FAQ

As of March 26, Building Maintenance, Repair and Housekeeping is considered an “Allowable Business Service” under the new Saskatchewan regulations.

Emergency maintenance of course must continue. Protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and booties should be worn, and proper sanitation protocols should be completed before and after the issue is resolved.

Non-Emergency maintenance (creaking doors, etc) should be deferred wherever possible to minimize social contact and risk to tenants and maintenance workers.

According to the Sask. Landlord Association, Recreational facilities should be closed during the pandemic. A temporary closure does not require a reduction in rent.

Coronavirus or not, the Sask. Landlord Association offers these suggestions to help tenants overcome financial difficulty:

• Negotiating a payment plan to defer or split payments
• Reducing the rent that is normally paid or not charging it at all
• Suspend late payment fees and/or provide an additional grace period
• Encourage them to seek financial assistance through federal and provincial governments

Any changes must be documented in writing. Make sure that any agreement has clearly defined terms and time frame.

Yes. As of March 26, you cannot serve an eviction notice for unpaid or late rent. But it is still possible to serve notice for other non-compliance issues as usual. Notice must still be formally delivered and posted on the door as well as a second form of communication. There is no need to enter the suite or have a face-to-face meeting to deliver the notice. If the cause of eviction is not severe, consider communicating with them and taking all steps (as usual) to avoid eviction if possible. This is a difficult and dangerous time to be evicted. But this is also a good reason for tenants to respect their leases.

As of March 26, the ORT (Office of Residential Tenancies) will not accept evictions for missed or late rent payments. This is a difficult time for tenants as well as landlords, and communication is important for both parties. Talk with them, help them understand some of the available financial support programs, and if possible, talk with your bank about mortgage deferral. Note that you may be charged additional interest on deferred mortgage interest payments. There is still some question about the effect on your credit score as well.

Landlords and property managers are taking steps to protect tenants and themselves. Many are working from home as much as possible and using electronic means to reduce contact including:

• E-transfers for rent payments
• Email or online applications (you can post your application for directly on your Anikio listing!)
• Video chat interviews
• Virtual tours, video chat, or published video tours instead of in-person viewings
• Using drop boxes for keys and documents

All precautions should be in alignment with the provincial and federal guidelines established by the Chief Medical Health Officers and ensure you can safely provide services to your tenants.

Yes. The Saskatchewan Landlord Association, in its FAQ, is “recommending that any showings be conducted virtually and that only one person enter a unit to conduct the showing. Proper sanitation should be conducted before and after a showing.” At Anikio, we are happy to help landlords create a virtual tour for their rental. The virtual tour appears directly in the listing, and a potential tenant can easily walk through and look around while on a phone call or video chat while you’re both safe at home.

Alternatively, consider going to the unit yourself and conducting the viewing virtually through a live Facetime, Skype, or Whatsapp video call. If you must view in person, consider providing gloves and allowing tenants to look through the unit while they wait outside. Anikio does not recommend allowing non-virtual viewings of currently occupied rentals. Under no circumstances should a person with symptoms, in social isolation, or quarantine enter, meet, or have their dwelling entered.

As of March 26, you can not be evicted in Saskatchewan for missing a rent payment during the crisis. But use the programs above and do your best to pay your rent and bills on time. If you still can’t, let your landlord know as soon as possible. They may be able to make arrangement with your help to defer their mortgage payments so you aren’t endangering their family. You will still owe for missed rent and utility payments after this is over.

This is a situation where you’ll have to talk to your landlord or property manager. If they don’t have anyone new already signed on a lease, they should be happy to extend your stay. It helps reduce their risk and exposure to potential applicants and saves them work! On the other hand, if they have already signed a lease with a new tenant, they may not have much choice. There haven’t yet been any new rules specifically related to renting or to cover these situations. Again, talk to them. These are unusual times and they may be able to talk with the new tenant about other options. We’re all in this together. The more people stay put, the better it is for everyone!

