14 Day Eviction Notice Takes to Long?
Isn’t the 14 day eviction notice mandatory you might ask to evict a tenant? Surprisingly, using a 14 day eviction notice could actually make the eviction process longer!
If you have a delinquent tenant, you can forgo the 14 day eviction notice and proceed directly to the RTDRS and file for a court hearing. Now, normally hearings were roughly 10-14 days after filing, but with COVID we have seen a ton of delays so eviction hearings are being scheduled as far off as six week currently.
Originally, using a 14 day eviction notice, you weren’t able to file for a hearing until after the 14 (really 16 days due to the requirement of having one day prior to the notice starting and one day after for them to vacate) day eviction notice’s eviction date is past. This just gave the tenant extra free time in your property.
So by filing directly with the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Centre you can have as much as a nine day head start on the process and have the tenants out that much faster so you can proceed forward without additional drama.
Now with hearings taking that extra four to five weeks from normal they actually allow you to do both, file an eviction application and give the tenant a notice.
24 Hour Eviction Notice For Threats
One other quick note, if you have a tenant who threatens you, an agent working for you or one of the other tenants, you can proceed with a 24 hour eviction notice. This can be even faster to get someone out, although you still require a court hearing at some point if they don’t vacate voluntarily.
My mandate for using the 14 day eviction notice is as follows. If I believe the tenant will catch up, and this is a one time circumstance, or that they will voluntarily leave on or before the eviction date comes up, I will issue a 14 day eviction notice. If I believe their intent is to not leave, never pay and to be a royal thorn in my side, I proceed directly to filing an eviction with the RTDRS.
Filing does cost you $75, and the 14 day eviction notice is free, but how much does it cost you if a problem tenant stays in your property, potentially damages it and cause you further delays in getting it rented out to more responsible tenants? Be sure you know when and how to use a 14 day eviction notice!
24 Hour Eviction Notice For Property Damage
Much like a 24 hour eviction for threats against yourself or a tenant, you can also evict a tenant for serious property damage. Note that this isn’t about a broken window or small hole in the wall, but rather SERIOUS damage like a lease breaking party or total disregard for the home.
The same rules as above apply.
People are constantly asking me how to evict tenants for non-payment, for damage and for not leaving when the lease is up. I’ve put together a 22 page guide that will walk you through all these issues rather than piecing together the information. To order it click the following link
Basic Guide to Evicting Tenants In Alberta
Are you looking for eviction forms? I have eviction forms you can download today to accelerate your eviction. You can find more info here Eviction Forms and Leases
Can I deliver the eviction notice electronically? (Email)
You could Lara, but could you guarantee your tenant received it? Improper delivery of applications is one of the number one ways to get evictions thrown out or judgments later reversed.
I’d make every possible attempt possible (complete with documentation of each attempt) to try and serve the tenant to remove that “get out of eviction free” card from the table.
Bill
Hi Bill,
I’m dealing with a nasty tenant who stayed at the property for over 4 months. During this time we found out she was doing weed inside the house & garage; causing ruckus and having the police come by every few days which disturbs the downstairs tenants & neighbours; damaged the house and physically breaking the stove; allowing outsiders to live in the house without informing us; changing the lock on the garage without telling us or giving us a copy, etc.
We gave her a 14 day eviction notice, which she objected. Hence we filed an application with the RTDRS to evict her, which is schedule to June 2. During this time she verbally told us and physically moved out and left her stuff in the garage and outside the house. We do not have a written notice.
Her unlisted common-law decided to stay even after the tenant left. We told the unlisted common-law that he has no right staying at the property as we do not have a contract with him so we have the right to change the lock. He left after a couple days and we never changed the lock as we felt they would try and break locks to get into the house if they felt they still had the right.
Well, now the tenant (who moved out) is claiming we changed the lock (which we didn’t) and claiming it’s against the law. So a few questions:
1.) Can we change the lock as she said she moved out even though we have yet to get the court notice? Or is she legally still able to access the house and the garage without our consent?
2.) We realized the damage she caused to the house would cost more than her damage deposit. Would we need to cancel the first RTDRS application and file a new one for damage?
3.) We do not have her new address and our only hopes of giving her a new (or updated) RTDRS form is when we discuss about her damage deposit. So assuming we win the case how can we legally enforce her to pay us back for the damage? Is there a third party who would collect the money as it seems like she has other people whom she is in debt to.
4.) For future tenants is it common to do a criminal check? We talked to the police who said we can, but we’re not familiar if this is the norm or if a credit check would be sufficient.
5.) There’s a lot of garbage that is left behind. This includes mattress, stolen ice cream fridge, etc. Can we charge her for all the garbage cleaning as well?
Thanks
Karen
Hi Karen,
If you can confirm she has abandoned the place you could change the locks, but if it’s uncertain it can cause you more of a headache.
After four months and with only two weeks until the hearing you may be better off waiting it out and attending the hearing. DO NOT CANCEL THE HEARING.
She may show up at the hearing and announce she had planned to clean up and fix the damages, but you locked her out.
You’ll want to be prepared to file a new hearing for the damages and bring it up with the hearing officer. If she doesn’t show at the hearing, make sure the hearing officer sees evidence that the tenant may have vacated so you want immediate access of the property.
If you can’t find her to serve her, there are specifics for service that you can use, but they have loopholes later if the tenant tries to fight it. You can hire services to track her down, but it depends on the reality of ever getting paid.
It’s not common to do a criminal check, normally a credit check and a very thorough reference check process will suffice, although I believe this is your second set of bad tenants in a row, so you seem to be lacking some of the process or may not know the extra steps.
I do offer a screening course that is available on my landlord training site at http://www.Training.TheEducatedLandlord.com you should consider.
Yes you can charge for the garbage clean up, but again if she has no money and or you can’t track her down, you’ll never actually see the money.
Bill
Thanks Bill,
In terms of “threating me” the tenant came downtowns banging on the door aggressive tone, told me to open the door, I refused, then told him I would call authorities, then he walked away calling me “f@#*en Bitch…. I was scared and thought to myself if I bump into this guy in the hallway who knows what he will say or do to me, safety first.
So for the protection of myself and my son I called the authorities right away. The management checked in the following day to ensure I was okay and I appreciated the call, plus the manager lives in the building so again another feeling of safety. The management company that operates this building does not mess around with complaints and deals with issues head on, which I really appreciate!! I’m sensing they will evict these people (wells here’s to hoping the evict these people; crossing my fingers anyway). Our building is family orientated along with young professionals, for the most part everyone knows each other and it has a communal feeling. It’s very quiet and these “Noisy folks” certainly don’t fit with the buildings peaceful environment.
I certainly will take your advice and start a working copy of all the incidents, and I have texts msg to the offending party about me addressing the noise problem…..and I will certainly forward those messages to the management
Thanks for the speedy reply and your website really helped me….I tried digging through the Alberta tenancy act online but I did not find clear answers.
Have a great Day and thanks again
Breanna
Bill
I have a tenant, who lives below me in my principal residence. The tenant is partying on Sunday and Monday nights, sometimes until 4am-5am. Loud music, friends that yell etc….Also i have noticed some damage to the property (he broke his suite door) and i have caught him smoking (i have proof) even though he signed a document saying he wouldn’t. also he DOES NOT clean, like he lives in a garbage can.
The only reason i have kept him for as long as is because is he pays me on time every month on time.
Also, I have no proof but i think he is subleasing to a roommate.
What is the exact process you would do? he seems hot tempered, i really don’t feel comfortable with him living at my house. He has never threatened me, however he makes me feel uncomfortable.
thanks
Darren
Hi Darren,
If you haven’t already given him numerous written notices about the issue, I’d start there. Any successful eviction with a potentially difficult tenant requires plenty of documentation showing there is an issue it’s been addressed and it wasn’t dealt with. Otherwise it becomes he said/she said.
Moving forward every instance requires a written notice to the tenant of the problem and you should also begin documenting backwards in case it is required to be brought up as well.
Depending on the type of tenant perhaps the written notice will open their eyes to the problem and being written they will understand the seriousness. If not now you will have additional evidence to move forward with an eviction.
Once you reach that point you can provide them with a 14 day eviction notice or if you have any indication they won’t go or will be a problem you can bypass the notice and go directly to the RTDRS and will need to apply for a hearing.
I break all the steps down, what you need to do and how the process works in my eviction guide which is available for sale here on the site.
Hope that all helps,
Bill
Hi Bill,
Great web site, very helpful and it’s given me a lot of clarity. So I have a neighbour who has been noisy (Since they moved in a few months ago); meaning, loud music or loud TV, it has been very disruptive to my sleep and peace. So the first incident I went upstairs and asked the neighbours to turn the music down, they complied and apologized. Next weekend comes, again I have to address their loud music, they turn down their music, apologize (as you can see a pattern is starting). The third weeked AGAIN, surprise, surprise loud music however they don’t answer their door when I attempt to address the noise issue yet again, I have the belief you give people a chance to change bad behaviours, but they crossed the line with my 3 strikes your out rule. So I wrote them a letter (paper trail) stating my concerns and said I will address my concerns to management, I called management and they issued a noise warning right away (I was impressed of how speedy the management was, so a shout out to them). So long story short NOISE is still is an issue with these folks despite a warning being issued. The offending tenant did approach me in the hallway and said he would like to work things out peacefully and apologized once again (shallow words considering his actions contradict his words). But hey if a person can work towards peace I’m open, so the offending party said to text him if the noise is too loud, I agreed to this, but soon after our conversation in the hallway the dude goes to his apartment and turns the tunes up to a stupid level, I’m like what the hell “I justed talked to you about noise 1 minute ago” so I text him and told him to turn it town. Over the course of 4 days I had to text them about noise everyday. So I said, enough is enough, I’m not their mother, and I refuse to police them; I told them I will be contacting management for further noise violations, and stated management can police them, not me. A week goes by, So as you guessed, more NOISE. I called management and they issued them a second written notice stating any more noise they will be evicted (I guess if they get a third notice for noise then they get evicted) Again another shout out to management for nipping this in the bud. So when the tenant got their second notice the male resident came to my door banging and yelling about a notice he got, he was aggressive and loud, I refused to open the door and said I would call authorities if he didn’t leave, I was scared and freaked out by this guy being at my door. He called me some profanities then left my door. I called management and reported the incident and called the non emergency police line. the police and resident manager dealt with the scary neighbour and he was told to stay clear of me (third shout out to management for coming over to deal with scary dude right away). So now I’m feeling a little bit safer. So what will be the next likely step management will take on this neighbour? I’m praying he gets evicted…..
Hi Breanna,
The next step can vary depending on the property management company. Typically the next step would be an actual eviction notice and if that doesn’t get the tenant out they will move to a hearing via the RTDRS.
If the tenant actually threatened you in the last instance they could issue a 24 hour eviction notice to accelerate the process, but that could devolve into a he said/she said scenario. By calling the police in there is now an additional paper trail making that a much more realistic avenue.
