Love my landlord! This landlord runs a small business and has a great response time to my needs. Thoughtful and caring property manager. Things happen but they respond. Regularly clean and care about the property and tenants. read more

If I could leave 0 stars I would. I'm finally reaching out about what happened to me 3 years ago. My partner and I at the time were looking for the perfect apartment. We looked at hers and it wasnt bad. A little old, could use updates, but not terrible. Shag carpets, old outdated flooring and cabinets/cupboards. But for $900 a month and pet friendly I thought I could make do. I was taken aback after a few days, I had already sent the damage deposit and first months rent. Upon signing the lease I had a few questions because some things in it seemed shady. She then told me that the apartment we viewed had been given to someone else and she forgot. But she had another one identical. I had asked to see it but she refused to let me until I paid to have the electricity/power turned back on since the previous tenants hadnt paid their bills. It would have been $240. I said I did not agree to that and I refused to sign the lease and I wanted my money back. Because she only would accept the money I had given as a money order, I had one hell of a time getting it back. She told me she would write me a cheque for the one she cashed, and luckily i was able to cancel the other one before she cashed it too. I had driven 1.5 hours one way to meet up and get the cheque from her. At said location and said time. She then yelled at me and accused me of stalking her. I then had to constantly harass her for over a month until she would give me my cheque. This involved us driving into the city with arrangements for her to do the same thing MULTIPLE times until she gave in. I have emails where I had contacted her asking for my money back since I never got the keys and never moved in, and she responded in all caps "ARE YOU STALKING!??" . And the only way I was able to bargain is to blame the power company for the charge and not being able to move in for that reason. She required it to be written and that I wouldn't get any of the money back until I had done this exactly how she wanted it. I was disgusted with how she treated us. Yelling at me over the phone and in person, ignoring me emails, the non-compliance, and then accusing me of stalking because she couldn't remember making arrangements to meet up. This lady is absolutely disgusting and will make your life miserable. I strongly encourage you do your research on her business before moving in. Look up her $40K fine from the city of Calgary for not keeping up to safety/fire codes. read more

I agree with all the one-star reviews here, I only wish I had read them before I rented from her. Do not rent from SonChris - it is run by a lady called Brenda and she will tell you whatever you want to hear to get your money and then screw you over. My experience with Brenda - I wanted to rent one of the three bedrooms in the basement in her house (414 7 Ave NW) it was 500$ first month rent and 500$ deposit. I viewed the place before giving any money - it was generally clean and was renovated after the flood in 2013. I noticed a couple of spiderwebs and inquired about it and she said she has never seen a spider. I was fine with this, as I understood that a spider every once in a while is normal for a basement. I gave her the 1000$, got the keys, and was set to move in on April 3rd. I had hired a moving company and went on April 2nd to clean the room I was moving into and to remove some of the furniture that was in the room to make space for my things the next day. As I started to move furniture to clean and I discovered that behind the couches, dressers, shelves and bed was lined with insect carcasses and spider webs. I called her and asked her to come take a look - she did and told me "one spider is not a big deal, go buy some raid, clean up all of it and you shouldn't have this problem anymore". I asked her if she could bring in an exterminator, she said no, not for just one spider. So, I obeyed and bought Raid and continued to clean and then spray with Raid along the sides because I wanted to try my best to make this work. Because spiders don't like to be found, are very good at hiding, and I was disturbing where they had set up, they started to emerge. I had killed 5 different ones (not daddy long legs, but big ones) each of a different color and species. The breaking point was when I moved one of the shelves and found 6 spider eggs. This was a for-sure sign of an infestation. Plus, it was a red flag that she expected me to clean the dead insects and the webs. I called her to let her know that I am uncomfortable moving in if she did not bring an exterminator as the condition was unlivable. She said to sleep on it and call her the next day. I cancelled my movers that night and called her the next day and told her that I would not be moving in without the place being exterminated. She told me it was "just one spider" and I let her know that I found multiple that I killed and left them out for her to see (because I figured she would deny it) and that I had taken pictures and videos. When I said this, she yelled at me, swore at me and hung up. It took me a month to get my money back, and even then she only gave me back 900$ out of the 1000$ even though I hadn't even moved in yet and was cancelling due to the condition of the place - plus, I was out money since I had to go buy Raid. When I consulted someone for legal action, they explained to me that these cases take a minimum of 3 years to settle and that since Brenda is quite old (84 yrs old), if she passes away in the next 3 years, I would have to go after her estate to get the money which would be up to 10 years. I decided to cut my loses and took the 900$. TLDR: Brenda may seem like an old harmless lady, but she has been in the landlord business for a very long time and knows all the loopholes to screw you over and put you in a position where you are unable to do anything about it. Stay away, fellow tenants, and stay safe! :) Tip: when you go to showings, make sure you look behind the furniture, if any, for cleanliness. And remember that the signs of a spider infestation are: eggs, a large number of spider sightings, and different species of spiders. read more

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Brenda is an old, decrepit, scandalous, money hungry, psychologically inept freak. I lived in her apartment at 312 3rd ave NE for a year. The apartment is garbage, she harassed my guests and is just a huge head ache to deal with. Her paperwork is totally bogus and illegal. After moving out, Brenda decided conveniently that our damage deposit was then hers to keep. Thankfully, I had her sign a receipt from Safeway as our damage deposit proof of payment. We had moved to Toronto and were unable to proceed with legal matters. Thankfully after returning, I followed up with residential tenancy dispute services. Pro tip * keep all records, take digital photos, and get anything and everything signed by her in ink prior to battle. Also - don't inform her of your intent. The best part of it all was phoning her a year later as a "potential" renter and then handing her court papers as she refused to accept them over the phone. Brenda lost in court and gave me my damage deposit back. read more

