Rental bureaucracy blues

Applying to rent an apartment in another country, especially a fast-paced big city, is probably one of the most emotionally dysregulating experiences one can voluntarily take part in. I cannot stress enough how big this hurdle can feel, especially to those of us who loathe having to “play the field” with different apartments; sending messages to multiple potential roommates, hoping to hear back from even one, and trying to coordinate house tours over video call. The process has all the worst aspects of online dating – frequent rejection, ghosting, and cat-fishing run rampant on SpareRoom (a popular app for finding roommates). Then, once you’ve finally been deemed sane, with the “right vibe,” you have to make it through the official rental application, sometimes at lightning speed if there are other applicants in the running.

I used to think that money talks, but some of these property management companies – abroad and at home – might as well be asking for your beating heart or first-born child. (Who are they anyway, Rumpelstiltskin?) Even if you offer a large sum upfront, they will demand an extraordinary amount of your private information. And I mean all of it. Your SIN, photo ID, months of bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, your boss’ email and phone number, previous landlord reference, your landlord’s dog’s assessment of your character… and God forbid you must drag a guarantor into the fray. They’ll need to submit all their sensitive information too.

Now look, I understand that landlords have risks they take on as well, and it can be emotionally, mentally, and financially devastating to have a tenant that’s not paying rent. But renters receive next to no information about their landlords. No evidence of repairs made in a timely manner, or history of evictions or infestations, no reviews from previous tenants, no financial documents that show whether the building is in a potentially risky collateral position or guarantees that they will not sell the property during your lease. Renters have to put the roof over their heads in the hands of a person they might not even get to meet.

Every week I hear the words “housing crisis,” either in the news or in casual conversation. And yet, the hoops renters need to jump through keep multiplying. People are generally trusting each other less, and it seems the housing systems are similarly mistrusting. Is it possible these intense bureaucratic processes are contributing to this feeling that we can’t trust our neighbour, without first reviewing their paper trail?

Overall, my own ordeal with finding a safe and clean apartment in the big apple seems to have worked out, but not before over a week of anxiety-tummy. Days spent hoping and praying that this time the extra documents have satisfied the insatiable beast that is property management firms.