Wondering what the RTDRS timelines are like? Well from what I’m currently hearing, not good!
With the current backlog of Christmas and New Years I’ve had landlords in Calgary region tell me their hearing dates are seven weeks away.
UPDATE!!! – I just talked with a landlord in Calgary and their hearing is only five weeks away so timelines are improving!
Add at least another week for them to vacate and you’re looking at potentially two months before they’re gone!
If the issue at hand is they aren’t paying rent now, how will two more months of unpaid rent affect you? I”m pretty sure I know the answer to that.
So with these extended RTDRS timelines for hearings, what is a landlord to do?
Dealing with Extended RTDRS Timelines
Because of these delays you need to quickly take action. That means at the first sign of trouble you need to make a decision is it likely to end up in an eviction, if so you need to make sure you have enough evidence and that you file immediately.
You can’t delay and hope a tenant pays, it’s far more effective to file and then cancel the hearing than it is to get stalled out two or three more weeks and find out the tenant ended up with another free month of rent.
If you can’t wait seven weeks you do have the options of going through the court system for evictions, but it is an entirely different animal and I’d suggest you hire someone to represent you for this.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a lawyer, but rather an evictions service company who is experienced with the entire eviction process. From what I’ve noticed and learned there aren’t many companies providing this option in Edmonton (if you know of anyone, leave me a comment below), the majority seem to all prefer the RTDRS process.
In Calgary you have the option of using ALEC & Foster Co to help you through the courts.
The reason you may want to go this route is the timelines are closer to ten to fourteen days versus the forty plus through the RTDRS.
Of course it will be a more expensive option, but if you get control of your property back one month sooner, you’ll also be able to rent it out that much sooner as well!
If you’ve recently filed at the RTDRS to evict a tenant, leave us a comment below with an update on the current wait time for your RTDRS eviction!
William Charlton says
Estimated waiting time for hearing+ cost for initial consultation
Alberta Eviction Info says
Hi William,
Hearings have gotten quite speedy and are around 10-14 days from application time I am hearing. Usually a bit longer near the start of the month due to increased demand but no where near the four to six weeks it was not to long ago. An eviction consultation is $50 for thirty minutes and they typically occur same day or next day depending on whether our schedules work. Link is here to get started or to find out more, Eviction Consulting
Bill