I saw an ad for a room for rent at 414-7th Avenue NW on rent faster the place was nice and cozy and I told Brenda Sonchris I would like to rent one of the rooms. She tells me to provide $1000.00 cash for first and last and when I have the cash we will do the paperwork. So I show up with the cash and she tells me to give it to her and she will email the lease later. I told her that is not how it works and a signed lease, receipt, and keys are exchanged before any monies exchange hands. Then she says give her $500 and she will send a copy of the lease right now. I told her again get the lease and keys together and only when I have both things will I had off any money. I left , I'm glad something didn't seem right. then I read the reviews wow. I just finished getting away from a bad LL I don't need another. Don't ever exchange monies with a receipt and lease and keys. Especially with private LL read more

I am FREE!!!! Thank GOD I was able to break free from Brenda of Sonchris Developments. I wished I had read ALL the reviews before renting from her in the first place, that would have saved me a LOT of trouble. Today's date SEPTEMBER 4, 2017. When I was looking for a place to live I unfortunately found a place in Brenda's basement. She lives on the top floor of her Sunnyside home and she has 3 bedrooms in the basement up for rent. All the rooms were newly renovated (post FLOOD) and I was the first tenant so I got my choice of rooms. She seemed fine at first and I seemed to get along with her well enough, I did think it was odd that she would find reasons to enter my bedroom all the time (at least on a weekly basis). I didn't have anything to hide so it wasn't a big deal at the time. The first problem came when I would wake up in the morning because of her screaming bloody murder into the phone. I could imagine her face was blood red and hot, was like a blood curdling screaming at some poor tenant. I hoped this was a one time thing but no it wasn't. It became a regular thing at all hours to hear her screaming like she got shot or something. She was always complaining about something, she's in her 90's and still personally manages all her properties including cutting the lawns and shovelling the show. I thought it was because she was too cheap to pay for it (apparently she's worth around $18 million) but I've come to realize no one will work for her more then once. So she's forced to do all the work herself. Anyway, I lived there for about 7-8 months and couldn't take it any longer. So many little issues there, she kept the washer and dryer in the basement so she could legally enter our basement suite on a daily basis to do her laundry or check up on things. I decided to move and because I was locked into a lease I figured if I rented a suite in her building she wouldn't have a problem with it and I would at least not be living under her 24 hours a day. I accepted a suite at the 2nd AVE NE location. I signed a new one-year lease, anything to get out of her house. I really liked the location and the apartment was decent although dated. The rent was really high for what it was but I would have done anything to break free. Because everything was so dated I replaced a lot of things on my own dime. I changed all the light fixtures and door knobs, towel bars, etc, etc. Cost me around $1200.00 to make it livable for myself. I lived there for 14 months, the 12 month lease and HAD to pay for an extra two months because the new apartment I REALLY wanted wasn't available until then. That was my choice. But I say this to tell you I KNOW what it's like to live in her building, quite well!!! The final straw for me was the issue of parking. When you move in she offers you a rent FREE parking stall in the back of the building, sounds great right? Well the truth of the matter is she will NOT LET YOU PARK ON THE STREET IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING. That is why she gives you a stall, it's just a controlling feature she uses. My apartment was located right beside the front door, so I could park about 20-30 feet away if I got a spot directly in front of the door. But she would not allow it, I had to walk 300-400 feet down the hallway and park in the back lot. Let me say I had a legal permit to park on the street in the window of my car. One day she phoned me and started SCREAMING AT ME - I could tell her face was BLOOD RED, I thought her head might actually pop off her neck. Just because I had parked in front of the building. Newsflash, she DOES NOT OWN THE STREET. She thinks she owns it though, wants to keep the street clear so prospective tenants feel like there is a lot of easy parking in front of the building. She will TEAR A STRIP OFF OF YOU IF YOU PARK ON HER STREET. At that point I decided to move. That was the final straw. So many issues I could literally write a novel. Another big issue is that she WILL NOT SHOVEL THE BACK PARKING LOT. I have a little FIAT and I was stuck in the parking lot for 3 days at one point. I also couldn't park in there with 2 feet of snow upon returning so I parked on the street. (See previous comments). She expected me to clear a path from my stall to the road with a shovel and without pay or compensation. It's a LOOSE LOOSE situation if you have a car. You can't possibly win, the only way I got around the problem was to park 1-2 blocks away and move my car daily so she wouldn't see it and yell at me. The building itself is very very old, original condition so that means some things are 30-40 years old. She makes you remove your shoes at the entrance and walk on the dirty carpet to your suite. If she catches you she will tear a strip off of you, promise you that. The carpet was so dirty because someone poured a gallon of oil on the carpet, I assume because they were not a happy tenant. Constant vandalism in that building because so many people are angry with her and I can't blame them. read more

