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Episode Description If you own enough rental units in Quebec, mental health will come knocking.
In this episode, I share my first experience with psychosis in student housing—and how, 20+ years later, schizophrenia, hoarding, drug-induced psychosis and untreated mental illness are regular challenges in my buildings.
If you see investing in Real Estate as part of your future, it's a matter of time before hoarding, dementia, sanitary issues and noise complaints find you. Landlords today are managing what the public health system won’t.
This episode gives some tips and context to help prepare you.
This episode covers:
- What kinds of mental illness you’ll see in tenants
- Real stats: how cannabis, isolation and aging are impacting Quebec renters
- What to do when tenants’ behavior impacts your other residents
- What not to do—and how to protect your building
- Why compassion and boundaries both matter
Mental Health Is a Housing Issue. Let’s Start Treating It Like One.
In my 20+ years as a property manager, I’ve cleaned up the fallout from untreated mental illness more times than I can count. Food theft, hoarding, feces in bathtubs.
But the real problem? We have no plan.
Police, landlords, city inspectors — we’re all patching holes in a sinking ship. Mental illness today doesn’t mean hospitalization. It means eviction.
Deinstitutionalization. Budget cuts. An aging population. Rising drug use. The stats don’t lie—and neither do the eviction notices.
It’s time we stopped pretending this is just a healthcare issue.
If you’re in housing, real estate, or public policy, this episode of my podcast is for you.
Mental Illness & Tenants: What Every Quebec Landlord Needs to Know
[Link to episode]
#housingcrisis #mentalhealth #propertymanagement #realestate #policyfail
LinkedIn Newsletter CopySubject Line: Mental Health Is the Crisis We’re Not Talking About (Yet)
Header: What Schizophrenia, Hoarding & Housing Have in Common
Hi [Name],
My first week managing student housing at the University of Toronto, a schizophrenic housemate stole everyone’s food and later screamed “Satan!” at one of the other tenants. She ended up evicted, howling outside our door at night. That was my crash course in what the housing system doesn’t do for the mentally ill.
Flash forward two decades, and I’ve evicted tenants who hoard, suffer from drug-induced psychosis, or have other untreated mental disorders. None of these evictions are really about rent.
In this week’s podcast episode and newsletter, we go deep into the data and the personal stories behind the mental health crisis unfolding in rental housing. Here’s a taste:
- Psychotic breaks aren’t rare anymore.
- Cannabis-induced psychosis in young men is skyrocketing.
- Hoarding disorder affects over 6% of people 55+.
- Emergency rooms and rental courts have become our asylums.
What’s worse? Quebec spends less than Germany, France, or even the UK on mental health.
We need to start telling the truth: landlords, inspectors, and police are holding the bag because our systems are broken.
Podcast: Mental Illness & Tenants → [link]
The full write-up → [link to newsletter if separate]
As always, thanks for reading,
— Terrie
1. Terrie’s Weekly Email Newsletter (for Equity Builders Club)
Subject: Mental Illness in Tenants: Not If, But When
Body:
Hi [First Name],
If you’ve been in the game long enough, you’ve already seen this.
Hoarding. Psychotic episodes. Tenants who spiral into dysfunction and take your building down with them.
This week’s podcast is personal:
My first week managing student housing, one of my tenants thought her roommate was the devil. She screamed “Satan!” and threw a plate at his head.
Fast forward 20+ years, and I’ve evicted hoarders, drug-induced psychotics, schizophrenics who damage units and threaten their neighbors and unwell tenants whose chronic uncleanliness attracts pests.
Popular explanations call out poverty, rising rents and affordability issues,
From my perspective, it's about mental health—and the fact that no one else wants to deal with it. So it lands on us.
What’s happening now:
- Generalized anxiety disorder doubled in 10 years
- Cannabis-induced psychosis is skyrocketing among young men
- Dementia rates are set to double every five years as populations age
- Hoarding affects 6%+ of people over 55
- Quebec spends less than France, Germany, or the UK on mental health
Listen in to learn:
- What kinds of disorders show up in tenants
- Why you can’t ignore this anymore
- What to do before you end up with a building-wide problem
- How to protect yourself legally, financially, and emotionally
Madness About Madness: What Every Quebec Landlord Needs to Know
[Link to episode]
See you next week,
—Terrie
P.S. If this hasn’t happened to you yet, good. Now’s the time to get ready.
