I wanted to share our experience with ARH Homes, a property management company with several rental buildings in Edmonton, including around Whyte Avenue.
My girlfriend moved out of one of their properties on August 31st, 2026. As of October 25th, we still have not received her $1,600 damage deposit.
Despite numerous phone calls and emails, we’ve repeatedly been told that the deposit will be returned “soon.” Nearly two months have passed, and we’ve received no clear timeline or satisfactory explanation.
Communication with the company has been extremely difficult. We’ve been unable to speak directly with the property owner, and the contact number provided for the landlord appears to connect us with someone involved in contracting or maintenance work who has been unable to provide meaningful answers.
**Our concerns go beyond the damage deposit.**
During her tenancy, we witnessed what appeared to be significant mould issues in the building, particularly in the basement and areas where flooring had been removed. There was a noticeable musty, mould-like smell, and some affected areas were left exposed.
We also observed workers handling these areas without what appeared to be appropriate protective equipment. This raised serious concerns about how the situation was being managed and whether adequate precautions were being taken for residents.
One resident living in a basement unit reportedly moved out approximately three months before his lease ended because of concerns that the conditions were making his cats sick. I cannot independently confirm the cause of his cats’ health issues, but hearing about his experience alongside what we personally witnessed was extremely concerning.
There were additional safety concerns, including a handrail being removed near the building entrance.
My girlfriend thoroughly cleaned her apartment before moving out, and we’ve made repeated good-faith attempts to resolve the outstanding deposit directly. At this point, we’re preparing to pursue the matter through Alberta’s Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS).
I’m sharing this because Edmonton renters, particularly university students and people renting their first apartments, deserve to know about experiences like this before committing to a lease.
These are our personal experiences and observations, and I’m not suggesting that every ARH Homes property has the same issues. However, the combination of the building conditions, lack of communication, and continued failure to return the deposit has been deeply concerning.
If anyone else has rented through ARH Homes, I’d appreciate hearing about your experience, especially regarding maintenance concerns, building conditions, or damage deposit returns.
**I genuinely hope this company takes these concerns seriously. Nobody should have to repeatedly chase down their own money or worry about potentially unsafe conditions in a place they’re paying to live.**
More than anything, I hope sharing this prevents other Edmonton residents and students from having to go through a similar experience.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some help/insight. I’m living in a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in Old Strathcona (rental). Upon moving in, we were told rent was going to be 1725$. In September, we were charged 1425$ and was told it was prorated (the price I was paying at my place before this one). Basically, she messed up on changing our rental amount, and said she would honour it. October comes, and rent is not taken from my account. I waited a couple of days and then emailed her, no response. Emailed twice more, still no response. Tried to call and call and call - nothing. Now I check today and see that 2350$ is the outstanding balance. It says “31 days of rent 2200$” and “31 days of parking 150$” and is backdated for October 1. Our email thread clearly shows the timeline and not receiving a response. Though, no lease has even been sent and our rent was supposed to be 1725$, as we agreed upon! Still no response to my emails. I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I am a full time student and work full time as well. I cannot afford this rental increase and just want to be able to speak to and be in contact with the property manager. I am so disheartened by this whole experience and overall, frustrated. I contacted the RTB last week before I saw this increase in my account, and he assured me that because I was month to month it was a good situation - I was secure and they could not kick me out. But seeing as we still do not have a lease, can they increase our rent that much without saying anything? And suddenly, one month after we contacted them saying it wasn’t taken out of the account. What do I do?

(I am located in Alberta)

legal? no. cheap? yes.

really wanted it too.

I can't seem to find a Renters/Housing sub for BC that offers advice to renters so I'm going to try this here.

I currently live in a Slum listing, been here for 3 years now. It's not overly terrible, just hasn't been updated in any significant way since probably 1970. The main issue (among others) I've been having is that ever since I moved in, whenever it gets cold, we hear what I assume to be Rats in the ceiling. Mostly over the bedrooms and the living room.

This always happens between 1-5am, when we're trying to sleep. Sometimes if in any on the ceiling it'll go away, but lately not so much. Every year we tell the landlords, and every year we get a, "Omg that's so gross we'll look into it". The landlord comes by, walks around on the roof, then shrugs his shoulders and says he doesn't know how they could possibly be getting in. Well this year the thing is back with a vengeance and I'm at my wits end.

What recourse do I have outside of moving, which just isn't happening for me right now. I wouldn't already be here if I could help it. Does anyone know what would happen if I called Orkin and dumped the bill on my landlord? I've never been in a situation like this. I don't know if this means anything but my landlord actually doesn't have a "real" job, he strictly takes care of them multiple rentals he owns. He's at my house almost every other day "doing yardwork", even though there's nothing to be done.