So I tried calling the number provided and was told my house phone was not good enough because I have a blocked/unknown number. It is that way because of, oh wait that is only for me to know. I found it very rude and offensive almost degraded on the phone when calling about the one bedroom suite that is available for rent. Maybe I'm fleeing domestic abuse or a family member pays for my phone or maybe I like to have it private for my own reasons. That is not for you to judge, ridicule and most importantly treat me with disrespect almost abuse that I do not deserve, especially when I could have been a future tenant at that residence. Well sorry to say I will not be asking to view or get anymore information regarding the suite. I hope you have a very good day. Sincerely, Amanda Unknown number read more

I'm so glad that the first contact with Brenda from sonchris developments was so unpleasant, because now i would never have to deal with her again. I called to ask for information of an apartment and she answered the phone with very bad manners and besides she yelled at me!! How does this business survive? Unbelievable, and after seeing the reviews I'm thankful that I'm running away just in time. Be careful! read more

The only contact I have had with Brenda is through email and that is enough FOR MY LIFETIME. I will absolutely never rent from her. I inquired once about one property and weeks and weeks later she will not stop harassing me. I have told her to stop contacting me 3 times now and she just keeps yelling at me. I honestly think someone is wrong with her. I do not know what to do. If anyone has any ideas besides calling the POLICE let me know. Thanks. read more

It is now December 2013 and nothing has changed. I hear of other existing tenants going to court with the landlord now. JULY 2013: RENT AT YOUR OWN RISK! I am a current tenant and finally had enough. 3 other neighbors in my building are also leaving now or in the near future. Please google Sonchris Developments or Brenda Klassen (aka Maude Brenwyn Klassen nee Butler) before you decide to rent (at your own risk). She has been fined by provincial court before (see article by Calgary Sun) and has ongoing hearings and disputes with many former tenants. Sonchris Developments has 3 buildings in the Crescent Heights area: 312 - 3 Avenue NE, 325 - 2 Avenue NE, 726 - 5A Street NW While living here, I have seen 3 resident managers leave. Since there is no resident manager at my building, many things fall into a state of disrepair and neglect. There is some mould in my apartment that still has not been addressed despite my email request. In one of the buildings, there was a unit that was actually condemned by Alberta Health Authority which can be looked up online. Brenda Klassen will always ask tenants to list what needs to be done in the rental suite but cannot manage all the requests because she can't keep any resident managers for long. All she tells you to do is to email her the list again. From time to time, there would be notices taped to the door informing of an intent to enter the apartment to "show, inspect or repair". Although 24 hour notice is given, I do not believe this to be appropriate protocol. There is also no followup communication to inform the tenant what was done to the apartment unit. Laundry room in the basement had been vandalized making life very inconvenient when 27 apartment units had to make do with one washer and dryer in the building. Luckily, a laundromat is situated close by. The building I rent at has very high tenancy turnover and usually on bad terms as evidenced by damage and vandalism seen in the building. People with cars have had to shovel snow in the back alley parking area to get their vehicles out of the parking lot during winter. There is a firebrat/silverfish type insect problem in the building and it turns out to be an ongoing issue based on another complaint I read on a filtered yelp review dated 2010. It is now 2013 and those insects are still appearing. I am not an entomologist, all I can tell you is that these critters are not appealing to look at and they move very fast. The rental application process itself was onerous. As part of rental application process, Sonchris requested that I pay for my own credit check and requested the security deposit as well as the first month's rent in the form of a bank draft. I was also asked to install door stoppers in the apartment at my own expense but deflected the issue to the resident manager because I did not believe it to be my responsibility. Brenda has also lost my rental cheque for June 2013 and berated me for stopping it after I issued her new replacement cheques (she ended up cashing both and of course the old one did not go through). The final straw was when she lost my first July 2013 cheque (which I subsequently stopped payment on) and I wrote her a second cheque. She ends up finding the first one and cashes it in and of course there was a stop payment on it. I told her if she can't find the replacement that I would not be issuing a third cheque for July. She got upset and issued a notice to vacate on my door the next day to be out in 2 weeks. I currently rent month to month and my notice to vacate was served right after the June 2013 flood. I could have taken this whole issue up with the Resident Tenancy Dispute Resolution association for wrongful eviction but decided that it would not be the best use of my resources in time and money and have opted to take the opportunity to vacate. In hindsight, blessing in disguise! For anyone already living there, I guess submitting bank drafts are better than furnishing her with post dated cheques. Also, she does not give any documentation to confirm acknowledgement of receipts which leaves tenants in a vulnerable position. All email correspondence sent to her is usually replied with "Please call Brenda" leaving no paper trail on her end. I have also purposely refused her request to help with her accounting software problems and to water the plant in her building as I am a paying tenant and should not be doing property management work for free. That's why people hire bookkeepers and property managers. I am on my way out and GOOD RIDDANCE. read more

When I first met Brenda of Sonchris Developments she was combing the property for litter prior to our appointment for a viewing at a 2nd Avenue apartment. This told me she takes a hands on approach and personal interest in every facet of the company. After entering the building my first impression was positive; building was very clean and well maintained, as was the one bedroom apartment unit I viewed. Competitively priced to boot! This during a post flood market of 0% vacancy. The screening process for a lease was a lot more thorough and detailed than I'm accustomed to but well worth it in my view. read more

First and foremost the advertised price was not what Brenda was willing to rent for: She also expected a 100 dollar parking fee. For parking on the street where there were no signs indicating reserved parking. She walked me into an apartment that was clearly not ready to show to anyone. Laundry all over and some persons personal effects everywhere. Could not see much of the place to tell if it was good or bad. I looked her up online to find no shortage of horror stories. Broken promises, never being issued copies of leases, and ignoring calls. Avoid, avoid, avoid! read more

