliminated
Bed Bugs in walls not killed	100% eliminated
Bed bugs in furniture not killed	100% eliminated
Bed Bugs in clutter not killed	100% eliminated
Intense preparation required by tenants	Minimal preparation required by tenants
Residual pesticides left in affected areas	No toxic chemicals used

 (Thank you to our friends at Assured Thermal Solutions of Vancouver for the statistics contained in this chart.)

 

Are You a Rental Housing Professional?

ROMS BC is very excited to announce the long- awaited arrival of an accreditation program for landlords in BC. Members currently have access to workshops on more than 25 topics ranging from tenant selection to enforcing orders, but until now there was nothing physical to show for the time you spent improving your knowledge. You will now be able to show that you are more than just an average landlord; you are a Rental Housing Professional. Many members take as many workshops as they can, and accreditation will be a wonderful way to recognize this dedication to landlords improving their professional and managerial skills.

The ROMS BC Rental Housing Professional accreditation program is open to all members and members’ staff, including but not limited to office staff, on-site managers and caretakers. Participation is as easy as attending workshops and collecting credits. Five credits are required for accreditation, which lasts three years and can be extended. Workshops of four hours or less are worth one credit, while workshops over four hours are worth two credits. And as a bonus; once you acquire four credits, your fifth workshop is free (up to a $49 value).

Credits will be offered for any workshop presented by ROMS BC!that has a cost of $29 or more [before any applicable discount]; workshops presented by Associate members are not eligible for credits.

But what about all the workshops members have already taken? ROMS BC is willing to award credits for any workshop attended after January 1st, 2011.

ROMS BC recognizes that many members act as landlords with their spouses or business partners, and that their combined knowledge contributes to their success. Because of this, in addition to individual accreditation, joint accreditation can be achieved. (Joint accreditation is not applicable for property managers or staff.)

--Hunter Boucher

Hydro Tip

There are often gaps in time between the end of one tenancy and the beginning of another.    Or tenants may decide to leave early and contact BC Hydro to close their account. The property owner then gets a surprise invoice for the period of vacancy that often can be corrected, but it takes time and effort and the ability to connect with the right person at BC Hydro.

One of our property management members arranges to set up Hydro, water and cable accounts on behalf of new tenants. He has the appropriate forms and gets the tenants to sign them, ensuring the accounts are established at the right time. With the BC Hydro application, he also includes the meter reading at the time the application is submitted. If there is a significant gap between that reading and the last reading (or estimate) in Hydro’s files, the company avoids being charged for the usage that should have been paid by the previous tenants.

-- Carly Ludwar

Mixing Words

The Residential Tenancy Act is full of terms that have definitions specific to our industry. Because the RTA has its own vocabulary, it can be difficult to follow the right processes if you are not aware of the correct definition. Below is a list of six of the most commonly used and misused terms.

Assignment: A tenant with a fixed term tenancy agreement leaves permanently before the end of the term and transfers the remainder of the tenancy agreement to another person, who then becomes the tenant.

Sublet: A tenant with a fixed term tenancy agreement leaves for a period of time, returning before the end of the term and someone else lives in the rental unit while s/he is away.

Fixed Term Tenancy Agreement: A tenancy agreement that both parties agree is for a defined period of time (often twelve months). It may terminate at the end of the term or may be renewable.

Lease: A fixed term tenancy agreement. The word “lease” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Residential Tenancy Act!    Its legal meaning is a commercial tenancy agreement, however our industry commonly refers to a fixed term residential tenancy agreement as a lease.

Occupant: A person living in a rental unit who has not signed the tenancy agreement as a tenant. An occupant includes a person to whom the unit has been subletted (a “subletee”).

Tenant: A person who has signed a tenancy agreement as a tenant; tenants are legally responsible for the tenancy. 

-- Al Kemp and Hunter Boucher

Interest Rates on Deposits

As we covered in our series on deposits there is interest on both pet damage deposits and security deposits and it is very easy to figure out how much the interest is using the Residential Tenancy Branch interest calculator on their site. The real question here is how do they figure out the percentage each year?

We have to search in the Residential Tenancy Regulations for this answer. Regulation 4 in part 1 states that the interest paid on deposits is 4.5% below the prime lending rate of the principal banker to the Province on the first day of each calendar year, compounded annually. What does this mean for you? Unless the prime rate exceeds 4.5%, there will continue to be no interest payable on security deposits for tenancies that began after January 1, 2009.


-- Hunter Boucher and Al Kemp

Friday, October 28th

This date needs to be marked in your calendar!

Why? Because it's the date of ROMS BC's Associate Members Trade Show, Annual General Meeting, and [the first ever] Trivia Night! Once again being held at the beautiful Crystal Garden in downtown Victoria, BC.

From 4:00 until 6:00, join us for our formal Associate members trade show. Nearly 30 exhibitors will be excited to tell you about new products and incentives. In addition, there are multiple Associate member product demonstrations and informative workshops. This portion of the event is free to attend for ROMS BC members and their guests.

At 6:30, we will have a gourmet dinner catered by the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This will be followed by our [brief!] Annual General Meeting. The early bird registration cost to attend dinner and the evening that follows is $54.95 per person for ROMS BC members and their guests.

Beginning at 8:00 will be Trivia Night. Replacing the Casino Night of the past three years, Trivia Night gives you the opportunity to reconnect with Associate members - while having a great time! Each booth will have questions from one of seven categories; geography, entertainment, history, arts and literature, science and nature, sports and leisure, or BC's residential rental industry. Each question will be timed, and in order to fill all the pieces of your "cake," you'll need to visit every booth. And if you get the answer correct at any booth, you'll win ROMS BUCKS!

At 9:45, Trivia Night will be over. At this point, all members and their guests will come down to the prize auction, where ROMS BUCKS are used to "purchase" fabulous prizes. And if you don't win any ROMS BUCKS? No worries; there will also be door prize draws.

If this sounds like your kind of evening, watch your mailbox and inbox for more information!

-- AdviserToTheAdvisers