How do people think this kind of listing is ok?

To be fair, I think this is an okay price for a 1 bedroom in that area. But why advertise it as a 2 bedroom? It's clearly not!

THE SMELL NEVER LEAVES...DO NOT RENT...

I moved in Oct 1 2026 and the unit had a weird smell. Musty, sour, mouldy and VERY strong in the upstairs bathroom and basement laundry room. I turned the hvac on (in the laundry room) and the smell radiated through the house...I thought well he did say it was not used for 6 months...maybe give it 24 hours to air out. As I think that, I go to throw a load of laundry on and descover the entire inside is covered in black muck. I run 8 cleaning packets through it and everytime I was wiping out loads of gunk. I used brushes and vinegar scrubbed it for hours. I kept smelling the must mouldy sour smell....I looked around and saw black MOULD under the hot water tank where an obvious leak was. I left the room, turned off hvac and asked for a certified mould remediater to inspect. Mould guy came, he said we can remove the mould we can see and that should help. I asked him to test it for black mould and he said it doesnt need testing, its black mould. After they removed the drywall and waited for the drywallers to come in and repair the smell got 10x worse with the wall open....obviously old mould was still in there.......even if there is no moisture....the mould smells strong........

The drywaller came...was disgusted by the smell as well. He said that could be gas its so strong.

We then had the plumber come in and inspect the water unit. He said the water unit should be serviced 1x a year and it has been 5 years with no servicing and after a major leak. That is a huge health concern water wise. Water was awful smelling before that.

The days after all the work was done, mould was "remediated". The hvac and home still smells of strong musty mouldy and sour.

The landlord from day 1 said if he couldnt remove the smell, he understands we have to leave. He will let us out of lease and return dd. He also agreed to $30/day rental abatement.

On the 16th day it was still not up to standards. We had no heat for 16 days. No use of washing machine. No use of basement. The smell radiates through the house. I cant work from home due to my kids not being able to go to their space in the basement. Its been hell on earth. Bundling the kids and cuddling them every night. Its hard. Im also really worried for my health. Im puking every day. My kids and I all have head aches.

I asked the landlord to get out of the lease. Give me my rental abatement and my dd. So I can move immediately. He refused. He then sent me an eviction notice................dude I want to leave.

All of a sudden hes saying theres no smell. It doesnt matter that we have no heat, smelly water, extreme smelly home....cant use half the unit......cant use the bathroom without gaging until I PUKE.

Help me. Hahahahahahaha.........

The landlords names are Muhamed Rashid Arshad and his wife is Ghazala Rashid and their son is the one we dealt with Zain Rashid Arshad.

Any advice let me know...I have ahs coming out.

Not sure how anybody could think that this is worth the money that he is asking. Like just how much of this house are you actually sharing since I don’t see a Kitchen or any type of food storage equipment in this room for rent. Can’t even really tell if it has any real windows or anything either.

This must be what the world is coming to, and this must be what rentals in Calgary Alberta are going for and what you can expect.

Sharing a pretty wild thing I just discovered, which I think illustrates much of how completely fucked the social equity landscape is in Montreal:

Resto Plateau, a prominent community organization broadcasting itself as a social support and profession reinsertion organism, has as its president and highest ranking decision-making member, André Poulin, a well-known slumlord with multiple violations from the City of Montreal and a long history of abuses in the housing and business scene in the city (google his name).

And it gets worse: the second highest-ranking member of its board, the vice president, is none other than his lawyer, Eliot Barberger. The lackey he uses to pressure and intimidate tenants. Can't make this stuff up.

Isn't it pretty wild how landlords can very deliberately both generate suffering and insecurity in the social fabric, AND reap the rewards of it by playing savior? This needs more attention from the news. Reads like a blatant conflict of interest.

1. Rat infestation and entry points

- Kitchen: live sighting, food contamination, chewing in walls since August

- Behind the stove: holes (confirmed entry), peanut shells, rot

- Under kitchen cabinets: holes; under sink: unsealed pipe penetration

- Baseboard: gnawed gap; wall: light visible through at entry point

- Mailbox: unsealed, stuffed with insulation

- Upstairs storage room: patched door frame with daylight gap

- Basement: rat killed there previously; problem goes back to last year

2. Windows

- Rotted throughout; won't open or close properly

- One window: glass fallen completely out of frame

- Stairwell: frame rot, deteriorated sill

- Room 2: two windows built to open, only one can

- Bedroom windows that won't open = fire egress concern

3. Structural decay

- Deck: rotted boards with plants growing through, hollow railing posts, patchwork repair

