WATERLOO - Former tenants of an off-campus student rental building in Waterloo say they were threatened and intimidated by the landlord after posting negative reviews on Google.

But Sam Vranes, co-owner of VIP Student Housing at 110 University Ave. W in Waterloo, said he's just defending his company's reputation from "fake" reviews.

The spat over bad reviews was sparked when a former tenant complained online this week about unexpected administration fees, delays in getting her key deposit refunded and concerns about security in the building.

That prompted Vranes - who does most of the day-to-day property management - to respond that she was lucky to be allowed out of the lease, and post the student's name and email address against her wishes.

"We wish you all the best and hope this thread will show up in google search for future landlords to see what kind of tenant you are," he posted.

That response was removed on Wednesday and replaced with a toned-down version. On Friday, Vranes said he takes a lot of pride in his business and acknowledged he can be overly sensitive when challenged - but expressed regret that his responses sometimes cross a line.

"I'm not the nicest guy in terms of people skills," he said. "I try to be nice, but sometimes you're provoked."

Students complain the landlord is often combative when they post bad reviews, calling people names like "bitch" and "retard" in his responses.

In another case, Vranes threatened to report to police and sue a former tenant who posted about his frustration getting his key deposit back.

"After I posted my review, he emailed me to say if I don't take it down within 24 hours, he's going to sue me and my roommates for six figures," said Waterloo's Kaythushan Perinpamoorthy, who rented from the Vranes between September 2015 and August 2016.

Perinpamoorthy stands by his review - he says he had to get Ontario's Rental Housing Enforcement Unit involved to get his unit's $1,000 key deposit returned - yet the landlord still placed a claim on his credit rating and sent a collection agency after him and his roommates. That claim, over disputed damages to a pair of desk chairs, was later dropped.

"Everything I posted in my review was true. It was just to give students a heads-up, like, 'If you want to live here you might have to deal with stuff like this,'" he said.

Others chimed in on Reddit, complaining their poor reviews were either taken down or that Vranes threatened to report them to police for posting a negative comment. Some did not appear to be from tenants and said they were deliberately trying to drive down the property's rating on Google, while others eagerly defended the Vranes.

Vranes said they're dealing with "hundreds" of fake reviews from anonymous people who only appear interested in hurting the company's reputation.

One student said she removed her complaint about delays getting a key deposit back after the landlord threatened to "report me to my future employers as well posting my personal information on the review when I wished to remain anonymous."

Vranes and his wife initially responded to requests for comment through their lawyer, Richard A. Cooper. He said many of the bad reviews are fakes posted by non-tenants and "amount to fraud."

Cooper blamed the first student for going public with her complaint, causing more people to pile on. He said the landlord had tried to accommodate the young woman and the dispute was a "misunderstanding."

"She then caused a stir on an internal website at U of W, which resulted in a number of false claims against VIP Student Housing from people who were never tenants, but thought that they would 'jump on the bandwagon,'" the lawyer said in an email.

While the landlord said it takes legitimate complaints seriously, it had Google remove a number of "unfounded" complaints.

But he acknowledged the initial response to the young woman was "in retrospect, not very nice," and said the landlord has apologized.

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"VIP Student Housing is truly sorry and saddened to see how this one incident has escalated," the statement said.

Some accused the landlord of "doxxing," or releasing private information about former tenants who otherwise wished to be remain confidential.

"Horrible business practices. They delete 1 star comments and blackmail/dox users who dislike how they run instead of letting those people voice their opinions, reflect on it and improve like most other businesses," posted one reviewer named Gareth Maddock.

The University of Waterloo's Federation of Students says it's concerned about the complaints - and says it's not the first time landlords have battled students over negative reviews.

"If it's true, it's really concerning," said the federation's vice-president of education, Matthew Gerrits. "It's really important students have accurate information about the places they'll be living."

Online reviews play a critical role for students who don't have many other guides for choosing a place to live, he said.

"Students need to remember that legally they're allowed to post negative reviews if they're being truthful," Gerrits said.

"We have a very transient student population here, so you don't get any kind of common knowledge around which landlords may be suitable or easy to work with. Having some kind of online record is super important."

If students feel they're being threatened for posting bad reviews, they should document it and contact the authorities, he said.

The federation often deals with off-campus rental disputes, he said, and can help students sort out whether the should take their complaint to the municipal bylaw department, Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board or a lawyer.

gmercer@therecord.com

Twitter: @MercerRecord