Again though, it varies depending on management and how reasonable the tenant is now versus heat of the moment. If it does go to a hearing the more documentation they have the easier the process, so if you have records of your texts with times and dates it may be very beneficial to them, but you may need to discuss that with the management company as well.
Hope that helps a bit more and glad you found the site informative!
Bill
Good day sir! I have been just handed a standard 14-day eviction notice via email due to unpaid rent. I am unemployed and at the mercy of Alberta Works. They have neglected to pay me in time, but it will be coming the second week of February, a full week ahead of the eviction date. I’m not worried about being evicted as I will be able to pay, my only worry is that I was served electronically. Even if the landlord has an original signed, written paper copy in their possession, that they have failed to deliver to me in person, is this even admissible? If poop hits the fan (which I truly hope I can avoid), can they use their written, undelivered, copy as proper notice?
Thanks again for this forum.
Sean
Hi Sean,
There is a bit of a gray area regarding electronic serving of documents. The big issue is proving you ever received the document. Without proof it renders the note even more useless.
As you mentioned though, if the eviction is for non-payment and you pay prior to the eviction date it will be null and void and even if you don’t the landlords next step involves filing for an eviction at the RTDRS which adds another couple of weeks to the process. If it does get to that point it’s much more likely you would be evicted, so priority will be to get that paid as quickly as the funds come in.
Bill
Hi Bill,
After reading the Basics, I still cannot figure out how I should do with my scenario.
I have tenants (three people family, a man with his spouse (not married) and her daughter. The daughter has learning disabilities), living in my basement, with a 6-month fixed term lease started from December 1, 2015, and will end on June 1, 2016. Tenants paid rent late for first month (December), and haven’t paid rent for January so far. From the beginning of January, we kept asking them for the January rent, and finally my wife had an oral fighting with the woman. This resulted in a talk between us and then we made an agreement for early ending the original lease. We signed a so called Lease Termination Agreement on January 16th. The key contents in this agreement are as blow:
1. Both landlords and tenants agreed to early terminate the original lease agreement on January 31, 2016.
2. The rest of items in original lease remain unchanged.
3. Tenants need to pay landlords January rent $1000, in full, as soon as possible by the end of January, 2016.
4. Tenants need to pay two month utility fees $325.94 for December 2015 and January 2016 by the end of January, 2016.
None of the fees above have been paid so far. And I am also feeling that the tenants may not move out by the due date (end of January according to the new termination agreement). If the tenants do not move out after due date (end of January), I got questions about it:
1. Is the Lease Termination Agreement legal? One thing I need to mention, when we signed the new termination agreement it was after 11:30 pm, so only the man came to sign the agreement. We asked the woman to sign the agreement later, due to her name printed on the agreement was wrong (my wife failed to check the full name signed on the original lease, instead got her old name, her first name and her ex-husband’s last name, from a mail), she refused to sign and also didn’t allow us to correct her name and re-print it. Very disoperative. So I was wondering, without the woman’s signature (she signed on the original lease), is the agreement legal?
2. Suppose the Lease Termination Agreement is legal, should I give them a 3-day, or 5-day notice indicating that they must move out within 3 day (or 5 days), otherwise, they may be brought to the court and get evicted.
3. If the Lease Termination Agreement is illegal, what should I do? Should I follow the original lease agreement and give them a two-week notice for non-payment? And once they paid within the 2 weeks, the lease will continue until the end date on the original lease? Otherwise I need to apply an eviction application to the court and get them evicted eventually?
Thanks.
Frank
Hi Frank,
Unfortunately the signed document doesn’t really amount to much. It may assist with an eviction going forward, but it still leaves you with only one real option to evict them if they don’t leave on schedule and that’s the RTDRS.
I’m going out on a limb, but typically in situations like this the tenants are just milking you for additional time and never end up paying the back utilities and rent.
Since it’s Friday and you’ll know over the weekend if they are actually leaving, I’d suggest preparing today and the next couple of days to file an eviction hearing at the RTDRS on Monday. If you know they aren’t leaving you’ll want to get it filed first thing Monday so you can get a hearing as soon as possible.
The important part about filing is you can get a judgment for outstanding monies owed you for rent and utilities and while this isn’t a guarantee you will get paid if money is outstanding it will accelerate the eviction.
Final note, because the child is younger and with disabilities it may extend the amount of time they are given as the mandate is to give families more time, so it will be more important to stress they have not paid, owe quite a bit and have fallen down on multiple commitments like the signed document.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi there, I am needing to evict my tenant for non payment, she pays on a bi-weekly basis which was added as an addendum to our rental agreement and is of this writing currently 13 days late. I posted a notice of eviction on Friday as our terms dictate I can do so if she is 7 days late in paying, giving her 7 days to pay arrears and one day more to vacate premises fi she does not pay. I was going by the Alberta Landlord and Tenant Act but now I am unsure of what I did. From what I’ve read on this site, I’m now unsure that we fall under the ALTA since she rents a Garage Suite which is on my own property where I also live. Her door is 25 feet away from mine on the same property. I have just paid for your $7 package, but perhaps this isn’t covered in there? I live in a small town north of Edmonton and was told by a friend that I won’t be able to be rid of her until Spring. But if this happens, I will be in forclosure by then because I will not be able to pay my mortgage on my home, which is the only reason I had a tenant in the first place. Also, her rental payments cover some of the utilities. What happens when they get cut off because I am in arrears because she’s not paying her rent…?! This is a total disaster as a first time landlord and I never want this headache again. What do you recommend?
Hi Marie,
Just wondering where in the world you are getting your current information, because it’s not relevant in Alberta.Any type of eviction notice requires 14 days in Alberta, not seven and even if it’s in your contract the rules default to the Alberta Residential Tenancy Act in the province which states 14 days.
Even if it’s a garage suite it is still covered under the RTA. So, to remove her, you need to file as soon as possible via the RTDRS for an eviction and yes you can evict someone in the winter in Alberta.
Most areas of Alberta are now covered by the RTDRS process and if you’re in a more remote area it is a call in service versus appearing in person. If this is your first time going through the RTDRS, I’d suggest looking at my Eviction Guide package which actually walks you through the process and helps remove the frustration first time landlords have with the process. I explain the process in simple language, I cover what you need to include to ensure you get an eviction and I have recommended steps that have helped me get a 100% success rate with evictions, or you can try on your own and hope that the RTDRS doesn’t let them stay until spring because you “did it wrong”.
You can find it here, An Eviction Guide For Landlords. Hope that helped,
Bill
Thanks Bill. I appreciate all the info you supplied.
In my reading of the Residential Tenancy Act for Alberta there was specific conditions for evicting a tenant who pays month to month and a tenant who pays week to week. My tenant pays 2 week to 2 week lease, no leasehold. A tenant who pays week to week in arrears 3 days may be served notice on 4th day with 4 days to pay or vacate. So it follows that bi weekly, arrears 7 days, 8th day served notice with 8 days to pay or vacate. Perhaps I read into it wrong. I shouldn’t have to wait 14 days for payment and then serve eviction notice on 15th day to give her yet 15 more days to pay or vacate, because she rents by 2 week periods, with rent due at the beginning of each two week period.
Anyhoo, never doing any rental arrangement other than monthly in future because it seems the most cut and dry and will now involve the RTDS immediately. Shortly after I left my first comment here, she met with me to pay a partial payment saying she would be paying me the arrears on the 30th when she received her check and I believed her. Here we are Dec 1 and no payment, refuses to answer her door.
Hi Bill
Hope all is well. I just bought a commercial property with a few units which has some tenants. The tenants do NOT have a lease agreement with me or with the previous owners. What options do I have with the tenants? I don’t mind making a lease and actually prefer one, but if a tenant does not want to make a lease may I evict him soon after the month is over? I do not want a month to month or a no lease agreement. As I have no idea what the terms are.
Great website by the way. Kind regards Joey
Hey Joey,
Rules for commercial properties are quite different from residential properties. Typically it comes down to the written lease which will now be an issue for you. Now are these residential tenants, or businesses renting space? That makes the difference as there are previous rulings that may apply.
If it’s residential the default residential rules apply, if it’s commercial, I simply don’t know enough about that area to accurately guide you.
Bill
Hello,
I have a question regarding an eviction notice we received today regarding our dog.
The notice states that we have ‘violated our lease by housing a dog that is not approved and must be removed from the premises immediately to avoid further action’ it also states ‘you are to correct these violations within 14 days after receipt or delivery of this notice’
* Today’s date is October 29th and our lease agreement is up on November 30th
My question is: If we give our dog away tomorrow (October 30th), can we give our 30 days notice to leave on November 1st, and receive our damage deposit back?
I just want to make sure that our property management company can’t withhold our damage deposit because of this eviction notice (as long as we have held up our end of the agreement and removed our dog from the premises.)
Should we get anything in writing from the property management company regarding this issue? ie. should we get a letter stating that we have done our part and removed the dog?
I am not too sure how quickly you can answer back, but we are going tomorrow to deal with this issue, as Nov. 1st is quickly approaching. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Thank you
Carly and Troy
Hi Carly and Tony,
Typically I reply in 48-72 hours or when I have time. Or I consult same day via my consultation services. (give me a minute while I get on my soap box here). The majority of the info I provide here is free, I do have paid products that give even more value that I’ve put many hours into creating and fine tuning.
Not sure what is wrong with people in October, but sending me emails insinuating I have to help you immediately or giving me grief for not replying (check your spam folder, I actually replied within 30 minutes, for free) or worse yet Realtors buying my forms and then disputing the purchase with your credit card company without talking to me or now even replying to my inquiries as to how I could have improved it all sour my outlook on helping people.
Anyway, stepping down now from the soap box as I know there are many people who actually do appreciate this and hopefully Carly and Troy, you will be two of those.
The main issue is your breach of the lease, even if you give the dog away, you still breached the lease. If you do give the dog up, the landlord may reconsider the eviction, but there will be trust issues going forward.A s it’s stated on their eviction form you may have an option to remove the dog and they will cease further action, but they may simply not renew the lease which is coming up.
If they don’t renew, you have to move on and legally they don’t have to give you notice, although if they don’t they then have to evict you in court where you typically get additional time to vacate.
The real question you have though is about the damage deposit. As long as you are current and there are no damages, even if you breached the lease they won’t be able to withhold it in this scenario (or they shouldn’t legally be able to, they may try in which case you have to take them to court or the RTDRS to recover it).
It is a good idea to let the property manager know you have removed the dog, and to make sure you document that conversation at the very least if you can’t get something in writing from them. I’d suggest after the conversation sending them an email recapping the conversation and what you have done just as a precaution and as potential evidence if needed.
After that you will also want to make sure you provide them notice you are terminating (although legally neither the landlord, not the tenant are required to provide notice of a termination of a fixed term lease), but it’s good form and it shows you tried to work with them. From there on make sure you clean up and take plenty of pictures to back up everything after the fact.