Sure! Here are just a few of the provincial and federal programs that may be of help to you:

• 6-month Freeze on Student Loan Payments
• Social Isolation Support
• Enhanced EI
• 6-Month Utility Bill Deferral (waive interest on late utility payments)
• Increasing the Canada Child Care Benefit
• Special GST Credit Payment (in May)
• Mortgage Deferral (if you Rent and are a Landlord)
• Other Federal Programs

Well, the good news is that if you have student loans, there is a 6-month freeze on student loan payments. There is also a 6-month deferral of utility payments (you’ll need to pay in 6 months but there won’t be any interest on the missed payments). But the situation for renting has not yet changed. If you’re on a month-to-month, give notice (a minimum of 30 days) and pay rent as you normally would. Your damage deposit is NOT your last month’s rent, even if the amount is the same. You’re still required to pay your rent and then the landlord gives back the damage deposit minus expenses for repairs. If you’re on a lease, again as normal, you have already committed to pay for the duration of your lease. Talk to your landlord and they may let you out early, but understand that they also have bills and expenses and may not be able to do so. Breaking your lease can lead to bad references, bad credit checks, and difficulty when you move back to resume classes.

While the major banks are allowing applications for deferring mortgage payments up to 6 months, these are not automatic and not always granted. The landlord generally must prove that there is some link to the current outbreak in order to apply. They also must pay interest on the missed interest payments so there can be a significant additional cost. If you are absolutely unable to pay rent, talk to your landlord about what has happened. They will likely understand and may need your help to qualify for mortgage deferral.

Yes. Whether you are paying month-to-month or on a lease, you are still in a contract to pay rent. Instead of a rent freeze, the provincial and federal governments have rolled out financial support programs to those whose income is affected by the coronavirus outbreak. These include:

• 6-month Freeze on Student Loan Payments
• Social Isolation Support
• Enhanced EI
• 6-Month Utility Bill Deferral (waive interest on late utility payments)
• Increasing the Canada Child Care Benefit
• Special GST Credit Payment (in May)
• Mortgage Deferral (if you Rent and are a Landlord)
• Other Federal Programs

As of March 26, you can not be evicted in Saskatchewan for missing a rent payment during the crisis. But use the programs above and do your best to pay your rent and bills on time. If you still can’t, let your landlord know as soon as possible. They may be able to make arrangement with your help to defer their mortgage payments so you aren’t endangering their family. You will still owe for missed rent and utility payments after this is over.

Anikio is a website that makes it easy to rent housing in Saskatchewan. We accomplish this by showing renters properties that best match their needs, instead of properties that have been most recently posted or that have paid extra to ‘be on top’. Our dedicated rental database means it’s also easy to compare properties. We also offer services to make sure that property managers and landlords have the best listings possible. These include photography, virtual tours, search-engine optimization, marketing copy assistance, pricing guidance, and more. Our goal is to have the most useful, attractive, easy to find listings for our renters.

Getting to the Registration Page

Registering From Your Phone:

You can register either by clicking on the profile icon (looks like a person’s outline) or by clicking on the ‘hamburger’ menu icon in the top right and choosing “Login/Register” from the menu. See below:

Registering From Your Computer or Tablet:

Even more options! The hamburger menu from the phone view above disappears and instead the menu is laid out along the top of the page, to the right of the Anikio logo. Just choose Login/Register from that menu or, again, from the profile/login/register button in the top right of the header bar.

Easiest Way:

Click here to register!

Creating Your Account

Social Login

Once you’ve clicked on the Register link, you will see a screen similar to the below:

We’ve tried to make registering as easy as possible. All you have to do is use an account you already have with one of the following email/social media sites, shown with icons from left to right in the screenshot above: Facebook; Gmail/Google; Yahoo!; Windows Live

This way, you never have to worry about remembering another password, and we can attach your email directly to your account without you having to type it out. This email is what will be used for communicating with other members of Anikio (landlords or tenants) so it’s important that you monitor the email address you use to sign up, especially for Facebook users. We don’t post on any of your accounts, grab your list of friends, or anything like that, we just want to make signing up easy. The best part is, if you log in later on your phone, computer, tablet, or at work, all you have to do is use that same social login account and you’re in!

After you’ve selected your preferred login method, you’ll be directed to that site and asked to authorize letting Anikio use that account to also log you in to our site. If you’re not logged in to your Facebook, or if you have multiple Google emails, etc, you may also be asked to log in to that service. Then authorize the connection from your other account to an Anikio account and you’re done.

