How To Evict Problem Tenants
A Step by Step Guide to the
Alberta Eviction Process Using The RTDRS
The Problem With Evicting Tenants In Alberta
I’ve evicted many tenants over the years and I’ve also helped hundreds of landlords do the same thing which has taught me a lot about evicting tenants in Alberta!
One of the biggest lessons was it’s actually easy to win your hearing, if you have the knowledge and understand the eviction process.
It’s also easy to lose and to get frustrated with the eviction process if you don’t…
Some of the lessons I learned were:
- the current eviction process is confusing, but it’s better than it was 5 years ago
- tenants win far more often than they should, because landlords didn’t do their homework
- landlords often don’t provide the right evidence or enough solid to win
- and landlords don’t know how or what to ask and miss opportunities to get tenants out faster
That’s why my guide gives you the following
- step by step explanations of how this system works ending all the confusion (knowledge is power!)
- details on what you need to do and provide to win the eviction hearing (the secret sauce for successful evictions)
- telling you how and what to ask to get the results you want! (ensuring you get tenants out fast!)
Who wouldn’t want the secrets and strategies I use for a 100% eviction success rate? Or would you rather take a chance and hope you get it right?
This guide shares not just the steps I learned to do this, but helps you avoid the mistakes I made in my early evictions that gave tenants extra time in my property, cost me additional lost rent and added endless amounts of stress (like finding your successfully evicted tenant sleeping in your property….).
Don’t Repeat The Mistakes I Made
I made a lot of mistakes evicting my first few tenants. It’s called learning through experience.
I know from the school of hard knocks that messing up the process, skipping the wrong steps or simply not asking for the right things ends up delaying the eviction and can cost you thousands of dollars!
During my first eviction of a tenant, it felt like everything was stacked against me.
All the information out there helped the tenant get answers, but it didn’t seem to help me!
But I learned I wasn’t alone!
After having to evict several tenants in a row at the RTDRS, I ran into other landlord who were just as confused and frustrated as I was the first time.
That’s when I realized, landlords just like you and me need help to end the confusion, help to make the process easy and help to give them the best chance of evicting a problem tenant before their whole world imploded.
That realization turned into my Eviction Guide for Landlords that has helped hundreds of Alberta landlords and property managers rid themselves of delinquent and problematic tenants. It has over 50 pages of information including
- A walkthrough of the eviction process
- examples of evictions I performed, fully documented
- both 24 hour and 14 day eviction notices for you to use if necessary!
It covers the entire eviction process in detail and it will save you hours of frustration (which I went through for you!). It helps you solve a problem, a problem that is stressful and potentially costly.
Here’s what Shannon had to say about this eviction guide,
“I have been to the RTDRS and what Bill describes in this book is exactly what I experienced. Anyone wanting to take the mystery out of “what happens next”, should read this book.” Shannon
I include details and tips in here that many landlords tell me their $300 per hour lawyer didn’t know! All because I have been down in the trenches and had to learn it all myself.
Learn All The Alberta Eviction Process Steps
This guide explains all the eviction steps in detail.
Plus I include real life examples of actual evictions I went through.
Problem tenants dealt with improperly can cost you thousands of dollars in lost rent and damages and the frustration factor alone simply cannot have a value placed on it.
Learn to avoid those losses by my simple eviction steps outlined in this guide.
Simply put, this information could save you thousands of dollars! The guide is fast and easy to read and most importantly it is available to you just moments after you order it.
You will be able to download it within minutes and can read it online or print out a copy for future reference (hopefully this will only be needed once!).
Proven Eviction Strategies
These proven strategies have been used for a 100% eviction rate and are battle tested by myself and other landlords.
I made it simple and straightforward so anyone can get the same results.
So don’t wait, discover how you can get rid of that problem tenant quickly and with the least headaches possible by ordering this guide now!
I began writing the information for this guide over eight years ago. It’s been fine tuned it, streamlined and finally brought together as one complete package, all in one easy download.
If you aren’t satisfied with this product, you have 30 days to request a full refund. I’m so confident in this information, this is my guarantee to you.
