Why didn't police investigate landlord dispute with Daniel Portras?

Yolandi Lombard says she still doesn't understand why police didn't investigate her complaint about her former tenant Daniel Portras.

At the end of August, Portras moved out of Lombard's south Regina house after failing to pay three months rent. And he left the home in a shambles, with her back door laying in her backyard.

There were holes in the walls, the blinds had been wrecked and garbage was strewn everywhere. Lombard said a contractor estimated it will cost $10,000 to repair.

In addition, Lombard said furniture and appliances were missing.

"Well it's frustrating because stuff was taken from my house, which in my mind is a criminal offense," Lombard said. "Someone took something that didn't belong to them."

"And so we had filed a police report and we were told by police that they can't do anything because it's not a criminal matter. It's a civil matter. I don't know, last time I checked, stealing something was a criminal matter."

She said police also told her that because the door was removed from the house it would be difficult to know what happened to the missing items.

Lombard's concerns echoed online

Lombard's frustration was echoed by many commenters on CBC's story about Lombard's plight.

DonHarrison wrote "the Regina Police claim that these are civil matters is nonsense. Willful damage to property is an offense under the Criminal Code."

And Kcoaster said "Why exactly do the police not consider this fraud? There is an ongoing pattern here. Doesn't that indicate intent?"

According to an Office of Residential Tenancies ruling, back in 2013 Portras failed to pay rent to landlord Chengyi Yang, and left a mess behind when he moved out. Yang also told police that Portras had stolen some property from the rental home.

Yang filed complaints with the Regina police service. The report says in one case "the police told the landlord that they would not determine ownership."

And in response to the second complaint "the police decided that it was a civil matter and closed the file."

Regina police respond

Regina police declined an interview on this matter but in a written statement police acknowledged they did receive complaints from Lombard and Yang.

"It is very difficult to prove property ownership, especially when it comes to rental properties," the email statement explained.

"Both parties may claim convincingly that property belongs to them, or that there was a verbal agreement or understanding regarding various terms of the relationship."

Police explained that unless they had an opportunity to review the rental contract "we cannot know what was included in a rental agreement."

And they went on to point out "in the absence of evidence, we cannot say what was there, who took what or who did what to whom."

The statement doesn't indicate if police asked for a copy of a rental agreement in either case.

Police conclude "generally speaking, these matters are civil in nature and there are other remedies to cover them."

Lombard doubts justice will be done

The Office of Residential Tenancies has ruled in Lombard's favour. But she said there's no way to enforce that decision on Portras without hiring lawyers and spending more money.

"That's what makes me the most mad about this whole situation is that I can't do anything. I've been taken for a wild ride and I can't do anything about it," Lombard said.

"I can't force him to pay me my money. I can't force him to give me my stuff back."

Daniel Portras declined to speak to CBC about these stories.