I Don’t Have Any Of These Accounts/Don’t Want to Link an Account

Well, that’s a let down! We wanted to make life easier but in your case we may have made it more difficult. It is, of course, easy to create a Gmail, Yahoo!, or other account and link it, but we are also happy to manually create an account for you. Just visit our Contact page and send us your information in the Feedback box and we’ll help you out.

Landlord or Tenant?

The final question you’ll be asked is if you wish to register as a Landlord or Tenant. Why do we differentiate? As much as possible, we try to show content that is relevant to one group or the other and not show content that isn’t applicable. There are no super powers or special privileges for either, except that only landlords can list property. If you are in the situation where you are currently renting from someone but also have rental property (in other words, you’re both tenant AND landlord) then select landlord so you can still list property.

It’s easy! You just have to be a registered user (5 seconds) and logged in (2 seconds), and then, from the menu, select Submit a Property.

Getting to the Registration Page

Registering From Your Phone:

You can register either by clicking on the profile icon (looks like a person’s outline) or by clicking on the ‘hamburger’ menu icon in the top right and choosing “Login/Register” from the menu. See below:

Registering From Your Computer or Tablet:

Even more options! The hamburger menu from the phone view above disappears and instead the menu is laid out along the top of the page, to the right of the Anikio logo. Just choose Login/Register from that menu or, again, from the profile/login/register button in the top right of the header bar.

Easiest Way:

Click here to register!

Creating Your Account

Social Login

Once you’ve clicked on the Register link, you will see a screen similar to the below:

We’ve tried to make registering as easy as possible. All you have to do is use an account you already have with one of the following email/social media sites, shown with icons from left to right in the screenshot above: Facebook; Gmail/Google; Yahoo!; Windows Live

This way, you never have to worry about remembering another password, and we can attach your email directly to your account without you having to type it out. This email is what will be used for communicating with other members of Anikio (landlords or tenants) so it’s important that you monitor the email address you use to sign up, especially for Facebook users. We don’t post on any of your accounts, grab your list of friends, or anything like that, we just want to make signing up easy. The best part is, if you log in later on your phone, computer, tablet, or at work, all you have to do is use that same social login account and you’re in!

After you’ve selected your preferred login method, you’ll be directed to that site and asked to authorize letting Anikio use that account to also log you in to our site. If you’re not logged in to your Facebook, or if you have multiple Google emails, etc, you may also be asked to log in to that service. Then authorize the connection from your other account to an Anikio account and you’re done.

I Don’t Have Any Of These Accounts/Don’t Want to Link an Account

Well, that’s a let down! We wanted to make life easier but in your case we may have made it more difficult. It is, of course, easy to create a Gmail, Yahoo!, or other account and link it, but we are also happy to manually create an account for you. Just visit our Contact page and send us your information in the Feedback box and we’ll help you out.

Landlord or Tenant?

The final question you’ll be asked is if you wish to register as a Landlord or Tenant. Why do we differentiate? As much as possible, we try to show content that is relevant to one group or the other and not show content that isn’t applicable. There are no super powers or special privileges for either, except that only landlords can list property. If you are in the situation where you are currently renting from someone but also have rental property (in other words, you’re both tenant AND landlord) then select landlord so you can still list property.

List Your Property

Once you’re registered, listing your property is as simple as using the hamburger menu in the top right (for phone users) to show the menu and, for all devices, clicking the List A Property menu option. Or you can click on that little link we just provided you. Snazzy, eh?

Don’t Forget To Complete Your Profile

One of the most common mistakes new landlords make is not completing their profile on Anikio. But it’s an easy fix. Click here to open your profile once you’ve registered, or click on your initial or profile picture at the top of the page, or use the menus to open your profile.  Either way, you’ll want to make sure that you enter a phone number if you want tenants to text or call you to ask questions about your property, verify that the email we have on file is the one that you want inquiries being sent to (tenants will not be given your email directly but will contact you through a form on the site), and write a short blurb about yourself.

What To Write in the Description?

Nobody likes writing about themselves, but a little bit about you can help tenants understand what kind of landlord you are. At a minimum, you should write the preferred times/days and contact method(s) for tenants to reach you. It’s also a good idea to put some of your basic questions that you will want answered for any property you list (as your profile will be shown at the bottom of each of your properties so tenants can contact you). Be professional, write in complete sentences and with proper grammar, and you will attract good tenants.

