Mr. Kim came to Canada; he had dreams; did he realize them?
Joseph H Chung (정희수), Ph.D.
Professor of economics Quebec State University in Montreal (UQAM)
(1003호에 이어)
Looking at Mrs. Lee, Kim said with very sincere voice: “Mrs. Lee, we are so grateful for your kindness and your generosity. How can we repay you for all of these?”.
“No! No! It is nothing! In fact, we are grateful to our God who sent you to us. I have a feeling that we will become great brethren in Christ”. Kim agreed for this possibility.
In fact, the friendship between these two families during Kim’s immigrant life was so sincere, deep and productive that it became the object of praise and envy of many.
The Kim’s immediate task was the solution of his family’s housing problem.
“Mr. Kim, I and my husband welcome you to stay with us until you find a suitable place”, said kindly Mrs. Lee.
For Kim, this was the voice of salvation. In fact, he was hoping that Mrs. Lee would make such offer.
“Thank you very much. It is very kind of you to offer us such generous privilege”, replied Kim by bowing toward Mrs. Lee.
Mr. Kim found a Dwelling
Kim remembered Minister Park’s offer. Minister Park told Kim after the service, the day before, that one of the congregation members had the mission of helping new immigrant members in the search of housing.
Kim called, some days later, the minister and arranged a meeting with the person whose name was Mr. Yu. The meeting was to take place at the church at 2 o’clock in the after-noon.
Kim went to the church office at ten minutes before 2 o’clock. Kim knocked the door and the minister opened the door.
The minster greeted him with warmth. The minster seemed to be a sincere man and have warm heart. He seemed to have the most important qualification of being a minister, that is, the love for the congregation members. Kim met so many ministers in Korea for whom the love of fame, authority and the wealth had the priority.
The minister’s office was small filled with books and notes. The office equipment was humble and old. It looked like a typical university professor’s study. Kim learned later that the minister had completed the course work for his Ph. D of Divinity and that he could not complete his degree because of his assignment at the present church. He seemed to be a person with whom one can share inner secrets of life.
“How are you Mr. Kim? Have you slept well? How is your family? You left such a nice impression to the congregation!”.
“Thank you! We are fine. I was really impressed with your church and the congregation. I thank you for your warm reception”, said Kim.
Mr. Yu arrived and greeted Kim:”How are you Mr. Kim?”.
“I am fine. I thank you for your help for finding a house”, said Kim.
Mr. Yu and Mr. Kim began to establish a strategy of finding a house. They agreed the following:
Tenure: rental dwelling of three bed rooms
Location: near the church
Rent: no more than $700
Mr. Yu went with Mr. Kim to the manager of an apartment block on the Cote St-Luc Blvd. They met the manager in an office near the main entrance of the building of 15 floors. In Montreal, three bed-room apartments were rare, but in that building there was one vacant. This was something which pleased Kim. It was on the 5th floor.
Kim saw that the apartment was facing the main street so that it could be noisy, but it was a three bed-room unit. Mr. Yu examined carefully the condition of various facilities. It is important to check, before signing the lease, the conditions of internal facilities in the apartment.
Mr. Yu told Kim:"I have examined plumbing, ventilation, heating, washroom and bathroom and found that the facilities are in good conditions".
Mr. Yu continued:
"You see, Mr. Kim, in many cases, the immigrants sign the lease without examining these facilities and, if repair is required, the landlord tries to blame the tenant and make the tenant pay the cost of repairing".
Mr. Yu asked the manager who were the tenants living on the same floor, right above or right below the apartment. It is important to know these neighbors to avoid possible frictions. The manager said that they were mainly professionals.
Mr. Kim decided to take the apartment. However, he felt the need for consulting his family. He explained through the phone the situation and his family agreed. Kim thought that if the apartment is not good for his family, he could always move to another place at the end of the lease.
Mr. Kim and Mr. Yu went back to manager’s office and started to discuss the conditions of the lease. The manager showed a document of several pages explaining the rights and duties of both landlord and the tenant. It was a standard lease format. The documents were written in such a small letters that Kim had no intention of reading it.
However, both the tenant and the landlord have right to ask questions.
The landlord or his or her representative, the manager for instance, can ask the following types of questions: name, present address, income, profession, bank and other questions designed to assess the tenant capacity to pay rent.
The manager should not ask questions concerning personal matters including nationality, religion, age and marital status and others. This is to prevent racial and cultural discrimination.
The manager seemed to know about the forbidden questions. His questions were limited to Mr. Kim’s capacity to pay rent.
On the other hand, the tenant has the right to ask questions about the conditions of the lease.
The tenant should ask what is included in the rent. In some cases, the tenant must pay for electricity and heating; in some other cases, the tenant must share the burden of certain taxes. (다음 호에 계속)
<저작권자(c) Budongsancanada.com 부동산캐나다 한인뉴스, 무단 전재-재배포 금지 >