We had an AWFUL experience with this company a few years ago now. My partner and I rented an apartment from SonChris Developments a couple of years ago on a monthly lease. We stayed at the apartment for only a month and a half before moving out and the proprietor of the company retained most of my damage deposit and also charged us to steam clean the carpets -- despite my move in reports that stated that the carpets in every room were stained upon my arrival. We had to take SonChris Developments to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) in order to get back our damage deposit and get refunded for the carpet cleaning. I'm happy to say that we won. Overall, I would definitely not recommend renting an apartment from SonChris Developments. read more

Hello. Had same experience with Brenda SonChris Developments Ltd. BRENDA KLASSEN Sonchris@shaw.com This person Brenda was extremely degrading and shouting for just asking the information about the apartment listed in rentfaster. Trust me, she has another level of being rude and disrespectful. Still hard to understand, why SonChris is keeping her as an employee. They are definitely loosing lot of clients but this behaviour. read more

I saw the bad reviews of Brenda Klassen online but I thought that "nobody was perfect" and I really wanted the property on 726 5A Street NW, Calgary, AB. She told me the rent was $1280 plus electricity. I thought it was pretty steep but decided to go ahead and try to get the place. I called her the same day that I viewed the property and she told me she required two money orders for $1280 I told her I would get it the next day. The next day I called her and she said that the rent up to $1380 because of a "computer glitch" and she didnt want to manually put the rent down to $1280. I then searched her company and found this: http://www.calgarysun.com/comment/columnists/kevin_martin/2009/08/20/10526901-sun.html WOW. I'm glad I never rented off of her!!! read more

When I first spoke to Brenda it was on the phone after a frantic search through the"for rent" ads on Rentfaster.com. I called her and was made aware that the apartment I was viewing online was no longer available and that a $1300 unit was available but unfortunately was out of my price range. I explained that my maximum was $1200 and she let me know there where other rental units in another building. I made sure that the building was pet friendly on the phone, confirmed that it was $1190 (a bit much if you ask me, but in this market I'm not complaining), and that I would be by at 7pm the next day. She even offered to lower my rent if I did some work around the building. I promptly booked the appointment. When we arrived at the building the following day Brenda had not arrived yet and we waited patiently and excitedly in our car. We where hoping to get a south facing unit of the city, and after finally seeing the building we thought we would get that opportunity. After calling to confirm she was coming, Brenda arrived a few minutes later. It was pouring rain and so we poked our heads out of the car to confirm she was the residential manager. She let us know shed be a few minutes and to wait inside the doors. Brenda came walking towards the doors and I held them open for her, explaining who we where and that we spoke the previous day. She glared at me, choosing not to respond. Now I don't know what we could have possibly done to be treated in the following ways, but Brenda seemed to become a completely different person once we met her. Her attitude completely changed and continued to get worse as she probed us with personal questions. She asked us our ages ( I'm 22, and my boyfriend is 24), professions (Graphic Designer, and Mechanic), rental history and how much we made before even inviting us inside the building. I expected questions like these, but I assumed it would be done in a professional manner. The whole conversation we where treated like second class citizens, as if we were not even good enough to be polite too. Let me explain; After asking us how old we where and our professions she asked if we had our "damage deposit sheets and inspection sheets". Now Ive never been asked for these before. My boyfriend and I have both lived in multiple buildings before and have never required these. We explained this to Brenda and she insisted that we got them on every move out and that if we contact our previous rental units they would be able to mail them too us. She didn't really seem to believe that we had rented before and was incredibly rude to us. Choosing to respond to our answer with "huh" instead of proper words I was starting to feel uncomfortable, as if I had done something wrong by answering her questions honestly. Please understand that we where being as polite as possible to increase our chances of being accepted. I moved here from Ontario in January of last year. Since then I have had a full time job as a Graphic Designer and have been paying rent to my aunt. I explained this to Brenda on the phone earlier but it seemed like this had completely missed her when I spoke to her in person. After calling me "weak" multiple times and saying I had no chance of them even looking at my application, she turned to my boyfriend. He has a tad more rental experience then I do and because of this she labeled him "medium". She then went ahead and told my boyfriend (as if I wasn't standing there) That " Your medium. but your girlfriend is really weak. I doubt they will even look at your application so whats the point in showing you the rental unit?" We where both in shock. We had driven half way across town to come look at this place. So I chipped in that I have multiple character references from reputable business that i do work for and that I of course, had work references or pay stub if she was worried. Nothing would sway her. After she belittled and discriminated against us for almost 20 mins we finally gave up. We hadn't even had a chance to look at the apartment and she refused to let us fill out an application in the end. My boyfriend asked her why she hadn't let us know any of this information on the phone and she exclaimed that every rental unit was different and how was she supposed to know who we where. I was completely appalled by the whole experience. I have never been bullied when looking at a rental unit before and we hadn't even sen the apartment!!!. I wouldn't recommend this women, or this company to anyone. read more