Changing Your Profile Picture

Depending on what account you connected to your Anikio account, you may have a profile photo from your social media account or it may simply be your first initial. You can upload a square profile photo. Again, this will be displayed at the bottom of your properties, so remember that this will help form a first impression from your prospective tenants. Note that uploaded photos won’t automatically appear after uploading but will show up once you save your profile.

Changing Your Password

You don’t need a password for Anikio, but we are leaving this here in case we decide to also support creating an account the old fashioned way in the future. Change it if you like but for now it will have no effect.

The results of your preferred search show up on the homepage under the Rental Property heading. Once you’ve created and saved your preferred search on your User Profile page, simply click on the FOR YOU button to see your preferred search properties. See below for a screenshot:

Yes! In your User profile, you can create a custom “Preferred Search” that offers even more search options and the ability to save the search so that Anikio will remember it the next time you visit. While this has a lot of benefits for tenants in setting their minimum criteria, this feature can also be useful for landlords to keep an eye on similar/comparable properties and make sure that their pricing is competitive.

On mobile, the Preferred Search will appear minimized at the bottom of your profile page as a button labeled “Show Preferred Search”.

You can see the results of your preferred search in the For You section of the homepage. The filters you can add to your preferred search are:

Property Type

This is probably self-explanatory, but you can choose on or more from the following types of property:

• Acreage – A whole property outside but typically near the city with a larger lot than is typically available in the city.
• Apartment – A suite in a multi-level building.
• Basement Suite – A basement in a single-detached home, with the main floor rented or occupied by the landlord.
• Duplex – A side-by-side split of a home.
• Garage Suite – A smaller suite detached from the main home on a property, usually on top of and/or beside a rear-lot garage.
• Main-Floor Suite – The main floor of a home with a suited basement that it rented by another tenant (or landlord occupied).
• Mobile – Also known as trailers, these homes are semi-permanent but low cost and typically rent for less.
• Shared – Roommate seekers with (usually) a private room and shared common areas such as kitchen, entry, laundry, and bathroom(s).
• Townhouse – A smaller home that is often part of a condominium association with limited or no yardwork.
• Whole House – A whole home including main floor, basement, and yard, this typically also includes some requirement for maintenance of the grounds.

Rent

The monthly rent. When you select the property, you will also see what utilities are included with the rent payment. In the case of Shared property type (roommate search), the rent should be for a single room even when multiple rooms are available on the premises.

Included Utilities

Choose the utilities that you want included in the rent above. It may be more effective to simply adjust your rent to the maximum with all utilities that you are able to pay and then factor in the included utilities after you have the results of your search. This is recommended because, for example, if you limit your search to properties that include, for example, electricity, you may miss out on properties that include extras such as internet and cable/satellite TV that you would expect to pay out of pocket.

Property Location

Did you know that you can get a lot more specific in narrowing down the location you want to look in?

There is a small arrow (to the left of the checkbox on a tablet/PC and in the image above, but on the right of the location name on mobile) that allows you to get all the way down from the city to the area of the city and finally down to specific neighbourhoods. For example, within Saskatoon, you can look at the entire city by selecting “Saskatoon”, get a bit more specific to the northeast side by selecting “University Heights Planning Area”, or even more specific by selecting “Arbor Creek” and “Erindale” for example. You can select multiple areas to really refine your search to exactly the neighbourhoods you want to look at.

Contract Type

This provides you with an option to remove properties that have a minimum lease that is longer than you plan to stay at a location or longer than you are comfortable signing.

Size (Sq Ft)

The dimensions of the living space (not the yard) in square feet. Yes, we love metric but this is what most people are used to… still.

Bedrooms

The number of bedrooms being offered for rent on the property. For the Shared property type (i.e. people seeking roommates) this should be the number of rooms available for rent in total in order to let couples or friends looking know how many rooms are still available on the premises.

Bathrooms

Set the number of bathrooms you require as a minimum. A 0.5 bathroom means toilet and sink only (no bath/shower).

Parking

The type(s) of parking included/available at this rental property, from street parking (with or without access to a plug-in) to underground parking at an apartment building.

Pets

Search for property that may allow (always subject to discussion with the landlord/property manager) certain types of pets or that does not allow pets on the premises.

Features

These are specific amenities that a property offers, it may include aesthetic finishing (hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances) or specify if a property is smoking or non-smoking.