The property manager does need to complete an exit walk through with you when you vacate and they needed to do one when you moved in, one that every one signed. If there was no initial walk through it will be doubly hard for them to keep the deposit and twice as easy for you to win in a hearing if necessary.
Final caveat, the property manager is not required to pay out the deposit immediately. They have ten days to return it, so if you are depending on that deposit to move to the next place, be prepared if that isn’t possible with a backup plan.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi I want to evict my tenants. They always pay their rent on time even a couple of days early. Here’s where the problems start. My tenants refuse to maintain the property whatsoever. Every time I go there the place is filthy and smells. The tenant didn’t own a vacuum so she wouldn’t vacuum the carpet. I had the upper floor carpet removed. The contractor showed up in the morning to find the two upper floor toilets full to the brim with human feces. He also called me to inform me that when he went to put some carpet in the basement there were 2 people not on the lease sleeping down there. I noticed my tenant was not in possession of any cutting boards. I told her prior to moving in that there was to be cutting board used as you can’t use the granite counter tops to chop food on. Complaints have been made to the condo board from other residents that my tenants were parking in visitor parking. The front of my pot & pan drawers have been ripped off. I did repair it. The children are largely left unsupervised. The children have splattered paint all over the basement floor. Is this enough to evict these tenants on?
I live in constant fear that the toilets are going to overflow all over the brand new floor or my granite countertops are going to be destroyed. I would greatly appreciate any advice to get these people out asap.
Thank you
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
Your lease should have several clauses (or at least one) that refers to maintenance and upkeep off the property. It sounds like these situations definitely go above and beyond even the basic maintenance requirements, never mind health standards with the toilets.
Just to cover your bases, I’d send them a recap letter informing them of the issues and that you’ll be doing an inspection within say one to two weeks to confirm the place is cleaned up. Also mention the violations/issues with the additional people, the parking, the damage the paint etc and that any future violations or issues will result in an immediate motion to evict them.
you may be able to start now, but if you give them an additional chance, have it all documented (as you should have done with any previous issues like the parking, extra tenants etc), it will show you tried and they failed to work within the groundwork which goes a long ways towards a successful eviction.
People who tend to pull the trigger quickly on evictions without everything in place and showing they tried to work with the tenants often find the tenants getting additional time to get out or worse yet the eviction overturned and the tenants get to stay.
Regards,
Bill
Thank you Bill,
I appreciate your response and you’ve given me an option that I honestly didn’t even consider. I’m certainly going to take your advice and issue a warning in writing as I’ve already given them a verbal. I’ve just been so upset about this situation that I didn’t consider this. I’m hoping that things start to turn around. Thank you once again.
Jennifer
I have a tenant who left the country in Dec. 2014 and told us she had someone staying in the house for January. She would not give us details and then we found out she was gone. Two girls moved into our home in January and we found that they were in fact “sub-leasing” from our tenant, unbeknown to us until that time. We then found out that she was planning to be out of the country until Sept. 2015!!!! This tenant had subleased our place before and we should have taken the steps to evict her then but we tried talking to her and telling her that she was not able to sublease and if this arrangement was not suitable for her then she should find somewhere else to live. It seems that now her method of dealing with this is just not telling us at all!!! We have worked with the two girls through the summer and established a good relationship with them. We did talk to Alberta Landlord/tenant group and they advised to wait until this tenant returns to Canada to evict her. We know that she will be very difficult to evict and will be verbally aggressive and will just not leave citing that she has every right to stay as she pays her rent on time. Should we start the RTDRS process and bypass the 14 day eviction notice in this case? We just want her out as soon as possible.
Hi Karen,
The big concern here is whether your lease specifically states no sub leasing. The verbal discussion becomes a he said she said, but if it’s on paper and signed and you have backup documentation showing your previous discussions then it’s a bit of a slam dunk.
The only challenge you’ll have is serving the tenant the hearing documents. With her out of the country you run into some challenges of her receiving proper notification and then being able to prove she received it and finally her ability to attend a hearing, although it can be done via phone.
In either case, I’d skip the notice and proceed directly to the RTDRS, although you may want to confirm with the folks at the RTDRS about options to serve out of the country tenants.
Bill
I have a tenant who has been a consistent problem (pays rent late, causes significant noise disruptions almost daily, leaves common areas filthy, fails to lock the door to the building etc) I live on the main floor and she lives in the basement. Recently she BRUTALLY assaulted one of her guests in the common area, the fight escalated out the back door (shared entrance for all tenants) and into the yard and eventually onto the street. Police were called and ultimately she was not arrested. I issued her a 24hr eviction notice with a police officer present and she informed me that she has no intent on leaving within that 24 hours. All of this took place on a Friday night. What course of action should I take in order to get her out as quickly as possible? My wife is pregnant and lives on the main floor as well, I work nights and I am terrified of leaving her alone in the house while this tenant remains in the building. I should also note that her rent was late for this month and I was currently in the process of evicting her on those grounds.
Hey Levi,
You need to file for an eviction application Monday and you need to stress in your application that this is now a 24 hour eviction situation which may expedite the hearing time.
With a 24 hour eviction your promptness to take action is key. If you issue a 24 hour eviction and then wait a week to file suddenly the seriousness of the eviction evaporates. If you give them a 24 hour eviction and then file at the first possible time available (Monday in this case) it shows the event was serious and that you’re taking ti seriously as well.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi Bill,
I’ve sent a question earlier but realized I should have explained the full situation… My parents are the landlords and been renting their property to the current tenants for about 10-15 years. If I had to explain their relationship in one word – it’s toxic.
The tenants were pretty nice at first but as time passed by they became frequently late with their monthly payment, refusing access the house to inspect the houses’ condition, etc. Last time my parents were inside (like 5-10 years ago) the house it was dirty and it was in a pretty bad shape.
Multiple times my parents verbally threatened to kick them out of the house due to late rent. However the moment they receive portion of the rent payment my parents drop their threats. This occurs approximately 3 times per year. The reason why they haven’t kicked them out is because previously the tenants threatened to destroy the property if they were kicked out and my parents felt that the law will not protect them or the house. So now my parents are too scared to go through the process of kicking them. Even if my parents did kick them out we estimated the damage cost and much needed-upgrades it will cost around $10-$20G which my parents do not feel ready to foot the bill.
Unfortunately my parents did not record any of history hence they have nothing to back them up but “we said” – “they said”… Nor do I think have any pictures of the house in its’ previous state.
My parents does not understand tenancy rules and I suspect the tenants understand it enough which puts my parents at a disadvantage. Because of that I’m trying to understand more of about the province’s rules so I can educate them more as English is their second language. So based on the whole history:
1) If my parents were to take them to RTDRS/court for no-rent will the RTDRS/court system rule in the tenant’s favor due to the fact my parents were so lenient on them before? And if best case scenario the case is ruled in my parents favor but the tenants literally have no money to pay for rent – how will my parents collect the rest of the rent money?
2) If my parents were to kick them out and the damage cost is way beyond the security deposit amount – can my parents go after the tenants and demand additional money to fix the damages to the house?
3) The house is in a terrible shape we are worried that it may cause some health issues. However because the tenants refused to allow my parents into the property and they have not brought up any issues/concerns of the house to my parents we really have no idea of the house’s condition.. For the sake of my parents healthy and personal safety I am hesitant to tell them physically go and inspect the house – however I am also worried that one day the tenants will use it against them. What do you recommend?
Thank-you for your help
Hi Karen,
At issue is your parents made a mistake by letting this carry on for ten plus years. If it would have been dealt with at the beginning, the rules enforced and the roles put in place of landlord and tenant it probably would have been entirely different now.
Not documenting any of this along the way has just compounded the problem.
The priority at this time should be to get the tenants out, now it may be entirely possible to get a judgment against these tenants for unpaid rent, I’m also going to go out on a limb and suggest your parents never prepared an initial walk through signed by both parties, haven’t done many if any inspections and don’t have a lot of backup regarding the issues with the tenants. Hopefully I’m wrong, but 99 out of 100 times when I hear this, these are the details I find out after the fact.
Your parents need to file at the RTDRS to get them out. Bottom line. It may take longer to compile information, but it has to be done. Due to the scenario and the likely lack of paperwork your parents may get a judgment for any outstanding rent, but it’s unlikely they will get any judgement for damages. If they do, even with a judgement it’s no guarantee they ever get paid.
The longer they wait now, the worse it will be. If they have owned the property for 10 plus years, there should be enough equity they can either refinance to get cash to repair it or possibly get a line of credit to get the work done. Or they can sell it, but only after they get the tenant out in this case. That can’t be the reason they evict the tenants, but once they get them out and get inside to get quotes it may indeed be easier to simply sell.
If that’s the case I do know several people who buy beat up homes so you may want to contact me. You won’t get top dollar, but it will be quick. I also know many Realtors who could help list it.
Finally I’d start by getting my Guide on the Eviction process using the RTDRS, they can’t really afford to make any more mistakes, so they need to know all the steps and processes to make sure they get these people out of there. You can find it here, .
They really need to take action immediately, delaying any longer just makes it worse for them.
Bill
Hi Bill,
I’ve seek your guidance earlier regarding to my parents handling nightmare tenants of 10 years. As per your advice my parents are finally in the process of evicting the tenants and plan to go through the RTDRS. I am in the process of compiling all the paper works I can get my hands on to support my claim and evict them. The paper work is a nightmare and I would like to get your advice on some of the matters.
One of the claims I would like to make is significant damages done to the house. While the RTDRS form advice that claims for damage are usually made after the tenant leave the property I am worried that after they leave I have no way of tracking them down and serving a notice for the damages made. So is there:
1) A way to track down the tenant if there are issues identified after they vacate the property?
2) If not is it worth making a claim for damage at this moment?
The problem with (2) is I also feel like I’m lacking evidence. While I have the initial inspection report – I am hesitant to use it. Reason being is that inspection report was never completely filled out. It has the ratings for each room’s condition and the tenants signature and agreement to the condition. But general information – such as address, date, etc, was never completed. Due the incomplete report – is it worth even using it as a evidence? Or will it be dismissed because it’s incomplete?
Also, we do not have an inspections reports since then – mainly because we were denied access to the house. However, earlier last year we were given permission to visit and resolve a major appliance issue in one of the rooms on the property. The other rooms were denied access by the tenant. But based on the condition of the one room and the hallway to the door we deducted the rest of the house must be similar shape. We have only one picture, which shows black stains of the wall (pretty sure it’s mold) but aside from that nothing else. Also we recently replaced a major appliance which should’ve lasted for 10 years. We are missing one of that one receipt which showed the unit was replaced shortly after they moved in… however we have the receipt of the replacement unit.
So what was said above – is it worth pursuing a damage claim?