Will This Help??
How about including some FREE email support for any questions you have during the Alberta eviction process? I can usually respond to email questions within 24 hours and often even faster. With your purchase of this product I will include that free email support at no extra charge.
If you have come this far through my information and still haven’t purchased or are still unsure of whether this will help you, just leave me a comment below with any questions you may have and I will do my best to help answer them. I really believe this will be one of the best tools possible for your landlords tool belt and I will do my best to continue to improve it.
If you aren’t satisfied with this product, you have 30 days to request a full refund. I’m so confident in this information, this is my guarantee to you.
Here Is What People Have Said!
“Bill’s many years as a real estate investor and property manager in the unique world of shared accommodation housing has afforded him with an extensive and in-depth knowledge base of experience in the area of tenant management and the Alberta eviction process.
With his diligence for following the Act and keen attention to detail, he delivers an excellent account of essential facts and necessary steps that all landlords can utilize to streamline their tenant issues. Excellent work!“
Harold Hagen
“Bill is the expert for residential landlording in Alberta. He knows the rules and has hands-on experience. We have come to rely on his advice in all matters involving our tenants. ” Tim Bush – Avanira Properties
“I have been to the RTDRS and what Bill describes in this book is exactly what I experienced. Anyone wanting to take the mystery out of “what happens next”, should read this book.” Shannon
“This Eviction Guide is a “must have” for every Alberta real estate investor. This all inclusive document is both comprehensive and an easy read with real life applications and examples. If I were a teacher and you handed this into me, I would have to use this as the score sheet for the rest of the class! Well done!”
Scott Crawford The HomeStead Help Company
“Bill’s guide to evictions reads like it was taken straight out of my own playbook, developed from over 10 years helping manage over 1,000 tenants and conducting hundreds of evictions in Edmonton.” Chris Davies, REALTOR”
My ( month to month lease ) tenant gave a one year lease to his tenant without my knowledge. My tenant and I get along very well and has no issue,. His tenant ( basement tenant ) are giving him lots of issues. They are late in paying rent and ultilities. The boyfriend occasionally smoke weeds. My tenant likes to get his basement tenant out. The lease was dated to end Feb.30.2015. Is it a valid lease ? The basement tenant is holding him to it. He is tired of waiting till Feb.2014.
Hi Paul,
If he is paying late and breaching the terms of the lease (payment terms and smoking illegal drugs in the property), your tenant has grounds for evicting his tenant.
The lease may be valid, but if your tenant is subletting without approval his lease may be breached allowing you to evict him and in turn the tenant he has sublet too. But it sounds like that is not your goal. So now the tenant will have to proceed with the eviction if he wishes to go that route.
Bill
I have a situation that contains family. We bought a house from my sister and her partner 6 years ago. My sister continued to live in the house and rent from us as she was ill. In the mean time her son moved in to help her out until her passing in Nov. The son continued to live in the house for the past 6 months ,with our permission, in order to save some money. Now the 6 month are up and he doesn’t want to or can’t afford to leave AND feels he has an entitlement to the house. We own full title of the house. The rent being paid does not cover the expenses to us as the home owners. We contacted a lawyer who looked over our documents. We served notice to vacate. We want to sell the house. What do I do if 1) he doesn’t leave 2) stops paying rent completely.
Hi Thomas,
The simple answer is evict him. You can give him a 90 day notice to have him vacate as you are selling the property and then if he’s not gone, you can go through the RTDRS or the courts to evict him legally. If he stops paying you can accelerate the process sooner and have a hearing even sooner.
What did the lawyer suggest? Hopefully something similar?
Bill
Thank you so much for you helpfulness of asking the right questions to get my mind working with the advice in your wonderful book. It made a huge difference and I really appreciate all of your help!
I have been recommending your page to ANYONE who rents or is thinking about renting a room or property.. because I’d rather them not get caught like I did!!
Thank you again and Because of you I am going to live easier for a while and take time to really educate myself before I allow another tennant!!
Thank you and I will stay in touch!
