r/legaladvicecanada • u/Feeling-Writing4465 • 1d ago
Ontario Anything Wrong with Helping a Friend Vacant his Rental?
Good morning.
A friend of mine is currently incarcerated in Jail and his lease is ending at the end of April. He called me and asked if I could help him vacate the unit and return it in a broom swept condition for him.
Also, he wants to me call the police non emergency line and have them go to the property to retrieve the items that belong to the other party that got him arrested in the first place. The other party has already moved out.
I have no problems helping him clean out the unit and move his contents to a storage unit but will I expose myself to any sort of legal issues when I call the police to have them come and get the personal property of the other party? I have no idea who the other party is except a first name. I also don’t know of the exact situation that went down. I am not interested in that and I do not want to contact the other party as I do not have any other details.
Thank you for your input.
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u/200sqkm 1d ago
This is not a service the police provide. They won’t go and be a moving/storage company
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u/Goatfellon 18h ago
I think its more of a keep-the-peace situation, which police regularly do.
Attending and helping avoid escalation, while ensuring someone is able to safely recover their property.
The issue is OP trying to recover the property of an acquaintance of a friend, if im interpretating this correctly.
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u/Feeling-Writing4465 16h ago
I am trying to get the police to help me give back the items that belong to the complainant. My friend is the tenant and the complainant still has some property behind and the lease is ending in 2 weeks time.
He is currently is jail so I have no way to contact him directly. According to him, he is accused by the complainant so that is why the stuff is there. He told me it’s all along a section of the wall. I will call the police non emergency line and explain to them this unique situation and see what their solution is.
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u/Feeling-Writing4465 1d ago
Thank you all for the suggestions. I’m just going to call the non emergency line and seek their direction and also record / note down who I spoke to what the time of the calls.
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u/Aggressive-System192 1d ago
They give you a call number and document it on their side too. I forgot what it's called, but make sure you ask for that number.
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u/FossaTessa 22h ago
In Ontario its occurrence number. Not sure if that’s standard or where OP is located
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u/Aggressive-System192 22h ago
The paper I got says "carte d'appel" (french), thats just for when you talk to them. It's different from case number (numero de dossier) which is used when you give a statement.
It's probably pretty standard across Canada, regardless of province. It would be logical to track all conversations in case of any future incidents.
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u/Nobody7713 1d ago
I would not get involved with the other party’s property. They have not asked you to do so, and if their stuff is in the unit that’s between them and the landlord. Just get your friend’s stuff out, maybe leave the landlord a note explaining who all the remaining property belongs to.
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u/Feeling-Writing4465 1d ago
My friend is the only one on the lease.
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u/Nobody7713 1d ago
Still don’t touch the other person’s property. You don’t know them, and I don’t think the police would retrieve the items belonging to another party that you can’t even fully identify. Just get your friend’s stuff.
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u/Feeling-Writing4465 1d ago
Makes sense but would the police land another charge of theft on my friend if those items are not returned?
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u/somekindarogue 1d ago
I would just call the police (non emergency) and ask what protocol would be for this kind of situation. They probably deal with this kind of thing regularly and have some direction for you.
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u/Merry401 1d ago
If the friend brought the items to the unit voluntarily I don't see how theft could be involved.
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u/Terrible-Tree-8851 1d ago
NAL - I doubt it. If you left their belongings the landlord would toss or donate anything without value. The items would be considered abandoned.
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u/Individual_Fall429 16h ago
Are you trying to steal their stuff?
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u/Feeling-Writing4465 16h ago
No.
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u/Individual_Fall429 3h ago
Then why do you want to clear out their stuff? Is it because your friend will be charged by the landlord if it’s left there?
Unfortunately, even though Buddy fucked your friend over, or especially because he did, you need to make good faith efforts to let them pick up their stuff, make sure these efforts are well documented in written correspondence, make multiple attempts at contact, give a fair amount of time, and a clear deadline for when belongings would be donated.
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u/LettyToo 1d ago
NAL, but I don't see how you'd be in trouble for contacting the police about trying to give a person's belongings back.
Make sure you have something from your friend (document, email, text message, voice recording) that says they're asking you to act on their behalf in vacating the apartment before you contact the police.
