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I live in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada. We have very laws here that are skewed in favour of business owners (landlords), and subsequently tenants have very little protection.
My roommate is moving out and used my landlord as a reference. Only my name is on the lease, so the landlord said he could not speak to my room mate's paying on time but that I have been late a couple of times on the rent. That is a lie. I have lived in his rental suite over 7 years and have been late once on the rent, which was not even my fault, but that of a girl that was a room mate at the time. I explained the situation to him, paid my portion, and apologized, and insured that he received the rent from that girl's mother less than 5 days from the first of the month. That incident occurred about 5 years ago.
Today I find out he is lying about my ability to pay rent on time and I am furious. I am additionally angry because I have spent about 30 hours unpaid labour painting the living room in the last month, he never painted it once since I moved in. The house looks better now than when I moved in - I also painted the bathroom 2 years ago from the ugliest beige/brown conceivable to a nice green.
If I move out, I know he will try and say he needs to keep the damage, all I can do is know that I marked on our original one year lease agreement all the marks and scratches on the floors and walls.
Now, I know that he will provide a reference that is not only bad, but that he has lied about my paying rent on time. I have copies of all the cheques I wrote, all dated for the first of the month, none that ever bounced. Can I sue him for libel? I don't have any money to do so. How can I insure he tells the truth?
You can't sue someone until you have suffered damages. Then you can sue to collect compensation for those damages and expenses related to the law suit.
I'd suggest you call him on it, let him know that you know what he has said and tell him you have all the cheques you have written to him and the date that they cleared (back of the cheque). Good luck!
If you move and give a previous or current address and that address is 7 years, then it is contradictory that you have problems paying the rent. I do not know any LL who would keep a tenant 7 years and not get rent on time. Keep that in your portfolio and know you have the truth on your side.
I have copies of all the cheques I wrote, all dated for the first of the month, none that ever bounced. Can I sue him for libel? I don't have any money to do so. How can I insure he tells the truth?
The date you wrote on the front of the check is irrelevant. It doesn't prove anything. Does your landlord cash your checks in a timely manner? If not, the stamp on the back won't prove anything either.
I have one tenant who dates every check on the 1st and has been late on rent almost every month since we rented to them, about 2 years ago. We haven't kicked them out because they do always pay, have never bounced a check and are otherwise good tenants. But they pay late more than half the time. If you looked at the dates on their checks, you would think rent was always paid on time.
The only way to prove this is if you got dated, signed receipts and kept them.
Shane gave good advice. If you are applying to a new place, tell the prospective landlord up front what you think they are going to be told, and explain the situation. The fact that you rented there for 7 years says something.
As to the other things you said
The owner likely has no obligation to paint during your occupancy. We always paint between tenants. Seven years isn't that long on a paint job, especially if there has only been you or your roommates as a tenant...unless the paint was peeling, it wouldn't need to be painted after 7 years except for a new tenant. If he didn't agree BEFORE you started to pay you for the labor, then he has no obligation. In addition, if you didn't get permission to do the painting, you might be in violation of your lease.
Also, if your name is the only one on the lease, then there is no such thing as "it wasn't my fault the rent was late"...whether its a roommate or not who didn't pay, if you are the primary on the lease, you are ultimately responsible for making sure it is paid in full.
All of this, of course, varies by local law and custom...I have no idea what the leaseing laws might say in Canada.
Finally, it sounds like you are getting this second or third hand. Did you talk directly to the person who talked to your landlord, or are you getting the story from your roommate? Either way, the roommate's prospective new LL might have decided they don't want to rent to the roommate and just made something up about a bad reference. You just don't know.
You stated "I marked all the scrateches , etc" when you moved in...that is something but still hard to proof how large and how many or you must have described every spot where, how long, etc...pictures are almost the better proof and if he has pictures of every room, that might be better evidence than your "markings"....did you and the LL both sign the list of things wrong, at the day of moving in?
Otherwise it is just your word against his...
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