On the homepage, there is a basic search box that allows you to choose from the following filters which should be enough to get you in the ballpark of what you’re looking for (we put a Get Started label to help you find it. As you start to select criteria, the background image will turn into a map that will show the results of your search.

NOTE: In your User profile, you can create a custom “Preferred Search” that offers even more search options plus the ability to save the search so that Anikio will remember it the next time you visit. You can see the results of your preferred search in the For You section of the homepage.

Location

Did you know that you can get a lot more specific in narrowing down the location you want to look in?

There is a small arrow (to the left of the checkbox on a tablet/PC and in the image above, but on the right of the location name on mobile) that allows you to get all the way down from the city to the area of the city and finally down to specific neighbourhoods. For example, within Saskatoon, you can look at the entire city by selecting “Saskatoon”, get a bit more specific to the northeast side by selecting “University Heights Planning Area”, or even more specific by selecting “Arbor Creek” and “Erindale” for example. You can select multiple areas to really refine your search to exactly the neighbourhoods you want to look at.

Property Type

This is probably self-explanatory, but you can choose on or more from the following types of property:

• Acreage – A whole property outside but typically near the city with a larger lot than is typically available in the city.
• Apartment – A suite in a multi-level building.
• Basement Suite – A basement in a single-detached home, with the main floor rented or occupied by the landlord.
• Duplex – A side-by-side split of a home.
• Garage Suite – A smaller suite detached from the main home on a property, usually on top of and/or beside a rear-lot garage.
• Main-Floor Suite – The main floor of a home with a suited basement that it rented by another tenant (or landlord occupied).
• Mobile – Also known as trailers, these homes are semi-permanent but low cost and typically rent for less.
• Shared – Roommate seekers with (usually) a private room and shared common areas such as kitchen, entry, laundry, and bathroom(s).
• Townhouse – A smaller home that is often part of a condominium association with limited or no yardwork.
• Whole House – A whole home including main floor, basement, and yard, this typically also includes some requirement for maintenance of the grounds.

Features

These are specific amenities that a property offers, it may include aesthetic finishing (hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances) or specify if a property is smoking or non-smoking.

Bedrooms

The number of bedrooms being offered for rent on the property. For the Shared property type (i.e. people seeking roommates) this should be the number of rooms available for rent in total in order to let couples or friends looking know how many rooms are still available on the premises.

Rent

The monthly rent. When you select the property, you will also see what utilities are included with the rent payment. In the case of Shared property type (roommate search), the rent should be for a single room even when multiple rooms are available on the premises.

We recommend that once you’ve found a place you like, use the contact information on that property’s page to contact the landlord or property manager. If they have indicated a preferred contact method, use that method at a reasonable time. Email can be anytime, but text messages and especially phone calls should happen between 10 AM – 9 PM unless the landlord has indicated otherwise.

Ask any questions that weren’t answered in the ad – but make sure you have read the ad well! Nothing says “I’m not serious about this” like asking questions that are already clearly answered in the posting. Also, let the landlord know a little bit about yourself. Some things you might consider letting the landlord know or be prepared to answer:

1. Who will be renting the place/how many of you?
2. Where are you living now and why you’re interested in moving to their property?
3. What you do for a living?

After you’ve asked your questions and answered any the landlord may have, assuming you both are still interested in proceeding, that’s when you arrange a viewing. Having a conversation with the landlord first will save you a lot of time and hassle driving out to places that you would never have rented in the first place. At the viewing, take note of how well the property is taken care of. If there are existing tenants, some of that may be out of the landlord’s control, but you should still be able to get an idea of this. If it is a basement suite, duplex, etc, ask who is living in the other suite. Be honest in your questions and answers – if the truth is going to upset this particular landlord then it probably wasn’t a great fit to begin with.

If you love the place after your viewing, ask the landlord about filling out an application or what the next step is. Don’t worry about hurting the landlord’s feelings if you’re not interested, it’s business and you’re really saving them time and saving yourself having to explain down the road that you’re not interested. Typically, landlords will screen your references, run credit/criminal record checks, check employment/income, etc before signing a lease. This can take 1-3 business days. After that, you sign the lease (if there is one) and pay the damage deposit. Be sure you get a receipt for it!

Did we miss anything? Let us know and good luck out there!