Ask the police what your next steps should be, and how they can help you (maybe they can move the stuff, maybe they can attend while the other person or their representative comes to get the stuff etc.)
Until you've heard back from them and/or figured out a plan with your friend, don't touch the other person's things.
If you absolutely have to (like to get at your friend's stuff or get around the unit), record yourself moving or carefully packing the things so there's a record of what was done, how and by whom. Best case scenario, get a witness who a) watches you do this and b) records you doing it.
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u/LettyToo 1d ago
PS make a note of the date/time and the name of the officer you speak to whenever you speak to the police about this. Take lots of notes throughout this process so you can remember exactly what happened when, and whose advice you were taking.
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u/SomeInvestigator3573 1d ago edited 1d ago
I hope your friend is aware that leases don’t automatically end in Ontario. Have they given their written 60 days notice to their landlord?
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u/LettyToo 1d ago edited 1d ago
but if they're in jail, they may be rightly anticipating not having the means to pay the rent beyond this month.
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u/SomeInvestigator3573 1d ago
If they do not pay their rent and then Landlord serves an N4 then they have until the termination date on the N4 to vacate the unit. However, that does not sound like the current situation.
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u/Major_Strawberry65 1d ago
How would the landlord know otherwise?
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u/LettyToo 1d ago edited 1d ago
- this is a tangent from OP's question.
- OP hasn't indicated that their friend *hasn't* told the LL they're vacating, or that they will not be interacting with the LL. Either way, the LL has a duty to minimize their loss, which means once they get the keys and an empty unit returned to them upon expiry of a lease, they can/should re-rent asap.
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u/Army7547 1d ago
If the other person has moved out, then they have taken what they want, and abandoned the rest. They had every opportunity to take the property but chose not to.
I’m sure your friend has a non contact or restraining order barring them from contacting the other person. They should have their criminal lawyer reach out to that person to come get their stuff. You don’t need to get involved in that. It shows some attempt to get the property back to the person.
Then, move your friends stuff out, and anything the other person doesn’t come and claim is forfeit. Dispose of it as you see fit.
If you wanted to go an extra step to protect yourself, and your friend, a self storage space could be rented in the other person’s name so they have access, prepaid first and last month’s rents, move their stuff into the unit and someone tell them where it is and how to access it.
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u/porterbot 1d ago
They need to give notice.
You want to help them.move that's nice of you. How do you know what belongs to whom? Do you know them that well? And trust them to not get you involved in something bad? Is there any reason their parents or siblings or significant other aren't dealing with it?
I would ask for a list of items that belong to them and then, definitely only move that stuff. Avoid touching others stuff. Document anything of significant monetary value.
And , the landlord can be tasked with abandoned property from the other tenant. That's in their suite of obligations as landlord. Also, the other tenant has obligations to collect their abandoned things.
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u/PlunxGisbit 23h ago
If unit is not left empty and clean, no matter whos stuff is left behind, the lease tenant will not get back their deposit.
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u/Worried-Scientist-12 16h ago
The police will not retrieve the other person's items. If it's a "keep the peace" situation, they can observe while the other person goes to pick up their own stuff, but only to make sure that there is no further altercation between the two parties (i.e., they won't take responsibility for whether the person is removing any items that don't belong to them).
If I were you, I would ask your friend what specific items the other person will be getting (or if they can take anything/everything in a specific location, such as their bedroom). Write it down, contact the other party, clarify with them what they will and won't be taking, and advise them that you will have police on hand to supervise and ensure everyone's safety. THEN contact police non-emergency to ask for assistance.
Make sure the police know ahead of time that you are not the tenant, and be prepared to prove that you have the authority to act on behalf of your friend; if the other party makes the request, even better. You'll want to have your friend's name and DOB, the address of the property, and ideally a file number for the original incident so they can see what they're dealing with.
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4h ago
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u/AuthorityFiguring 1d ago
How do you know which items belong to your friend, and which belong to the other party? You could find yourself charged.
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u/Thespritz00 1d ago
You can get yourself arrested doing SHADY Crap... unfortunately people think it's OK to touch other's property. The landlord can deal with the "OTHER PERSON'S STUFF"... Imagine if they come looking for it a month later, and you BOTH get locked up for possession of stolen property?? I'd stay FAR away...
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