Thank-you for your time
Hi Karen,
You can’t really claim the damages until they are out as they could complete any repairs prior to leaving (in theory, but rarely in reality).
Worse yet with an incomplete inspection report it makes it even tougher to claim damages. It degrades into he said she said with no way of proving what’s really true for a hearing officer. I’d still include it as evidence as part of the reason for eviction, better to have too much rather than not enough.
Your challenge after the fact will be finding out where they are, so hopefully they provide a forwarding address (you can request it as you will be sending the damage deposit there, or you can tell them that anyway, from the sounds of it there may not be anything left), or you have their work addresses from their original tenant application so you can track them down at their place of work to serve them.
Bill
We have a month to month tenant that we have tried to get rental arrears from (over 7,000.00). Setting up payment plans and having multiple cheques bounce, tax refunds promised but to received. We have served him with 14 day eviction notice and have accepted payment of 1/2 amount owed now. We are drawing up another payment arrangement, but would like to know how long does it generally take from applying to the courts for eviction of severe breach of contact to when we can actually have the tenant out by if he defaults on the payment plan? Are we talking about 2, 4, 6 weeks to court date. Then how much time will the courts generally give a tenant, immediate, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days? As we feel that the longer the time the more money we will be out. After the court eviction date, does he get served legal documents from the court or bailiff to leave? What if he doesn’t leave? Do we have to hire someone to remove? Can we just call the police and show them the court ordered eviction notice & they remove? Please could you shed some light on the subject for us?
Hi Fran,
I go through some of this with the free walk through you get when registering on the top right of this page.
At this point though it sounds like you simply need to get the tenant out and give up on hopes of collecting. If you really want to try to get him on a payment plan though you can still use a court/RTDRS eviction to achieve this. At least if you go through the system for the eviction rather than using a 14 day eviction notice it will help expedite the actual eviction and you can get a judgment against the tenant for the outstanding amount.
I actually used this process with a couple years ago who were going through hard times, the RTDRS ordered payment plan protected me and the couple not only caught up but thrived afterwards. I include this as one of the examples in the Eviction Guide available on the site for purchase.
Basics steps you need to know is right now hearings will take two to three weeks after applying due to the current holidays delaying some court dates and the backlog. Depending on the unique scenario they will give tenants as little as a few days to on occasion 45 to 60 days depending on the scenario.
If you’re doing the eviction, you have to serve all the paperwork, if you hire someone to do the eviction, it will be between $800 and $1,500 typically and they will process all the paperwork. If they aren’t gone by the eviction date you will have to hire a bailiff at around $400-$700 to have the tenant removed and the eviction to be legally enforced.The police will not assist.
Again, I break all this out in detail in my guide if that’s the route you intend to go.
Regards,
Bill
Hi Bill
In the case of a basement suite, I’ve chosen 14 day eviction..should the tenant not notice posting on door or be back at house to notice ? Could that be a issue and/or defence for them ?
Also should I not have a response from tenant after 16 days, what is the best approach ?
I also understand a rtdrs can be filed as well ?
Thank you
Hi Ian,
It doesn’t matter if it’s a basement suite or a full house, you can go directly to the RTDRS if you are serious about evicting a tenant, for well versed tenants eviction notices are just an extra two weeks to stay.
Posting on the door of every entrance would be the best option, but they could still say they never saw it if it wasn’t delivered in person.
If you don’t get a response after 16 days you need to then go to the RTDRS and file an application for eviction which will give them another two or three weeks depending on the backlog. Now that you’ve given them an eviction notice, you can’t really file at the RTDRS until the date on the eviction notice gets closer. They have relaxed this a bit, but no hearing can occur until after the date on your eviction notice and due to the holidays there will be a backlog when you do eventually get to file mid month.
Bill
My landlord filed paper work with the RTDRS for an eviction due to non payment of rent i had made an attempt to reason with her but i got no response can she legally change the locks on apartment before the date of this hearing?
Hi Heather,
Until she has a court ordered eviction date and a bailiff appears to serve you on the eviction date, the locks can’t be changed. If she does change them you can bring a locksmith in to let you and in pass the charges for this onto the landlord along with filing a compliant for which she could be fined.
Bill
i need legal help, my girlfriend and i are renting this place and a so called friend needed a place to sleep when he is not on the oil fields, so we said okay, it was alright for the first 3 months now he was caught stealing money from us, he hasn’t paid this months rent we rarely see him maybe 2 times in a month, his name is not on the lease, just recently he left is prescription pills laying around and my dog ate one, my girlfriend and i want him out immediately, he left the keys to the house but he wont reply to any of our messages and he blocked our numbers so we cant get a hold of him, all of his stuff is still is still here, we don’t know what to do, we brought this up to our land lord and he said he cant really do anything because his name is not on the lease
Hi Warden,
I’m not actual legal advice, I’m just a landlord who has far too much experience about Alberta’s tenancy rules. However, you may not need legal advice.
At this point he’s returned the keys, has appeared to move out, but has left his stuff behind and won’t return your calls or attempts to reach him. I’d suggest your priorities at this point will be to get the locks changed via your landlord in case the previous tenant kept or copied a key. This will likely be at your expense as the landlord shouldn’t be paying for your problem.
Next will be to figure out some method to get a message to him with a deadline to remove his stuff before you have to dispose of it. There are specific rules under the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) as to what can be done with items left by tenants, but you are fitting under a gray area where you aren’t really covered by the RTA when it comes to this tenant, so any issues may simply end up in court if he wishes to pursue it.
Whatever you do, you will want to inventory what has been left behind. Use video, pictures and lists to do this. If it’s only a couple hundred dollars worth of items he may want to take you to court for his loss, but reality is it’s not worth his time. If it’s several thousands of dollars worth, it may be worth him taking you to court and having a detailed list of what was there will be beneficial.
If you can prove you tried every method possible to get his goods back to him and he simply failed to respond the courts will definitely take this into consideration as well. So move forward and give him his opportunity to pick it up, but give him a deadline to have it done or you will either sell off his goods to cover your expenses, or simply dispose of them, all the while being sure to document everything along the way.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi Bill ,
I have rented a room in a home i am leasing to a friend so he can get started in the oilfield … i am the assigned property manager of the property and there was no legal documentation for the rental as i am the sole leaser. i have been recieving threats toward my life from the individual , he has decided to rent out the room i allowed him and has taken over the living room as his main living quarters, as well as uncleanliness in the house and he constantly keeps deactivating my smoke detectors… do i need an eviction form to evict this person? or can i just toss him out… the owner of the property has moved out of province and does not want to get involved.
Hi Arnold,
Threats against you are usually taken very seriously by the courts and the police, if they are acted upon immediately.The longer you delay, the less important they are deemed.
In this situation, you are the landlord and you have a couple options, it sounds like you would fit closest under the Innkeeper’s Act, although without any lease or previous warnings to the tenant it may be harder to enforce. You options under this act would be to evict him next time he becomes difficult. On the spot.
You can call the police in to help enforce, but depending on how informed the police are and how difficult the tenant is to deal with they may assist or refer you to the courts.
Your second option is to go directly to the courts rather than call in the police (which you may get pushed to anyway). This could take a few weeks and while not having an official lease makes your position weaker, the basics rules for landlord tenant rules still apply.
Either way you’ll want to document everything from day one of when problems started and even before if you can go over initial ground rules (again without a lease these initial ground rules can be harder to validate).
You’ll also want to look up the Alberta Innkeeper’s Act and read through it to become more familiar with the rules. I do have a link to it here, Does your Rental Fit Under The Innkeeper’s Act?.
As the Residential Tenancy Act and The Innkeeper’s Act don’t fit under the criminal code which the police enforce and fall under civil law, often the police are hesitant to help in these situations, but if the tenant is becoming threatening and potentially violent they are much more helpful.
hope that points you in the right direction,
Bill
Bill,
We have given our tenants a 3 months eviction notice, they have to be out as of August 31, 2014, the tenant had taken in her son, who is 35, to live with her, we were told he was here until he gets a job, that was at xmas 2013, there is no smoking in the house or bye the outside windows, , he doesn’t care, he smokes where ever he wants, As of July 29, I had to called the cops for the smell of weed was so bad in my room, ( bye the way I duct taped the vents upstairs cause of the smell, and all windows was closed , I have air conditioner), it was so bad it was as someone was smoking in my room. And a ambulance was called for me, cause I have asthma. I am ok now, but my question is, the police officer said we can now expedite the evicition, he smelled the weed as he came in the common door for both suites…. How do we do this? do I need to get a lawyer ? and how fast should I be getting this done.
Hi Elaine,
You’ve got a few issues here. To start with, you should have added the new person to the lease, or even had an addendum of some sort with deadlines as to how long he could stay. That may have resolved some of the issues, but now you have to accelerate things.
Not sure what the 90 day eviction notice was for, but yes now you can accelerate the process. You’ll want to evict for smoking in the house and illegal activities in the house (drug use).
You can do the eviction yourself and it’s often better for landlords to do it at least once. You can go through the court system or the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS). I do sell a guide that is very thorough and walks you through all the steps of the RTDRS, it can be found here, RTDRS Eviction Guide.
Alternatively you can hire an eviction service company to handle the process for you. This can start at around $800 and go up from there depending on the difficulty of the eviction.
Lastly, you can hire a lawyer, but it is the most expensive route and may not be the best route. Unless they exclusively deal with the Residential Tenancy Act it may be overkill and they may not be up to date on what is currently going on the eviction system which can cost you more in the long run.
I’ve had multiple law firms pick up my eviction guide to use as a starting point in understanding the process, so it may be a good place for you to start as well.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi Bill,
My husband and I moved to BC but we still had 3 months left on our lease, so we sublet it (after advising our landlord). We rented it to a friend of a friend so I wasn’t concerned about signing our own rental agreement as I felt I could trust him and it was only 3 months. Well, not only did it take 2 months of non-stop nagging to finally get the damage deposit, he always pays his rent late, making excuses about why I should help him out. Today is August 1st, it is his last month in the property, and rather than pay the full amount, he has told me to use the damage deposit and he would email me the remainder. He however, has not yet paid the outstanding balance. I have been calling him and texting him to no avail.
My question is, what are the rules to evict when there is no signed lease? And is he allowed to force me to use the damage deposit for last months rent? We did do an inspection when he moved in, but he claims the property is in better condition now so I will not need the damage deposit.
Please, any information you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Hi Amber,
Allowing him to use the security deposit is leaving yourself wide open to paying for any damages or cleanup out of your own pocket to your landlord.
While he claims the property is in better condition now, he also signed on to pay the deposit as originally agreed, if he couldn’t get that done, why would you trust him when he says the property is in good condition?
The rules for eviction are still the same, this is a classic case of non-payment, you have two options, you can provide him an eviction notice or take him directly to the RTDRS or the courts for an eviction. In situations with security deposits my recommendation is to always go directly to the RTDRS or courts for a hearing.