Robin
Hey Robin,
Glad I could help you out and it worked out so well for you. Also, thanks for the Facebook comment, for those not aware, you can find us on Facebook as well at http://www.Facebook.com/AlbertaEviction.
Great idea to educate yourself, if you go in knowing how it works, or at least having a good basis, you can avoid so many of the problems that are out there.!
Regards,
Bill
Hi Bill,
I used your eviction guide to evict my bad tenants. Now they are threatening to sue me for their damage deposit even though they are in arrears of about $4000.00 in rent and utilities. In the 10 months they lived there they did damage to the newly renovated townhouse in excess of $5000.00. They refused to do a move-out inspection and no official move-in inspection was done although we have pictures and receipts of all the work that was done prior to their moving in. Because there was no move-in inspection and I have not yet sent a statement of account they claim I owe them their damage deposit back. What should be my next step(s)?
Hi Geri,
First question is whether you received a judgment from the RTDRS when you evicted them for outstanding rent, utilities etc. If you did, it’s considerably easier for you and they are just blowing smoke.
You are still obligated to sent them a statement of the account within ten days of them moving out (or at least you being aware they moved out if they abandoned it). Also there may be some complications regarding a lack of a move in inspection, but the judgment would over rule that.
So option one, if you have a judgment, inform them that suing you would be ideal as it will provide you with the information you need to come after them for the outstanding judgment.
Option two, if you don’t have a judgment, let them know that by suing you it will be beneficial as you are coming after them for the outstanding rent and damages and you will now know where to serve them.
You’re kind of bluffing here, as it is unlikely they will go to the trouble of even trying to sue you, especially if you have the judgment, but it does open up the possibility of you going after them for additional damage costs. The reality is that if they didn’t have the rent money, they don’t have money for a lawyer either. There are programs through legal aid that try to jump in and help tenants who are wronged, but more often than not these are being lied to by the tenants and they just end up wasting everyones time. This is why it is so important to follow the rules.
The big lesson from this is you absolutely positively have to complete walk throughs with tenants and have them sign off before they get the keys and when you go to the RTDRS or the courts, get a judgment for costs, outstanding rent and/or damages.
Hope this helps,
Bill
Hi there.
I was just curious how a walk-through (move in and move out) worked. When I moved into my apartment, there was no walk through done, the landlord left furniture, garbage, belongings in the house, and a back yard in disgusting shape from the previous tenants. It took him over 2 months to get the furniture out of the house, but never removed some personal belongings so I just left them, and I ended up cleaning the back yard, the walls had wear and tear. I lived there for 14 months, and When I moved out I scrubbed the house, from top to bottom (I forgot a drawer, and the oven apparently). I took pictures of all the cleaning and repairs I made, but didn’t fix or remove any of the stuff prior to me moving in, but have no proof of the condition it was in before my move in. Now he won’t return my damage deposit, saying I didn’t replace light-bulbs, there was marks on a door, and wall(from furniture), and said I left belongings in the apartment (which I didn’t, I just left the stuff that was there in the first place, its not mine to take, or throw out), and made up all these things.
I have pictures of the condition of move out, but not move in, and neither does he. I feel like I’m being taken advantaged of, when I did everything I was suppose to on my move out. What is my next step? What is considered normal wear and tear? Am I responsible for painting the place before I leave?(he says I am). Please help me, tell me what I do now, whats considered normal wear and tear, and how does it work if no walk through was ever written up. Thanks so much.
Hi Christy,
With no walk through being completed before you moved in, the landlord cannot keep your security deposit as there is no way to prove the move in condition. The landlord is supposed to provide you with a statement sent you within ten days after you move out with a breakdown of any charges against the security deposit and what is coming back to you. This statement should detail what you are getting charged for and break down costs.
I’m assuming they haven’t done any fo this which just makes your situation stronger.Also you did a very smart thing by taking the pictures and shouldn’t have a problem getting back most of your security deposit and likely 100%.