We had a terrible experience with this company. They showed us an apartment in reasonably good condition and told us that the one that they had available was the same, minus a balcony. We we went to move in, we found it in absolutely appalling condition, with electrical fixtures half yanked out of the walls, exposed sockets, bedroom floors of painted concrete with holes all over, filthy carpeting in the living room, window screens patched with duct tape, and more. The company refused to refund us our rent or our security deposit even though the place was not fit for occupancy. Eventually they stopped taking our phone calls altogether, instead putting us on hold when we called and never picking up again. The apartment was in terrible condition and the service was extremely unprofessional. When we were looking for apartments, even a current tenant of the building who saw us standing outside told us to avoid renting from the company. The owner of the company has recently been fined $40,000 for not maintaining the fire equipment in her buildings. The article in the Caglary Sun about the case is here: http://www.calgarysun.com/comment/columnists/kevin_martin/2009/08/20/10526901-sun.html Fortunately, with the help of the Alberta Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service, we got our money back. We filed a claim and they awarded in our favor. The good thing is that we learned a lot about housing law and housing resources in Calgary- we've blogged about it here: http://oursonchrisexperience.wordpress.com/ In any case, beware! read more

Omg, it makes me laugh while i am reading all the reviews. And all the horrible experiences are very true, sometimes when i look back it is unbelievable what one person is capable of. Cut her some slack she is like ancient old and still manages her properties and also manages to piss off majority of people that she encounters with. We survived 1 year with her, her daily visits in the building at 1pm and 7pm were something we couldn't grasp but mostly she did not bother us. Except for: Car parked in front of building, monthly damage report not being send to her(for no reason she never even tried to fix anything). Once she got that we don't care about her stupid rules she let us be. Moving out was different story. She yelled at me because i did clean a 20 years old carpet without her knowing. Apparently, it needed a special care:D. Her aggressive emails became old so we sent her same types of emails only to find CALL ME. You called she yelled... It was tough. In the end we got our full deposit back. I guess we were lucky or maybe our cleaning really impressed her. To sum it up, after few years i see her as a kind of Calgary LEGEND, Not in the good way but whoever have ever met her or lived with her, will never forget her. You have stories to tell that others can hardly believe. Peace Brenda read more

BRENDA KLASSEN is the WORST landlord I have ever had. Alberta Health Inspectors are constantly in her buildings as they fall into complete disrepair. If anything at all breaks in your apartment, Brenda WILL NOT fix it. We have been fighting with Alberta Health inspectors for 3 months and our apartment is unsuitable to live in. The tenants below us were temporarily vacated due to excessive mold and Brenda's refusal to complete the repairs. There is also mold in the laundry room. Brenda will ignore your calls and repeatedly tell you to fill out a "Concern's Form". No matter how many times you tape it to your door or email it to her, they wont be repaired and she will say she is too busy. Brenda will ask for outstanding permission to enter your room for repairs (this is illegal - she must give 24 hrs notice and tell you when she is entering and why), but they will never be done. If you question her or "nag" her, as she calls it, to do the repairs then she will give you a Notice of Eviction. I use a space heater in my apartment and the dishwashers are broken in most, as is mine. The windows have holes along them so cold drafts come in. Sonchris Developments AKA Brenda Klassen She may act like a sweet old lady upon meeting her, but she is a crazy mean old lady prone to hysteric rants and cannot keep a property manager as they all quit. All of her tenants will say the same thing. Also, expect to be shovelling your own car out of the apartment parking lot all winter as she refuses to hire someone to do it. Brenda will refuse to put money into anything. Read the article in the Calgary Sun about her - she cares more about money than her tenants. She owns the following apartments - avoid them ALL! 325 2 Avenue NE, Calgary = 23 health inspections in the past 3 years 726 5A Street NW, Calgary = 12 health inspections in the past 3 years 312 3 Avenue NE, Calgary = 61 health inspections in the past 3 years This does not include the Health Inspection reports completed in every single apartment at 325 2 Avenue NE, Calgary - by the SHIP Program (Safety Health Inspection Program). read more