The reason being, with an eviction notice if they don’t leave you still have to go to a hearing to evict them. With wait periods of ten to fourteen days for hearings lately by the time you get it resolved it is often past the day they are leaving and they have zero reason to pay. Now you’ve spent the month frustrated, completed extra work and still get stuck with paying out of your own pocket.
With a hearing, there will typically be an order to pay immediately or to vacate immediately. Now you either get your rent, or they have to vacate and you have time to repair, clean etc. It may still end up out of your pocket, but it also allows you more time to get things back on track.
There are provisions to do the via phone if you aren’t local to the property for the RTDRS, but you may require someone to serve the tenant and to make the application.
hope that helps,
Bill
Bill, ty, first, um as I am now looking for a lawyer, since Wednesday and so far no go, im disabled and my husband is a truck driver, so I need someone to do this for us. Second, its now August 2, and we just got a note from the tenant, saying ” 400, plus damage deposit, that is 600, and rent is paid in full” Now I don’t think they can do that, but im not sure, yes or no?? . So im not sure what to do now, as I said im trying to find a lawyer, everyone is busy. any help on this would be a BIG help..ty.
Hi Elaine,
As I mentioned previously, I would skip a lawyer and consider an eviction service company if you can’t do it yourself. Here is a short list of people I have used or dealt with Eviction Resources.
As for using the damage deposit for rent, doing so leaves you wide open and you would have to cover any repairs or cleanup out of your own pocket. For an awesome tenant this may be something you could make an exception for, but for a problem tenant it is grounds for eviction as it is a simple non-payment of rent situation.
hope that helps,
Bill
Bill, ty very much for all your help, my husband went down yesterday, sunday , aug 3, 2014, and told her she will not use the damage deposit for rent, so we got the rest of the rent from her, Also she told Robert, she is leaving the end of the month as we agree.,.. Next time I will be getting your guide, to help us with the next tenant. , again ty so much for answering my questions. Elaine, Robert
I have a question about some friends of mine. They are 86 years old and have been renting the same place for 11 years, on no contract, just a “hand shake”. They’ve improved the house and yard and the landlord has never done ANY of the maintenance. They even had to replace the hot water heater themselves!
It flooded for the first time last month. The landlord refused to get anyone to pump the water out and clean up the downstairs. She set up an industrial fan to ‘dry it up and air it out’. It took two weeks. The smell was unbearable… When it was dry, she went down and started ripping drywall out. When they weren’t home. With no written notice. They came home and found her down there ‘working’, with the fan on full blast. The next day she was in the hospital coughing up green mucus. So the day after that she was back down there ripping the carpet out with a mask and gloves. Again without notice or consent. Real good for 86 year olds to be living in, eh? After ripping the carpet and some drywall out (3 weeks after it flooded), she informed them she wasn’t going to do anymore with it until ‘the fall’. At least 10 weeks away…
They couldn’t stay there. They were already getting sick. So they gave her notice on July 3rd. She said they were ‘one day late’ so they would still have to pay July’s rent. They asked for compensation for a month’s rent and the electricity bill for her fan, and she refused. They wanted her to leave the shed they had built, all the shelving and portable dishwasher she had bought. (They refused). Every time they’re over there (They started moving into their new house on July 7th), she or her husband go over there and see what they’ve done… They started changing things in the yard before they were even moved out…
So here’s my question. Yesterday, we went over to dig up some plants to take to the new house. They’d all been planted by the tenants, and maintained by the tenants. Most were given to my friend by her sister-in-law… She wanted about 30 plants dug up (Not even 10% of what’s in the yard), but we dug up 8 and loaded up all the potted plants. This morning there was a notice on the door that “According to the landlord and tenant act” we were to “Stop digging up plants”. It’s not like she’s destroying the yard. You can barely tell. Does the landlord have the right to tell them not to take the plants?
I should also mention that there was no damage deposit, and I called Service Alberta and asked them, and they said there’s nothing in there about taking plants, and if it went to court it would come down to if it was normal wear and tear. They’ve been doing all the landscaping for 11 years, surely they’ve pulled out plants before with no issue. They also mentioned a “law of fixtures”, but wasn’t sure if plants would fall under that… They’ve been asking the landlord to do several maintenance things for 3 years, and they’ve never done anything… The day after my friends gave notice, they were over there doing it (and destroying some plants in the process), and that was two hours after they put the house up for sale. I think they want the plants because one of the couples who looked at the house said they liked the yard and the landlords think they’ll get more for the house with the yard. But 2-3 dozen plants like iris’ and marigolds aren’t going to ruin the yard, especially considering there are 30-40 plants of each, and she wants 1-2 of each…
So does she have the right to take her plants? Especially considering she got no other compensation? Or rather, would the landlords have a leg to stand on if she took the plants anyway and they decided to raise a fuss?
Hi Abii,
I’d start with contacting Health Services to inform them about the properties condition.
From there I’m not aware of any specific legislation about removing plants the tenant supplied. So I would suggest going ahead and removing them and let the landlord take the tenant to court if they feel they can.
Most likely it won’t occur and if it does, then the other issues can be brought up and the landlord may find themselves in more hot water.
Regards,
Bill
Hello Bill
I rent a basement apt and it has flooded with water 3 times in 7 months, which the landlord refused to clean up. I gave the landlord over 30 days notice that I was moving, informing him that I would be moved out as of July 31/14 due to flooding making the apartment untenable. He has 1st and last month’s rent cheques from me which he cashed. He sent me an email asking for rent for July 2014. I responded by e mail to tell him he had already received his last month’s rent and 30 days notice due to flooding. He responded by e mail to write that he was evicting me for unpaid rent for the month of July 2014. He gave me 18 days notice. I have always paid my rent on time with post dated cheques.
His latest e mail: “Last months rent is paid when the suite is cleaned up. Call the tenant board and get clarification! Consider this an eviction notice (18 days to vacate) for “Failure to pay rent””
Hi,
Alberta doesn’t have an 18 day eviction notice. Also we don’t have first and last month’s rent, so I am going out on a limb by your email address, this is an Ontario property?
If so, unfortunately I am not sure of the rules there, but I would assume he has to take you to the tenant board after the eviction period if you haven’t vacated so you should be able to plead your case there. If he has first and last’s he is already paid, but again not sure of Ontario rules.
Bill
Hello Bill
Thank you for your prompt response. This is an Alberta property, and I was ignorant of the rules here when I relocated; I offered 1st & last which the landlord accepted (I even wrote it on the cheque). He’s trying to evict me by sending me an email. I don’t believe he can do this as I’ve read through some of the very good links you’ve provided here on this site. He has not given me proper written notice, and he’s given me 18 days to vacate, which I believe is incorrect also. I’ve also had public health in to look around, as it appears there might be mold growing in my apt as well as other apts in the bldg. The public health inspector has not contacted the landlord yet. Thanks for your time on this issue.
Hi,
OK, in Alberta he definitely has to make more of an effort than an email and the 18 days is incorrect as well.Ultimately to evict you, he would need to take you to court or the RTDRS. Since you’ve indicated you’re leaving at the end of the month, you can simply leave it in his hands to follow the correct procedure (a hearing to determine if it’s a valid eviction) or you could apply yourself to the courts or the RTDRS.
I’d suggest documenting everything right now so you have a clear record of what’s occurred and if a hearing does come up, you are prepared. You have records showing he received first and last and is essentially paid. He never received a security deposit which is his problem not yours as he accepted the payments as rent it sounds like. This is all from a birds eye view on my side, but it would appear even if he took you to court (which could take two or three weeks), he wouldn’t win and if he did, worst case they would likely order you to pay the rent for the month and allow you to stay for the month.
Best case they would deem the last month’s payment as rent, tell the landlord to learn the rules and you would be fine, although out half a day for a hearing.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Thanks Bill, I feel relieved.
Enter your comment here…
Hi Bill, I have a tenant who has been renting my condo for about 6 weeks now. Within the first 3 weeks I recieved 3 letters of complaint from my Condo Board. There was a noise complaint, a complaint of garbage being stored on the balcony and a complaint of personal items being stored in the hallway outside the condo. I called my tenant immediately and she stated that she had recieved the same letters from the Condo Board and that she had removed the garbage and the personal items. About a week later I recieved another letter from my Board including a $150 fine because she had not removed the items from the hallway.
At this point I spoke with the tenant and expressed my concerns. She sent me $150 for the fine and assured me there would be no more issues. Just this week I recieved an Enmax power bill (which is clearly not included in the cost of rent). I spoke with the tenant and she told me there must be a mix up because she phoned Enmax the day after she moved in and had the account switched to her name. I phoned Enmax and they informed me that she had not done so and the account was still in my name.
This is the final straw for me, it has only been 6 weeks and she has caused more issues than I am willing to put up with. I believe I can evict her on the grounds that she has committed substantial breach of the lease agreement (3 letters of complaint along with a fine). Would you recommend a 14 day eviction notice? If so, do I have to deliver it in person?
Thank you for your time,
Jenna
Hi Jenna,
At this point you might want to skip the notice to expedite things, but there is no guarantee going through the RTDRS or the courts will work either, yet. It almost sounds like this tenant may know how the landlord tenant rules work and is tiptoeing around the perimeter of the rules.
While she has broken the rules, she might be able to defeat an eviction based on flimsy excuses as there is no hard reason to evict. If you intend on evicting her, you will want to make sure you have plenty of documentation to back up everything. This would include documentation about your calls to her, what was discussed and her still failing to complete the job of removing stuff.
As for the Enmax issue, that can also be a vague situation depending on the wording in your lease.
At this point, you may want to simply start preparing yourself to evict her in the near future. Start by sending her written notice right now of all the infractions and what needs to be done to correct this. Enmax transferred by X, outstanding Enmax bill sent to you paid by X, all trash removed and never placed on balcony, hallway not to be used as storage etc. Also let her know that any further issues will be sufficient for you to evict her and that you are trying to be as helpful as possible.
This is potential future evidence to show you were being fair, and hopefully she responds well, but if she doesn’t you’ve laid the groundwork, you’ve warned her and yet she still failed. It will give you a much better groundwork to base an eviction off of.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi. I am a tenant who (unfortunately) is renting from my in-laws. After enduring about 2 years of harassment via email and phone for personal reasons, because work was slow we asked them if we can make payments on rent. I was smart enough to record the conversation where my FIL/landlord agree’d to let us pay what we can when we can and now again due to my MIL and her personal issues, they have given us a 14 day eviction notice going back on our verbal agreement. I have 2 children and if we could pay them the full amount right now, we would regardless of personal issues.
Along with all of this, they have been refusing since we moved in here to fix a number of issues, uneven floors with no thresholds which have resulted in a lot of injuries to my daughter, exposed insulation, bee’s currently living in our basement wall’s which is my daughter’s play room, an open attic vent which has allowed the bee’s and a number of rodents to live and die in the walls leaving a foul, dead odor for weeks, windows with no screens so we can’t open them and last but not least mold in my daughter’s bedroom. I need to know what to do to get an extend the 14 days, know what our rights are, get a health inspector out here and what I can file against them because what they are doing is just plain wrong. Thank you for your help!
