My tenant is supposed to look after the lawn but he didn’t and I had to repair it on my own. It cost around $1,600 with materials and labour to repair the damage. How do I prove these amounts are legitimate? How would I find the tenant after he moves?

If your tenant has already moved out, as of September 1, 2021, section 88.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act allows a landlord to file a claim for damages with the LTB within one a year from the date the tenant moved out of the rental unit. The tenant must have moved out of the rental unit on or after September 1, 2021. However, in order to file this application with the LTB, you will have to find out his new residential address to be able to serve him.  It’s not easy to track down a tenant, and you may have to hire an agency that provides this service. You can search online for agencies that will do this; they’re called skip tracing agencies. As for the costs, you can try claiming for your own labour costs but it can be difficult to justify the amount you’re claiming. One way that might help is to obtain a quote from a landscaping company on the cost of doing the work, including labour costs. It’s ultimately up to the LTB adjudicator  to decide what  a reasonable amount would be for the work done.

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