DO NOT RENT FROM SONCHRIS DEVELOPMENTS I have recently moved out of 726 5A Street NW Calgary AB, and I will give you a brief description of the landlord and the apartment building itself. When I met the landlord, she showed me an apartment in the building that look okay and was well kept. She stated that the apartment I would be renting was unavailable for viewing that day as maintenance was going on, but the suite I would be renting would be similar, it was not. When I moved in, the apartment I was renting was in complete shambles, the balcony window was broken, there were holes in the walls, the apartment hadn't been cleaned, etc, etc. TAKE LOTS OF PHOTO's and keep for your records, YOU WILL NEED THEM. Now, lets talk about dealing with the landlord, if I can give any advice it is to document EVERY little thing and ensure that YOU NEVER do anything for her, you are not obligated to and she CANNOT threaten or force you to provide help for maintaining the building, walkways, etc. Skipping forward to the end of my lease, here are some pointers: 1. Don't rely on the landlord to provide you with forms, as she will conveniently forget to send them. 2. With regard to forms, make a statement saying when you will be moving out (date), your address and apartment number should be on it as well. Print it off and have her sign it. Make sure she gives you the MOVE OUT CHECKLIST, detailing the cleaning required. 3. She is required by law to provide you with a signed copy of your lease, and move in inspection the day of your move in or receipt of keys. Likewise, she is REQUIRED to provide you with a move out inspection and, if there is damage caused during the course of your lease, a statement of account (record of damage) after the receipt of your keys. 4. DO NOT DO HER ANY FAVORS, meaning if she asks you to move out a couple of days earlier so she could get another tenant in, DON'T. Stay till the end of your lease, clean the apartment following the move out cleaning form and on the last day of your lease turn over the keys. I made the mistake of doing the landlord a favor and moved out 2 days earlier, since the landlord said she had a new tenant who wanted to move in. On move out day, she shows me the cleaning guidelines, which I hadn't seen till that day. My girlfriend and I cleaned the apartment in the short time frame we had, and yes I'll admit that there were items that could not be cleaned. I made a deal with the landlord that since some of the items couldn't be completed. This was my mistake, cleaning of the apartment, to a reasonable degree is the responsibility of the landlord. Unless stated on the move in/move out inspection that for example stains in the carpet were caused during your lease, and for that manner, any damages that have occurred, you have no responsibility to clean other than a basic living cleaning or repair any of the damage. MAKE SURE the landlord gives you a hard copy of the move out inspection, I CANNOT EXPRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ENOUGH!!!! When I received the notice of Security deposit, I was surprised to see damages to the apartment charged as well as excessive cleaning costs. I reviewed the move out inspection and no record of the damage was shown. Also, in the notice of security deposit the landlord mentioned that pictures and a quote of repairs could be made available for me to view or attached. No photos or quote was provided to me for my records, even after multiple attempts of contact. After waiting two months with no response back, I filed a claim with the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service to recover the held back amount of the damage deposit. This is a great service, providing information on your rights as a tenant, how to fill out the documents, how to set up your claim (evidence and whatnot: THIS is WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO DOCUMENT EVERY DETAIL WITH THE LANDLORD OF SONCHRIS DEVELOPMENTS, THE MORE EVIDENCE YOU HAVE THE BETTER YOUR CASE), and how the process works. I filed my claim and served the landlord the documents, as she will ignore any registered mail correspondence. Serving the documents is easy to do, but if you have questions, the staff at the RTDRS will help you in anyway they can. All in all, I got my damage deposit back, since the landlord's claims of damage were not recorded on the move in and move out inspections and that she could provide no proof (pictures of damage, quote for repairs, etc.) at the hearing. read more

I was soooo disappointed with Brenda Klassen of Sonchris Developments. I thought I found the perfect apartment in Sunnyside! (726-5A St NW) Until I googled her and she turned out to be a scammer and a very unpleasant person. I should have seen the red flags at first- no photos on rentfaster, she asked me to take my shoes off at the building door (???), her emails were simply CALL ME in all caps, and she took me to the wrong apartment first, though I had been very clear which one I was looking at and she asked me to call and confirm multiple times. The apartment was in okay condition, not perfect but very livable- I was so excited to have a walk in closet and office! She told me to get 2 money orders to her and then we would do the lease. I called to ask if I could e-transfer and she was rather rude about it, "I DON'T DO EMAIL TRANSFERS I ONLY DO MONEY ODERS." A lot of the red flags I chalked up to her being older. All caps and no photos seemed just like a tech challenge. Raised voice on the phone? hearing loss. When I went to get the money orders (something I've never done!) The banker asked for the landlord's last name, which I had not been given. I called Brenda to ask, but no answer, so I googled her company name to see if her last name was listed and yes, i found her last name but also dozens of stories about her as a landlord. I stopped taking her calls then, and this morning emailed her to say that I'd done further research and would not be taking the apartment. Part of me wonders if she's gotten better and if I missed out on a great apartment, but I have 2 viewings today of cheaper places in Sunnyside. Please report her if you've had bad experiences with her, I hate to see people taken advantage of! read more

Brenda at SonChris tried to keep my first months rent and security deposit without actually giving me the apartment. I had to get police to help me get my checks back and when we arrived there was another women trying to get her checks back for same reason. She tries to steal your money without giving you the apartment read more

We had the unfortunate opportunity to rent from Sonchris Developments a few months ago starting last winter. Over our stay i Brenda Klassen's building, the resident manager quit causing Brenda to be at the building on a daily basis. This started a string of uncomfortable, unfriendly run-ins with the hostile, and erratic owner. Towards the end of our stay she got a habit of harassing our guests, including friends and even parents, for things like parking in front of the building or smoking on the side walk, (neither of which she has any business or legal right mentioning). She even told me to pick the heads off the dandelions on the lawn if I was going to smoke on her side walk! Our apartment had issues since day one, which were never dealt with, including plumbing problems which frequently caused water to leak causing black mold to grow on the inside of the walls. At first we attributed the problems not being fixed to the building's lack of a resident manager, but after this went on for months we knew the issues were much, much more serious than leaks. We eventually had to call in a health inspector to report the mold inside the walls. At one point, while doing a Google search of her name, we found out that she had been fined the 40, 000 dollars mentioned above, for breaches of fire code in our building, while we had been living there! This on top of the ongoing problems with our suite and Brenda's hostile attitude when we spoke to her, were more than enough to make us decide to move out before our six month lease had run out. We gave our notice, and moved out before the next month had come. Since the state of the apartment was not up to par and given her past legal record, we expected to get our full damage deposit back no questions asked. She's completely ignored our request, and has given us poorly made records of repairs and cleaning charges, which we suspect are have never been done. She has stopped answering our calls, but was completely irrational and argumentative when we did speak to her about the issue, screaming into the phone as if we were personally attacking her, and claiming that she would contact us soon by mail. After confirming our mailing address multiple times, we still have not received anything, so we feel our only option is legal action. The owner of this company is clearly not fit to be dealing with her tenants, or her buildings any longer, and I sincerely hope she doesn't continue to do business and swindle innocent people out of their hard earned money. read more