Hi Marie,
I would suggest you have them take you to court or the RTDRS to complete the eviction. At that point you can voice your concerns in front of the hearing officer or the judge and hopefully get somewhere. If there is outstanding rent they may be able to put you on a payment plan that would be acceptable to both sides.
At this point, you don’t have to leave once the 14 days are up, they will have to file for an eviction at the RTDRS or the courts to actually get you out and you have to make sure you attend that hearing.
Ultimately though, it sounds like the place you are staying at is toxic to your family relations and realistically you may want to find a new place. This can be tough with the high rents these days and limited availability, but it will only get worse where you’re staying. On top of that it doesn’t sound like they will be fixing anything anytime soon,
Bill
I have a tenant as I am a lease holder who is racist toward my other tenants, abusing me. Calling me stupid and the c word. Also breaking my dishes leaving huge messes and not cleaning them. Causing me medical harm so I’m evicting him in 24 hrs
I’m not sure how this may be causing you medical harm unless you are saying they are threatening you physical harm. It’s definitely enough to evict them as they are causing problems for other tenants and breaking things, although a 24 hour eviction may not apply unless people are getting threatened with violence and there is damage to the property.
If it’s one or two dishes it would be one thing, if there were holes in walls and broken doors, it would be another.
Bill
I have some tenants which have shown a sheer lack of respect for myself (landlord) and my property. They have been turning the furnace up several degrees then leaving the doors and windows open for up to an hour multiple times a day in the dead of winter. When I ask them if why or if there is a problem, they keep telling me that the doors/windows are closed while I am standing in front of the doorway/window in question and it is physically open. This goes back and forth for a few minutes until I convince them to come to the door or window so I can show them that it is open. They allowed me to check the windows from the inside and there is an incredible amount of ice built up and moisture damage is becoming apparent. They have also been smoking inside and when I talk to them about it, it is the same attitude and won’t stop denying it. They got a cat about two months ago and told me they got rid of it about a week later, but it is still here with the same “deny deny deny” attitude until myself and the tenant are standing next to the cat… This is a non-smoking property and pets are allowed as long as the pet fees are paid. At this point I am ready to change the locks and deal with a slap on the wrist from the RTDRS as I cannot find a legit way to deal with these liars. They are costing me a fortune! Any advice? Aside from the pet fee, they have been up to date with the rent.
I have records and pictures of the doors/windows being left open and for how long. When I was checking the windows I noticed a few piles of dried poop on the hardwood floor, which I also have pictures of.
Oh and John,
I wouldn’t give them an eviction notice, i would proceed directly to the RTDRS or the courts. They have already indicated they are deceptive and they are probably aware the 14 day notice just gives them an additional 14 days of staying there before you have to go to the RTDRS or the courts to evict them.
Bill
I have the same issue as John, the tenants crank the heat then open the windows in the dead of winter. I explained that we have been having boiler issues(temps as low as 15 in suites but got it fixed) and the last thing we need is a frozen pipe. I also gave the example of their neighbor doing it, the window froze shut and it ended up shattering when they tried to close it. I gave them a 14 day notice as I thought they were the type that would leave but they objected it. The reason I put was non-compliance with our company winter regulations. I could’ve given them a 24 hour one as the tenant grabbed and pushed me but wanted to give them time to find a place. I have reported it to the police a week later but want to know how I can enforce the 14 day notice?! Or is that not a reason for eviction?
Hi Al,
You missed a golden opportunity when the tenant grabbed you, now it might be a bit more drawn out. Depending on your lease it could well be a reason for eviction. At this point, since they objected the notice, your next option is the courts or the RTDRS where you can file an application to have them evicted.
This will be the only way at this point to get the out. If you’re in Calgary or Edmonton, you have access to the RTDRS which is a less formal hearing system and I sell a guide walking you through all the steps involved with this on the site, you can find it here, .
It explains what you need to prepare, how to prepare it and what to expect in the RTDRS hearing. Much of the information is also relevant as far as prepping your evidence for the courts, although that process is slightly different. The RTDRS does also serve Fort MacMurray region and Central Alberta, but unfortunately does not serve Medicine Hat or Lethbridge regions.
Regards,
Bill
Can I not serve them a new eviction with regards to the assault?
Hi Al,
It sounded like you waited a week which kind of invalidates the seriousness of them grabbing you. In the courts eyes, if it was serious, you would have taken immediate action, if it was less serious, you would wait, which you have.
Bill
Hi John,
I would evict them under both the smoking breach and the pet breach. Depending on how your lease is worded regarding having pets, the smoking may be easier (although you have to prove it).
I would also throw in the potential damage to the property issue and include the relevant information about the ice and moisture damage due to leaving the windows and doors open. With evidence this will be a trifecta of issues which should make for a fairly easy eviction, if you can conclusively prove it. You might want to consider using your heating bills to confirm this.
I wouldn’t suggest changing the locks as they can simply call a lock smith, charge you for it and then if you do try and evict them later they can say you have it in for them citing your original breach of the law and get you charged as well.
Good luck,
Bill
Hi Bill,
It seems I have bad judgement when it comes to determining if the tenant is just a couple days behind rent or if they’re just trying to stay at my property for as long as possible without paying rent. My tenant (over-holding)has stayed at my property without paying October rent and is STILL staying there. I served him a rtdrs hearing notice which will occur mid-Nov. I gave this person too many chances and I’m just wondering what are my options if the judge gave him more time to get out of my property or if he appeals (Can he? Since he is illegally staying at the property). This person is very good at playing victim when he is the one who refuses to find work and just stays at home. He has also continuously threatened me that I am powerless to do anything (Can’t change locks, cant remove him from property) except get him to court etc. He knows very well his “rights” and is taking full advantage of it. Which brings me to question how are we, as Landlords, protected against scums like this guy?
Thank-you Bill,
Jen
Hi Jen,
He’ll probably get until the end of the month of November. Part of the consideration from the judge will be the fact you let him run a full month without doing anything. You really have to take action immediately as delays can reflect on how serious the situation appears in the judge’s eyes.
He’s also quite correct about the locks and kicking him out, so the other issues you face is he knows more about the laws in this case than you which puts you at a disadvantage. I’m assuming you didn’t pick up my Eviction Guide as it goes over much of this and explains the best tactics to actually evict a tenant using the RTDRS.
Alberta actually has some of the fairest rules as far as landlord and tenant laws go (at least in my opinion). Ontario and Quebec are so pro-tenant it can often be months before tenants get evicted.
As to how landlords can protect themselves, first and foremost a vigorous screening of tenants is the first defence. Second, understanding the local landlord and tenants laws is very important. Third, having a strong lease will protect you and lay out the specifics of what each parties expectations are. Fourth staying on top of late payments and taking immediate action. Whether it’s giving tenants immediate notice, or proceeding directly to the RTDRS to file for an eviction, you need to stay on top of it and show you are serious. Finally document everything. Thorough records of interactions and expectations with the tenant really help with your application if you have to have a hearing.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Thanks so much Bill. I agree she is not happy. She now just sent us an email in regards to having to mow the green belt behind our fence?? I’m talking green belt that leads to the highway. I am starting to think she is Bipolar or something. She never mentioned this verbally to us nor in the lease. I’m so stressed and now she keeps coming around and wont leave us alone. I don’t know what to do anymore??
lily
Hi Lily,
I tried to email you and Brent directly, but it bounced back, can you email me at info@albertaeviction.com please.
If the mowing isn’t stipulated in the lease or there isn’t an addendum anywhere addressing it, it’s not really your responsibility. If it’s obviously part of the yard you are responsible for, then that would be different.
I can understand this being stressful, but you are only there for another couple of weeks and then everything should be fine.
Regards,
Bill
Hi Bill,
Question: We are in the process of moving out and I we had carpet cleaners come in. I went to open the window and the entire handle just snapped?? It looks like its pure metal heavy duty iron, but its all crumbly on the inside like completely corroded or something. What do I do? Is this going to be considered damage?? Is this my fault?
Please advise.
Kind regards,
Lily
Hi Lily,
Take pictures, document what happened and update your landlord as soon as possible It appears she is in shock that you sent her that message and this might put her over the edge, so just make sure you can show it was wear and tear versus abuse and you should be fine.
Bill
OMG BILL!! Please read below. My tenants issued this to me via email about 10 minutes ago… Is any of this correct? What can I do?? HELP!!
In regards to the many failed attempts to work this out amicably, we hereby give notice that we accept the 14 day eviction effective November 2, 2013.
We have been in contact with the Alberta Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board who have informed us that due to you not accepting any rational agreements and your eviction notice being illegally prepared, we have been advised not to provide to you any additional payments. You may deduct a pro-rated amount of $133.33 from our damage deposit to make up for the 2 days we will still be in the house.
The calculation is as follows:
$2000.00 / 30 Days in November X 2 days of tenancy = $133.33
We have also been instructed you will not be able to file for a court ordered eviction until after November 2, 2013 as it takes five to ten business days to get a hearing, by which we would have already vacated the premises. You will not be able to change the door locks or call for a 24 hour eviction notice as we have done nothing illegal or have caused any bodily harm or threats.
We have also received notification that if for any reason you try to retain our damage deposit for this months rent we then have full legal rights to file for a hearing against you with the RTDRS. We are not responsible for this months rent as per your notice since you initiated the eviction and with having this acceptance to you in ample of time. The damage deposit in legal rights is due back to us in 10 days after vacating, not 14 days as per stated in the lease agreement in brackets. We will be taking photographs to substantiate that ZERO damage was done to this house and that we shall receive our damage deposit in its entiritey plus interest. Please note, you must make all necessary attempts to re-rent this residence on your own accord.
This officially concludes this sworn statement.
This is ridiculous right??
Hi AMC,
I’m not sure what you’re looking for here. You were evicting them right?
It appears they are leaving as per your eviction and are paying you for the two days they will be there for the month.
I don’t see any record of you purchasing my eviction forms, so I can’t say whether they are valid or not, but everything else looks fairly straight forward.
You may have the option of retaining more of their deposit to cover cleaning costs or repairs if the property is left in poor condition, but it sounds like they understand their rights more than you and will be prepared to fight you in the courts if you try to keep it without valid proof.
In your situation, I would work with them as much as possible to get new tenants in as quickly as possible. You may miss out on a few days rent, but with the tight rental market, you should be able to fill the property quickly.
Regards,
Bill
I understand, I just mean if I use this information does it have any chance of backfiring? I appreciate the help and advise, I just want to make sure we are saying and doing everything legit. I hope you can understand my hesitation.
Hey Bill,
Is this legal advice?