Your next step is probably going to require you to file either at the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS), or the courts depending on where you live. You might try to email or send a letter to the landlord showing you understand your rights and that they are in breach of the Residential Tenancy Act and you will take them to court to recover your security deposit. It may pressure the landlord to return the security deposit as they broke the rules and going to court will take up their time and make them look bad or worst case it will act as evidence that you tried to work with the landlord and were left having to use the law to help you.
Also, unless there was some special agreement in place where you were to paint the property, you are also not responsible for painting the place before you leave. Now having said this, there are exceptions. If you painted the unit a different colour than it was originally, you have to return it to the original colour.
finally, if you broke the lease and/or didn’t provide proper notice of termination, there could be reason for the landlord to hold onto the security deposit to cover the rent, but from the sounds of this, they are really just trying to bully you, so stand up for your rights.
Good luck,
Bill
Hi I have gave my tenant a 14 day eviction notice she has already moved out but her roommates who are not on the lease are still there. Are they allowed to b in there since they are not on the lease? Can we make them leave right now?
Hi Jennelle,
This is a bit of a fuzzy area and my answer may not be entirely accurate. It can vary depending on circumstances, but here it goes.
If the tenants were known to be tenants to you and they were assumed t be tenants as part of the arrangement, you might have to go through the standard process of evicting them as well. If they were “surprise” tenants who you knew nothing about and weren’t supposed to be there, they are not protected by the Residential Tenancy Act and you can indeed ask them to move out.
Normal action would be a Notice to Vacate to have them vacate, but I’ve never gone this route, so you may have to verify this with perhaps the Landlord and Tenant board.I’ve read two versions of the Notice to Vacate in the past, one is a 48 hour version and one is a 14 day version. This isn’t my areas of specialty and is why I either have written acknowledgement of additional tenants and/or they have to sign the lease, then I don;t have to worry about it!
Bill
It would be wonderful to have the same package geared for dealing with “SLUMLORDS” I have been on both sides of the fence and am currently dealing with a SLUMLORD .
Thanks Bill for your emails and encouragement in this matter
I will post an update when the matter comes to a peaceful end.
Thanks Carolyn,
I’m quite sure I will see many more tenants over the next year with similar problems to what you went through. As I like to stress, I am here to help both good landlords and good tenants although being a landlord, I have far more experience now on the landlord side! I do still remember my younger years as a tenant and I fortunately had some pretty good landlords back then. With one exception, but that’s another story!
Regards,
Bill
Thanks Bill for the excellent support. Your lengthy answer to my question and your book are making this process much easier. As Landlords we were feeling desparate as the tenant seemed to have more rights than we did. It almost comes down to WHO owns this house. Your information gives us hope and shows us how to walk through the steps to our best possible outcome. Thanks for being there.
Thanks Linda,
Glad I could make it easier for you. I still remember how confused the first time I went through the RTDRS and continually felt totally lost. Once you’ve gone through it a few times and learned to navigate through the confusion it becomes easier and with the guide I put together to help, it;s hopefully even easier!
Bill
Hi Bill,
It looks like RTRDS does not service Southern Alberta. Does your guide have complete information on the “traditional” eviction process?
Thanks,
Heather
Hi Heather,
It’s true the RTDRS still doesn’t serve the entire province which is rather disappointing. For those outside the RTDRS jurisdictions they stil have to go to the courthouse for their eviction hearings and depending on where you are located it can involve some travel time to reach the nearest courthouse.
The guide I created is specifically focused on the RTDRS and walks you through how to fill out the forms for the RTDRS, what to prepare for the hearing and then the stages that you go through prior, during and after the hearing. It doesn’t go through this for the courthouse process.
Having said this, the preparation and the legal stages are the same, but it wouldn’t necessarily tell you all the variables involved with presenting in front of an actual judge. So while it will definitely help you prepare and understand how the process works, it wouldn’t be complete.
If it helps, I do offer a refund policy for the first 30 days. If you would like to pick up the guide, read through it and if you don’t feel it helped prepare you, I would have no problem refunding you. Just email me back and we would go from there.