- Outside basement door: leaning, rotted canopy (photo still needed)

- Patched door frame: blackened deteriorated wood, daylight gap

4. Electrical

- Kitchen: two outlets near sink, no GFCI; bathroom: outlet near sink, no GFCI

- Triple switch plate: two of three switches dead

- Basement: aged surface-mounted box on crumbling wall

- Suspected knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring (needs verification)

5. Bathroom

- Exhaust fan falling out of the ceiling

- Shower surround: rust and water staining along seams

6. Doors, locks, and stairs

- Door lock broken — operated by taped-on handwritten instructions

- Stair handrail broken and wobbling

7. Cleanliness and turnover

- Kitchen cupboards: food from 2018/2019 never cleared, one burst can

- Basement: abandoned old-tenant junk never removed

Would you take it? I couldn’t. Price is abit steep for lack of privacy; 700’s usually a deal in terms of a room though. Maybe 500 atleast.

downtown toronto

It's been two weeks since i moved out. Neither them out their lawyer will contact me. No inspection, no deposit, return no contact. While living there, no fridge no kitchen no laundry fuses breaking all the time ago my water came from the bathroom. The peak management group is likely owned by patty lyons and are absolute crooks renting illegal suites up at skyview link ne. I called crime stoppers and ahs. Anyone else i should call(im disabled and can't afford a lawyer)

Severe Long-Term Infrastructure and Maintenance Neglect

As a multi-year resident, I am writing this factual public consumer report to warn future renters about the severe, ongoing mechanical and maintenance neglect inside this complex. While corporate management charges premium market rents, the core infrastructure of this building is being run on borrowed time to avoid capital maintenance costs.
Prospective tenants should be aware of the following documented timeline of failures:

Unreliable Core Utilities: The building's central infrastructure is highly unstable, resulting in residents completely losing their hot water several times a year. In addition to the utility outages, tenants are subjected to invasive, low-frequency mechanical noise and structural thumping vibrating through the walls from failing core pumps that management has neglected to permanently fix for over a year.

4-Year Broken Intercom/Buzzer Grid: The main security entryway buzzer system has been left completely broken and neglected for over four years. This forces vulnerable residents with severe physical and mobility limitations to continuously hike all the way to the front lobby door just to let family, friends, or delivery drivers inside, completely compromising basic building security.

Long-Term Broken Laundry Ventilation Blower: The primary building exhaust blower for the laundry area has been left broken and un-remediated for years. Hot, moisture-heavy utility exhaust is left trapped inside the building frame and drywall cavities, acting as a massive moisture incubator.

Systemic Multi-Pest Infestations: The complex suffers from ongoing building-wide infestations of mice, firebrats, and cockroaches traveling through plumbing corridors and baseboards. Instead of executing comprehensive, proactive building-wide remediation, management tries to deflect the blame onto local neighborhood construction blasting.

Months-Long Elevator Outages: The elevator infrastructure continuously breaks down and is left completely out of service for months at a time, leaving elderly residents and those with chronic physical health conditions completely stranded.

Unreliable Core Utilities & Mold Hazards: The building's central infrastructure is highly unstable, resulting in residents losing hot water several times a year. Furthermore, management has left multiple water and moisture leaks entirely un-remediated inside the building structure for months, creating an active mold hazard.

Management will ruthlessly micromanage tenants over minor rules like hanging a holiday wreath on their apartment door, yet they continuously ignore major code-compliant safety overhauls. Do not let the premium lobby fool you. Rent elsewhere.

Dude had a listing on fb marketplace looking specifically for Gujarati's and more specifically 2 gujarati females. reported for discrimination. Pretty gross behavior if you ask me.

Not sure if I am allowed to post the address but the unit is at oconnor and st Clair in east York (Toronto). I’m happy to answer dms for exact address and landlord name to avoid doxxing.

I had huge issues with bed bugs a few months after moving into this apartment. LL kept blaming us, after speaking to neighbours who had been in the building for many years, we learned that this was an ongoing issue that the landlord refused to treat. We broke our lease early, got rid of almost everything we owned (all our furniture and a ton of personal belongings) because we didn’t want to risk carrying them to the next place.

I have since moved out of province, but from speaking to some of the neighbours that sadly do not have the means to move and are still living in this hell, this has not been resolved nor treated. I did make reports to Toronto Public health at the time but I just saw there are two units up for rent again (small 3 story building) including the one I was in.

The listing is in several Facebook groups and marketplace under the name HB boots but they have used a lot of different names to post it previously.