Hi Brent,
I am not a lawyer (and I’ve never played one on TV), I’ve just dealt with hundreds and hundreds of tenants through my properties and helped hundreds of landlords and tenants with their problems. All my knowledge on this subject is through my experience, through helping others and by talking with other experts in the field. And if it was legal advice, I’d have to charge you $300 for it!
Bill
Bill
It does. Thank you thank you so much, I know this seems to be a site dedicated to bad tenants and we must be on that list now, but we never meant to be. Thank you honestly for your help and have a terrific day!!
Hey Brent, not a problem, you’re not necessarily “bad” tenants, you just made a mistake. While this site is aimed at helping landlords with bad tenants, I have also helped dozens of good tenants with bad landlords.
In the grand scheme of things there is a middle ground where the tenants and the landlords need to work for everyone’s good, when they don’t and someone takes advantage of one side or the other, I can usually help them here.
Glad this was helpful to you and you too have a terrific day! Now I have to go meet some tenants of mine and help them out!
Bill
Hi, Bill
I have a kind of standard situation: rented my house with 6 month lease ended on June 31, 2013. Then after flooding in Calgary, the tenant couldn’t find a place to move, and I’ve agreed to give him month by month rent (without sign it as agreement) till he can move out. So, he is still there, and promised to leave on October 31, didn’t paid money for October, let 3 more people live with him without my permission, has 3 big dogs without my permission. When I asked about money, he told me that I can keep his $600 deposit(rent is $1900 per month). From my brief inspection, I noticed, that they don’t clean, it’s a damage from water leaking from bathtub, cut trees on a backyard, don’t clean after dogs, and I’m pretty sure they smoke inside not only cigarettes.
What is my best way to evict my tenant and his unauthorized roommates as soon as possible?
Thank you for all information and very useful Report for Alberta Eviction Process.
Hi Ganna,
Sorry to hear they took advantage of your generosity.While it’s great to help, in special circumstances you still need to document and get everything in writing. You may have even been better off providing a short three month lease with an addendum that the tenant was able to break the lease without penalty if they found a new place. But that’s not important right now as you need to know how to get him out.
Fortunately it sounds like you have multiple eviction reasons, so it shouldn’t be hard to get him out, it will just take a little more time. You could try an eviction notice, but that would push you back to the 28th or later at this point due to the weekends. If you want to get him out quicker, you’ll need to go to the RTDRS or the courts as you should be able to get a hearing well before then and at the hearing you should be able to get a definite eviction date laid out by the judge or the hearing officer.
In this case you should be able to get a fairly quick eviction date, although without seeing all your evidence I wouldn’t guarantee the end of this month, but you should be able to get it for the middle of next month.
I would also suggest evicting him for not just unpaid rent, but the damage to the property from lack of maintenance, unauthorized roommates, yard damage, not cleaning up after the dogs and if your property is non-smoking in the original lease and you can prove they are now, also include that.
You’ll want to make the case fairly overwhelming and it sounds like they have been very helpful with that. I do provide a guide that can walk you through this process and it is available here . Let me know if you have any questions or cannot find it.
Regards,
Bill
P.S. As it is already Friday, you’ll want to file at either the RTDRS or the courts first thing Monday morning. It can take seven to ten days to get a hearing usually (sometimes longer if they are exceptionally busy), so the longer you wait the longer it takes to get them out.
When giving a 14 day notice in the middle of the month, are my tenants liable to pay for the next months rent? I just handed it to them today to be out for November 11. Do they owe me partial or full? What if they don’t pay? If they do pay, do I return their damage deposit?
Hi AMC,
I guess the question is why would they? You’re evicting them anyway. And if you gave it to them today, why is the eviction date the 11th? That’s 22 days? Doesn’t seem like a very serious eviction notice which would give them much more of a chance to fight it and win.
If they pay you have to return their damage deposit, if they don’t pay, you still may have to return it.
Bill
My fiance and I did something bad but with no intent. My sister had dogs and couldn’t afford to look after them so we took them in, we were only thinking to do good not bad. Our landlord came over to the house at 8:30 in the evening and heard the dogs bark, she proceeded in without being invited in and woke our daughter. Regardless we are in substantial breach of our lease. We have tried so hard to make amends with our landlord including getting rid of the dogs but she refuses to listen to reason. She has presented us a 14 day notice for eviction that she typed up on her computer. Is there not a specific form that needs to be used? I know this is our fault and we did not do this out of malice but do we have any leg to stand on? As well, if we do not have any rights in this matter, can we vacate earlier than the notice so that we are not stuck with another month of rent for a place we are not living in? We only want to do the right thing, we never meant for any harm and never even thought that this is considered a breach. Please advise.
Gratitude.
Hi Brent,
There are specific formats the notice needs to be in and it could well be the notice she provided isn’t valid, but if that’s the case she can then immediately go file at the RTDRS or the courts for a hearing.
Either way you’re in breach of the lease and she’ll eventually get the eviction.
You do have some rights still. If you haven’t secured a place by the time the eviction notice comes due, you don’t have to move that day. The landlord will still have to take you to court to get an official eviction date. She can not just change the locks until she gets that court ordered date.
And yes, you can vacate earlier, she may try to retain a portion of your security deposit for the next months rent, but you can file at the RTDRS or the courts to get it back. Since she initiated the eviction, you do have good grounds to get it back there, although there may still be deductions for cleaning and any repairs.
hope that helps, a bit,
Bill
Thank you Bill. Just so you know we were never bad tenants, we made a mistake definitely, but this place is in even better shape than when we got it. One last question please, if we were to leave on the date of discharge, (being Nov 2) can we pay her for just the 2 days of being here and not be penalized? This means rather than paying her a full 2000 can we pay 133.33? Will she have grounds to come after us seeing as were still in on the 1st? This may not even make sense were just really confused.
Understood Brent, you made a mistake and even explained it to the landlord instead of hiding it which is what is currently done, so you did the right thing, except the landlord apparently has a zero tolerance policy and doesn’t play well. Without understanding her situation it’s hard to comment and she is well within her rights, which is unfortunate for you.
At this point I wouldn’t make any additional payments. She has your damage deposit, I would give her notice in writing that you will be leaving on the 2nd and that she can deduct a pro-rated amount of rent from the security deposit for the two days, then provide the calculations for her.
It’s not worth anyone’s time to do anything as she wouldn’t be able to file for a court ordered eviction until after the 2nd (the discharge/eviction date) and it takes five to ten days to get a hearing, by which time you would be gone anyway. If she does file anyway, make sure you attend the hearing and share your side of the story, show the day you were out, the letter/email you provided her showing how you were playing nice and it should work out fine.
Be aware, she may try to retain your full deposit for the month’s rent, you have full rights to then file for a hearing against her for retaining the deposit. If she had enough advanced warning you were leaving, if you’ve left the place in better shape than it was coming in (take photos) and with the tight rental market there is no reasons she shouldn’t be able to fill it up quickly.
She may be able to deduct advertising costs as these were unexpected costs you created by getting evicted, but she shouldn’t bea ble to retain your whole deposit.
Make sense?
Bill
HI There
So I have a renter in my apartment – who signed a 1 year lease 2 months ago. I have a shared water meter with this apartment (and always have). I noticed the water bills have gone up over 5-7x since this single man moved in. When I asked him if everything is ok in the apartment he said yes, and I explained to him that our water usage has gone up so I wanted to make sure the toilet wasn’t running or a leak anywhere. I have called our city water and they have come and looked to see if they can see anything wrong – which they could not. The water meter keeps running… I have had 4 plumbers come and each time they come they have found something wrong with the toilet (which has been something different every time – and I keep paying for it to be repaired). Today, the tenant told me he has no money and cannot afford to pay the rent anymore and will be moving out at the end of the month. Then, the water started running – for 5 hours straight. I called multiple times and never got an answer – I knocked several times and no answer. I called his known workplace and was told he was not there today. My business is below this apartment and I was very worried that the water had been on so long – and so I went to the apartment again – and rang the bell multiple times, knocked and called and never got an answer. I could still hear the water running so I went inside – calling his name. I never got an answer. When I got to the top of the stairs – he asked me what was going on – and so I told him – and we went to the bathroom – to find the hot water tap turned on – and he said “oops I must have left it on” this apartment is not big and there is no way you could not hear the water running. He is intentionally running the water. I also noticed tape on the toilet holding the flusher down so the water would continually run… I would like to evict him now! His Mom came to see him after I left he was yelling about lighting the apartment on fire.
What can I do to evict him fast? I am worried with him living here.
Hi Lyndz,
You need to get rid of this person, fast! They’re obviously trying to mess with you, so the sooner the better, and they provided the perfect opportunity.
By threatening to light the apartment on fire you have your opportunity right there. I’m going to assume since they are so devious they intentionally left the water running that they will also know all the eviction rules.
Even if they don’t, I would avoid using any eviction notices and rather go directly to either the courts or the RTDRS. You’ll need to document everything that has happened as it will form part of your evidence and help substantiate that this person is a loon.
I would also not just evict for non-payment, but more importantly for him threatening to burn your property down and the misuse of the property. Look through your lease and see of there is any indication of reasonable care and attention to utilities mentioned in there that you can refer to.
You’ll want to file as soon as possible as it can take up to ten to fourteen days to get a hearing and sometimes more if there is a backlog. So don’t delay.
If you’re going through the RTDRS, don’t forget to pick up my guide as it will walk you through all the steps and make the process way less stressful.
Bill
Hello, I have a question in regards to a tenants rights. I have been living at the same place since about 2005 or 2006. Since moving in until 2010 I have always been on a fixed term lease which stated in the lease no pets with the exception of 2 indoor cats. After my 2009 lease lapsed in 2010 my landlord talked about renewing but never made arrangements to sign a new lease so we just continued on month to month until recently. My landlord contacted me recently to sign a new lease which I actually prefer to do, but I noticed in the new lease he has omitted the exception to 2 indoor cats leaving it as No Pets Permitted. I don’t want to sign and then have my landlord come after me for breach of lease for having two acts which I have been permitted to have for 7 or 8 years now.
Beyond that the other changes he made was for utilities to include a 5% penalty monthly for late payment of utilities which I don’t have an issue with, but he set it so utilities are due immediately upon him notifying me of the cost. I pay 60% of the utilities as I rent a larger portion of the property, but he does not forward utility statements to me so I am at his mercy to what the 60% may actually be, and having them due immediately upon him submitting I think is a little unfair. He has done this because I got behind on payments to him for utilities, but utility companies normally have a 20 or 30 day payment terms. Not to make excuses as I am still responsible for making payments in a timely fashion for utilities to my landlord it didn’t help to catch up when my landlord doesn’t email me the utilities immediately either. I just received July’s utility costs on the 11th of September, so how is it fair I pay a 5% monthly late fee when it took him almost a month to send me July’s utilities (as he would have received them in August)?