My daughter Melissa was looking for a less expensive apartment in Calgary. I found her, what I thought would be a suitable apartment at 312 3 Ave. NE Owned by Sonchris Developments ( Brenda Klassen ) through RentFaster.ca. I called Brenda to see if she would allow Melissa's small dog into the apartment, as the ad stated that pets are negotiable. Upon Ken Zimmer, the apartment manager, meeting the dog, Brenda gave her verbal approval. Brenda insisted upon a money order for the $ 770.00 damage deposit, and on March 3, 2010, I gave it to Ken Zimmer. He hand wrote me a receipt on a scrap of paper. Upon viewing the apartment, I made comment about the gold shag carpet. Ken assured me that the carpet would be replaced. Perhaps it couldn't be scheduled in prior to Melissa moving in, but it would be replaced as soon as possible. Melissa viewed the apartment and was also assured by Ken that the carpet would be replaced with hardwood flooring. Ken and Brenda both agreed that Melissa could move in on March 27th 2010 as this was a week end, and the unit was empty. Melissa decided to sign a one year lease. She did not receive a signed copy of the lease. Brenda Klassen insisted upon several unusual things from Melissa: 1. Melissa had to change her bank account to a Calgary branch from Edmonton and provide her with post dated checks from the Calgary branch. The post dated checks are normal, but why the Calgary bank account? 2. Melissa had to provide proof of tenant insurance. I had never heard of this requirement from a landlord. 3. Melissa had to show proof of utilities transfer. I had not heard of this requirement either. 4. Provide 5 references. Including her current land lord. Normal procedure, I only wish that we had required the same from the land lord. Including current tenants. Melissa did all that was required, and her references were sterling. Brenda then stated that the flooring would not be replaced in the apartment. She also made comments that indicated that Melissa's dog might not be acceptable after all. On March 27 when Melissa was ready to take possession Ken never made himself available for a pre-occupancy inspection, even though there was an appointment. When he finally came to the door, he did not have an appropriate form and left as soon as Melissa started her inspection. Melissa deemed this as very strange, and called Brenda. When Melissa called Brenda, she stated that she would now require a money order for the first months rent. Brenda also comment that she was doing Melissa a huge favor with regards to her dog, and gave the impression that she might change her decision on the dog. As no inspection had been done, Melissa decided not to take possession of the apartment, and asked for her deposit to be returned. Brenda told her to see Ken about the deposit. Ken did not answer his phone, and Brenda also became impossible to contact. Melissa, my wife and I went to the apartment where we found both Ken and Brenda out side. Ken instructed me to speak to Brenda about the deposit. Brenda stated that she would need notice in writing. We enquired as to if an e-mail would be sufficient. She said it would, so Melissa sent her an e-mail from her phone as we stood there. At that time Brenda stated that she would not be returning the damage deposit because Melissa had agreed to lease the apartment. read more

Do not rent from this developer. Today we had an appoint with a person called Brenda who is probably the most abusive person I have ever met in my life. On top of that the unit she tried to show was dirty and full of stains. Dirty hallway, dirty unit,horrible manager!! read more

These people are absolute crooks. The place (312 - 3 Ave) was a dump to begin with... but I couldn't afford anything else at the time. Yes, the gold shag carpeting was at least 30 years old, and I had to fight to get a fridge that worked. For months. There was a huge problem with mold and a silverfish infestation that Brenda refused to do anything at all about, though we contacted her repeatedly about the problem. At one point, there was a hole in the ceiling in the main hallway that dripped dirty water. A garbage can was placed under it for 6 months before it was finally fixed. For a period of several months, the boiler in the building would begin doing this high pitched, incessant squeal in the middle of the night... it would carry on for hours, keeping the entire building awake and nearly going out of our minds. She finally had someone come and fix it, but it happened several times. The washers and dryers were constantly out of service, and the cost kept going up. So did the rent. Inexplicably, since it's obvious absolutely no upgrading and very very little maintenance had been done. I took it upon myself to replace the disgusting light fixture in the bathroom, and touch up the deplorable paint job, and my rent was ALWAYS on time. I was very clean (though the disgusting carpet was difficult to vaccuum without pieces of it disintegrating). She kept my entire damage deposit. And I foolishly lost my move-in inspection report, so I had no recourse. Steer very clear of these nasty people. I only rest easy knowing they will get theirs eventually. read more

Hello, I am writing on behalf of a friend on mine who speaks very little English. Her and her boyfriend have been trying to collect their damage deposit for the last two months from Brenda Klassen. They moved here on a working visa a few months ago and found SonChris on rentfaster.ca. They got accepted to rent one on SonChris's units, did the walk through and found a lot of things that have not been upgraded or fixed. They took the place because it was convenient and close to work. Once they moved out, they followed procedure, cleaned the carpets etc etc. They did their walk through but on a brand new walk through paper without the initial walk thought they did when they first moved in. Now everyone knows that the basic wear and tear should not be taken out of the deposit. We have an email from Brenda Klassen stating that she had issues with the unit, but has mailed out the chq #38 in the amount of $850. My friend stated to Brenda Klassen that she had the wrong street number but the correct postal code and house number. First of all, it shouldn't take Canada post two months to return mail with a wrong address. Second, cancel the chq and reissue it. And since my friend suggested they would pick the chq up, there is no answer via email or phone. We will forward all email communications to Tenant and Landlord to see if they can help get the damage deposit back. If you are looking to rent, DO NOT rent with SonChris Developments. They will rip you off and will SCAM you out of your damage deposit. read more

