Northern Property REIT left door unlocked, alleges tenant
Mohammed Uddin says his family returned from vacation to find some of their belongings missing
A Yellowknife man who says his landlord left the door to his apartment unlocked while he and his family were on vacation now faces a $1,400 cleaning bill.
Mohammed Uddin says when he returned from a recent trip to Bangladesh, he found his apartment door open, valuables missing and his family's belongings shoved into a bedroom.
The landlord, Northern Property REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), entered the apartment to prep it for pest control because the building is infested with cockroaches.
"I thought my landlord would take care of my stuff. But they didn't. They did the exact opposite," says Uddin.
His daughter, Fariba Choudhury, was also dismayed with the situation.
"It was shocking because everything was empty and we had to sleep on the floor."
Uddin says the family is missing a jewelry box, television, computer, and treasured religious books.
NPR, which calls itself the largest residential landlord in the Northwest Territories, has a different version of the events.
Kathryn Smith, the company's marketing and communications manager, said in an email that the company was in the middle of treating Uddin's apartment when he came home from vacation and found his door open.
The email also notes that Uddin had given the pest control company permission to enter his home and that all tenants had been provided instructions on how to prepare their suites before the treatment.
Uddin refuses to pay the $1,400 NPR has charged him to clean the suite and prepare it for treatment. He says he will take his complaint to the territory's rental office.