Regards,
Bill
Bill has been an invaulable source of knowledge in what can only be described as a landlords worst nightmare. His quick reply to our questions, as well as going above and beyond to assist us with extra information on our unfortunate situation with our renters has been the best thing that has happened. I only wish we had come accross his book much sooner!
Thank you is such a small word for all your help and guidance Bill. We sincerely appreciate your experience, knowledge and time.
(If you know ANYONE who is a landlord, by all means…recommend Bill’s book!!! I know of 3 people I am sharing it with)
Cheers
Jenny
The eviction guide provides a fantastic explanation of the process of evictions through the RTDRS. It is a daunting process, but the guide really breaks it down. I have not yet taken my case to the RTDRS, but I feel very confident that I would be capable of going through the process without confusion.
I also wanted to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Bill. I was very fortunate to have been offered personal advice for my situation. Bill is genuinely a well-meaning person who really cares about helping landlords stuck in a tough situation.
Sincerely,
Amanda Gazzard
I would like to express my appreciation for all the ongoing advice and support. I feel very fortunate to have met Bill and gain from his wisdom.
Although I have not yet gone to RDTRS or court, Bill’s book “THE ALBERTA EVICTION PROCESS” provided a concise explanation to the process.
I strongly recommend Bill’s publications to any landlord in the unfortunate situation of an eviction.
Donna Fuller
Thanks for the comment Donna, I’m glad I was able to help you move forward and solve your tenant issue without having to go through the RTDRS, although it was close! Fortunately if they hadn’t of left, you had everything prepared as I laid it out in the guide and it would have taken a little longer, but you would have had the same result, the tenant out and you having control back of your property.
Bill
You have done a whopping, brilliant job with this booklet! As I read through it, I kept on kicking myself wishing I had read it before. Why, many of the tips and tricks you mention never occurred to me even though I have been a landlord since 1997! This is a unique product worth its price in gold! Those who are landlords without reading this booklet could be losing FAR more than the relatively inexpensive $37.95. Thank you for this service, Bill! God bless.
Thanks for the kind words Harry, I’ve actually had a couple other landlords say similar things about wishing they had read the guide before they tried to evict a tenant. I’ve been there too, not quite knowing what the next steps are, that was why I originally put all the information together and I’m glad it was able to help you!
Regards,
Bill
Hello,
Is this book sold in any of the book stores
Hi Dave,
We actually made this a downloadable eBook so you can have it in your hands in just minutes rather than finding out about it and then trying to locate it at a book store. People searching for this type of information online are usually in a bit of a rush to find out everything they can as quickly as they can and this guide will help them with that. So being able to get it within a few minutes seems to be ideal.
Regards,
Bill
I cannot believe this was on sale for only $19.95. It is worth soooo much more. I have been to the RTDRS and what Bill describes in this book is exactly what I experienced. Anyone wanting to take the mystery out of “what happens next”, should read this book. Bill tells you exactly what to do and what to expect after you have done it. He also includes many helpful tips for winning your case, ones that I hadn’t even thought of, but will definitely include the next time I am visiting the RTDRS.
I also like how he shares his own personal experiences with eviction by including a very descriptive retelling of three different evictions that he handled. As someone who still considers herself a “new” landlord, I plan to keep my purchased copy in a very safe place and read it whenever I am in need of good advice in dealing with a problematic tenant.
When I went through a second eviction experience very recently, I spent many hours thinking about what I needed to do, as well as making phone calls to the various Landlord and Tenant agencies (Did you know that there are actually two – one local (City of Edmonton)and one provincial (Service Alberta)?), and that each one can tell you something that makes you question what you thought you had just heard at the other? (And do not kid yourself that these people “don’t mind repeat calls for clarification”, especially on a Friday at 4:00 when they are closing and you are frantically trying to figure out your next step before the weekend begins!)
Bill’s book makes sense of it all. Once I had it, I knew exactly what I needed to do. And because of Bill’s book…I discovered an even faster way to have my tenant evicted and am now enjoying my peaceful days and nights again. And all this for only $19.95? It is clearly worth much, much more! Any person that owns a rental property should own this book – it is just what us Alberta landlords need. THANK YOU for writing it!