Brenda Klassen and SonChris developments are impossible to deal with. She ignores safety issues in her buildings in favour of saving herself money. The apartment building at 312 3 ave NE is infested with carpet bugs and there is a serious mould problem on the 4th flour. There was a flood this has gone uncleaned for over 6 weeks. The rest of the building has not been cleaned for upwards of 6 months and the parking lot has not been cleaned for over 2.5 years. SonChris Developments is what is wrong with Calgary's rental market. read more

Went to see an apartment managed by this company off rentfaster. At 312 3rd ave ne Had a horrible expereice as soon as I walked in. The carpet was very dirty and old and when I met the owner/manager she told me to take off my shoes to walk in the public hall ways of the building. It was disgusting. While walking through the apartment which was in horrible condition I asked her about the previous tenant to which she rudely responded with "You shouldnt need to know that! Ask questions that matter to you." I was applaud at the terrible customer service and rudeness she gave me. I walked out and left. No matter how low the rent is here. Do not rent it. Beware. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM SONCHRIS DEVELOPMENTS (AKA BRENDA KLASSEN)!! Brenda is the worst landlord I have ever had. She is mentally unstable and aggressive. She is a liar, and will try to bully and intimidate you verbally -and written- at any chance she gets. Just a part of our story: When we visited the apartment the first time, there was a wall damage in one of the rooms caused by water filtration and one missing piece of carpet in the other room. She told us that she had fixed the issue with the water and that she needed to replace the roof -which was true- and once it was finished she would replace the carpet by laminate floor. Well, it took around two months to some one to come and replace the roof, another one and a half month to fix the wall: ONE wall that needed to be sanded and painted (finishing this task took over 3 weeks!!). When the roof was finished she said that she couldn't remove the carpet until it rained for being completely sure that there was no more filtration....when the rain finally came, there was no more filtration, at least not in the bedroom BUT this time in the dining room. Long story short, she never replace the carpet or fixed the new issue in the dining room. She was always giving excuses for not doing what she was supposed to. The building is in very poor conditions and she is loosing her tenants. You can add to all the above that she tried to force me to open a new bank account with main branch in Calgary, wants you to take your shoes off at the entrance of the BUILDING and only gave me a copy of my move-in inspection report and signed lease when I told her that I was going to fill a formal complain against her. Now here I am, close to finish my lease and very excited about the fact that we are leaving this hell very soon. read more

BEFORE RENTING ANY PROPERTY FROM HER UNDER EITHER BRENDA KLASSEN OR SONCHRIS DEVELOPMENT FIRST READ THE REVIEWS. I wish I have got this advice before renting an apartment at 2nd Ave NE, Calgary. I am really surprised how someone like Brenda Klassen can have a license to have any kind of business that deals with people. Since the first day I met her, she was aggressive and greedy but I didn't know about any reviews and as I was looking for a place to live that is what I got into! You pay the first month and damage deposit with bank cheques, you ask for receipt or to sign the tenancy agreement and she says just to send her by e-mail that it is going to have the same validity under the law. The house was very dirt, we complained and she said she cleaned professionally and she even had the receipt. My wife ended up cleaning everything. In general, she treat people very bad, I head complains from other tenants and even from the pizza delivery guy. He said she verbally abused him and he wouldn't come into the building again. She did the move in inspection and every point we raised, she said the would fix it, however time passed by and nothing was done. So far things were a little bit bad and the worst was still to come. The day that we have decided to move out came, we informed her, show started to show the apartment for people and when the time came to the move out inspection, she said everything was very bad comparing with how we got the apartment. This sounded hilarious at first but then I realized that she was being serious. We reminded her how the apartment was the day we moved in but just ignore our arguments and complained about every single place in the house. OMG, I was willing to pay for the cleaning if I had to just to have her out of my life but she got angry and just left the apartment, not giving the deposit (pro-rated), the remaining cheques and no further instructions. It is really frustrating when people are not able to engage in a dialog of argumentations and facts. in this way, you can't negociate, counter-argument and etc... So now we are only left with the option of filling a case at RTDRS. Many previous tenants that had problem were able to solve the problem through them. read more

I wish I had read these notes on Brenda Klassen's way of conducting business before renting at 312-3rd Ave NE a year ago. I've had nothing but aggravation, in a building that suffers from chronic lack of proper maintenance - even basic cleanliness. Twice I nearly broke my leg tripping and falling over concrete barriers in the pitch-dark parking lot, bashing my shin bone. Mentioning the need for an additional light there brought no results. I've had a couple of plumbing problems which were never appropriately resolved. I've complained about being cold in the apartment - in winter the temperature often does not go above 16 degrees - and the problem has not been solved. I have long ago given up on the usually dysfunctional laundry facilities and do my laundry at my daughter's house, not to speak of the storage area which is a broken-down and abandoned dump. The back stairway which residents use because it leads to the parkling lot is habitually filthy, with grimy carpets in tatters; this fall I observed that for over a month it was not cleaned once. Furthermore, broken down appliances and reject pieces of furniture are habitually parked on the landing for months on end. Wooden balcony bannisters are rotting, as they have not been maintained. The list goes on. In addition, week-end guests parked perfectly legally on the street have been harassed by the Landlady for parking there. In general, it is a depressing slum situation I will be glad to move out of as soon as I can muster the energy to move again. read more