Another local landlord is out thousands of dollars because of a tenant with a history of failing to pay.
The tenant, Margaret Peebles, first spoke to Beach Metro News in June, shortly after she and her business partner Larry Hay were evicted from a home on Waverley Road.
It was the fourth rental suite in the Beach or Cliffside that she and Hay had been asked to leave with debts owing since 2010, and Peebles admitted to giving a false reference to secure it.
After reading that story, a fifth landlord asked Peebles and Hay to move out of his suite in the Upper Beach, where they failed to pay rent for July, August, and September.
“We use the rent to make ends meet here,” said the owner, Bob Abrahams, who runs a small architecture firm in the office below the suite.
“It’s a real blow to us not to have that money coming in.”
Peebles, who runs a home-based pet care service and a small soap-making business, said she fell behind on rent after losing clients this summer, but she was hoping to negotiate a plan for catching up until Abrahams asked to end the lease instead.
“I can’t blame him,” she said. “I knew when the story ran in the paper this is the new age, where once something happens it’s there forever.”
Likewise, Peebles was not surprised to find she and Hay are named on tenancybureau.com, a private, crowd-sourced website for landlords to list people they deem “bad tenants.”
Asked if she and Hay had rented suites knowing they would have trouble paying for them, Peebles said no, a downturn in business caught them by surprise.
“You never know what’s going to happen – it goes in cycles,” she said, pointing out that they lived in one Beach apartment for over a year, and never fought against landlords’ efforts to have them move out.
Peebles said she and Hay will likely move in with friends for a few months to get back on their feet, adding that she has every intention of clearing her debts.
“I know exactly how much I owe every single person, and I carry it with me constantly,” she said.
Was this article informative? Become a Beach Metro Community News Supporter today! For 50 years, we have worked hard to be the eyes and ears in your community, inform you of upcoming events, and let you know what and who is making a difference. We cover the big stories as well as the little things that often matter the most. CLICK HERE to support your Beach Metro Community News!
Would you like to know where they live or hide now