As well, for yard care, can a landlord assign yard maintenance/upkeep to one unit? I mean I rent the upstairs and he rents out the downstairs as well, but it is assigned to me to do all yard care/maintenance/upkeep to te property (cutting grass, clearing snow and ice, raking leaves) even though the downstairs tenant has access to using the property. I may be a little petty on this one, but I think it should be a shared responsibility as I am not the only one using the front/back yards.
Hi James,
You have several questions in here, so I hope I get them all.
Regarding the cats clause, either ask him to scratch off that section or ask for an addendum agreement allowing the two cats already in residence to stay. If you previously had written acknowledgement it’s hard for him to remove it later, if you didn’t, now’s the time.
For the utilities, I’d ask for a reword so it states that it’s something like 48 hours after receipt of the statement versus notification.
You shouldn’t be penalized if he delays getting them to you, but at the same time, you need to pay them promptly which you’ve already know.
With yard care, typically that is allotted to one tenant in the property in a suited place. And usually this is the upper unit and part of the lease and responsibility of getting the upstairs unit.
If you’ve been in the space for such a lengthy duration, you hopefully have a good relationship with your landlord and can negotiate these points with him.I would suspect the cat and the utility area should be fairly easy to agree on, but I’d be prepared to give up on the property outdoor upkeep. Also remember, with the current market situation and such low vacancy rates out there, he has plenty of leverage and could easily raise the rent if he hasn’t in the last 365 days.
He does have to give you 90 days which includes three full months for this, but there is no rent cap, so if you’re difficult with him, he could use a huge increase to force you out. Negotiating can be a fine line, so hopefully if you come in with a fair rational request to amend those two sections you can make this work and carry on.
Hope that helped,
Bill
Thank you Bill,
As I was saying in regards to the yard care I may have been a little petty about it, but it was more a general question because most of the tenants that have lived downstairs have not agreed that it should be the responsibility of myself and my wife to do. But the last 3 tenants that have lived downstairs have taking full advantage of not having to, with one of them sometimes leaving her garbage outside the backdoor knowing that I had to maintain the look of the property. (She is gone now so that hasn’t been an issue anymore).
As per the utilities section it use to state in my last lease the following:
“The rental rate prescribed above DOES NOT include the costs of providing natural gas, water, sewer, and electricity services to the premises, which shall be the obligation of the Tenant, and the Tenant agrees to pay on demand to the appropriate authority or utility provider, or Landlord for those utilities billed directly to the Landlord by the appropriate authority, and to be fully responsible for the costs of such services. The Tenant is responsible for the payment of 60% of all utilities to the property.”
As for the new lease he has added the following to the above:
“The Landlord will email the Tenant with the amount of utilities owning for the previous month, when received from the utilities company. The amount owing will be due and payable immediately. The Tenant agrees to pay a late penalty of 5% per month for any utilities not paid immediately upon notice from the Landlord.”
Beyond omitting the portion about the 2 indoor cats being permitted the only other change was that I now have to provide a month and a half notice if I wish to renew my lease, which just seems odd.
“The Tenant shall provide written notice (via email or letter post mail) to the Landlord, prior to May 15, 2014, whether or not the Tenant wishes to renew the lease past June 30, 2014. If the Tenant wishes to renew the lease, then the rental rate and lease term shall be negotiated between the Landlord and Tenant. Notwithstanding, the Landlord has the right, at its sole discretion, to increase the rental rate for the renewal period. If Tenant does not provide the Landlord with written notice to renew the lease, then the Landlord, at its sole discretion, shall have the right to advertise the property for rent. The Tenant agrees to cooperate with the Landlord for showings to prospective tenants. During the advertising/showing period, the Tenant shall keep the premises neat and tidy for viewing by potential tenants.”
But this may be for tenants that have just up and left at the end of a fixed term lease providing him no notice of intent to stay, I don’t know. I believe as per RTA I only have to give 30-days notice, not 45-days, but I could be wrong and this really is not an issue.
But I will do what you suggested about asking for an addendum about the cats and a reword on the utilities.
Thanks.
Hi James,
I’ve been a basement renter in the past and felt it was partly my responsibility to deal with the sidewalks as I had to walk on them, but I never had access to the lawnmower, so didn’t worry about that. As you’ve mentioned, there are other tenants previously who also felt they needed to chip in at your place, but that may not be the norm.
With the utilities, it’s going to come down a bit to your relationship, but if you sign it, that may set the standard if it doesn’t contravene the Residential Tenancy Act.
With the lease renewal, it’s a bit of a one way street with the renewal. The landlord by law doesn’t have to give you notice if they are not renewing and he is just trying to protect himself by getting 45 days from you. As per the RTA, you do only have to give 30 days notice to move, but if you haven’t committed by 45 days to stay, there is no guarantee the landlord will renew.
Just because you want to stay and forgot to give the 45 days notice, doesn’t mean the landlord has to accept you or carry on again. Fixed term leases give landlords much more power than month to month which is why as a landlord that is all I offer. If you’re a good tenant this is never an issue and i you’re a suspect tenant this protects the landlord. At the same time if you have a shady landlord, this can cause you grief, but I’m assuming you wouldn’t still be there 8 years later if you didn’t like the place and find the landlord tolerable!
Hope that helped explain things a bit more and good luck!
Bill
I have a different problem… I have a shared lease agreement with a friend of mine. She thinks I poisoned her dog…. which is/was 16 years old. I didn’t. Now she is attempting to evict me because I’ve had a guest from out of country for longer than 30 days, even though she agreed that it was ok. She says she has contacted the landlords, but they have not contacted me about the 30 day limit, which I didn’t know about or think I needed to know about. I’ve never missed a payment in the two+ years we’ve been there. Everything has been great except for the dog thing. I think its just a grieving thing, but what are my rights?
Thanks
Hey Terry,
Quite a situation you are in. I guess my big question for you is, will it get better there, or long term will it remain a caustic environment? Ultimately that will tell you what to do.
Your rights at this point are to enjoy your rental space comfortably and uninterrupted. Unless there is something specific in the lease about house guest being limited to 30 days it’s not much of an issue at this point. From the landlords viewpoint, if someone was staying that long I would like to know, especially if the landlord was paying utilities.
The extra individual in this situation could easily be asked to leave or given notice to vacate as they are not on the lease. As long as you and/or your guest haven’t broken any portions of the lease there really isn’t any reason to evict you at this time, but again, do you really want to stay there if you believe the other tenant now has a vendetta against you?
Regards,
Bill
Hi, I have a single mom tenant with 3 children who was an OK tenant for a year. Always a few days late but paid every month. She lost her job, got another, that didn’t work now she is working away 2 or 3 weeks at a time. Her children are now with their father. She got really behind in the rents as of last October but I tried to work with her to catch up, I helped her get rental assistance while she still had her kids there. I drove her to get emergency funding etc. My March she had just about caught up but it was very stressful. Then she started working away. She is now more behind than ever. She let a friend stay at the house and it looks filthy and I found out the police were called several times for people drinking and fighting. She got her boyfriend to go and kick them out and lock up the house but she is now two months behind on rent and her phone is not working. She keeps promising this and that to get the rent and was supposed to pick up a check two days ago from her boyfriends Band (they are native) to pay the rent and she was going to deposit it in my bank. I have contacted her friends (she texted me on 3 different phones) to ask them to ask her to contact me but she has not. I worked so hard to help her and I feel like she is just playing me now. I want to evict her and I know the process but I don’t know how I evict her if she is working away. How do I serve her the notice if she is away for 3 weeks? I don’t know exactly where she works. Also if I evict her what do I do with all her furniture and who pays for it to be removed? Thanks
Hi Brenda,
I’ve been under similar circumstances in the past. You really want to try and help, everything goes well and then the bottom falls out and you’re further behind than ever.
Your challenges, as it sounds like you are aware, is how and where to serve notice to her. In this situation it’s very important you can confirm she receives any notice as it could be thrown out if you can’t prove it or if you don’t hand deliver it. You need to convince her that you should meet to discuss this in person and even possibly set up a payment plan.
If you can get her to commit to when she will be back and a time you can meet, you can jump into action at that point and get an application for eviction in and then provide her with the notice. This might delay things for a week, two or maybe three, but it’s better than just providing service to the door and then having a judge throw out any judgment later. This happened to another friend of mine as he couldn’t prove she ever received notice of the hearing.
He had to prepare for a new hearing and he still won, but it cost him months of time and energy and repeating what he had already done.
As for the belongings, if the value of the items is above $2,000 the rules state you have to inventory the items and store it for 30 days. After 30 days you can auction the goods off to recover any outstanding money owed (for which you will want a judgment to cover yourself) and to cover storage fees. If it’s less than $2,000, you are supposed to store them for 30 days and can then dispose of them, either way you should inventory in case they come back to you.
The $2,000 limits may need to be verified as this is older information and I don’t believe it has changed, but may need to be verified with someone like the RTDRS.
Hope this helps guide you a bit.
Bill
Hi Bill, thank you for such a useful comment board. I signed a tenancy agreement with a tenant stating that only himself and his girlfriend can live in the property(exact wording was: “there will be no more than 2 persons occupying the rental premises”). However, I’m constantly getting complaints from neighbors saying that people moving in and out with furniture. I had two walkthroughs with a 24 hours notice and of course everything was cleaned by that time. Also I talked to tenant and pointed twice that it’s only himself and his girlfriend that allowed to stay on the property. I talked to a few neighbors and they confirmed a strange activity around the house. One of them will give me a letter stating the fact that there is a constant moving of people in and out. Also tenant pays rent on time. Can I give tenant a 14 days notice to leave? And in case tenant file an appeal to the board will the letter be a solid proof that tenant is substantially breaching the tenancy agreement?
Thank you for your help.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Without sufficient proof that there are other people living there your eviction likely would get thrown out. One question that comes up for me is why would the neighbours be complaining about them moving furniture in and out?
If your walk throughs haven’t turned anything up I would be concerned perhaps the neighbours may have an agenda as well. You have talked to multiple neighbour, so there may be something there, but again without proof it’s just rumours. It could be something as innocent as selling and buying furniture off of Kijiji for income.
Of course, they could also be taking advantage of you, so you need to find out what is going on. Here’s soem simple tactics to see if you can find out more. Try typing the tenants number into Google and see what comes up, if he’s subletting your place, perhaps you’ll find an ad or two.If he’s renting out a room, you may also find him online advertising.
Repeat the process with your address. Again, if he is trying to rent out space, it might show up here.
If none of these are helpful, do some random drive bys on your own, just to see if you see anything. Talk to the neighbours and find out when these furniture movings happen. Schedule another 24 hour inspection to check out the furnace and let the neighbours know so they can see what happens.
In the end, you just need to get enough proof to validate he has someone else living there and not just a buddy staying a few nights while on vacation. Perhaps even check back with his former landlord. Now that he’s out, maybe you’ll get the real story of why he moved not the sanitized version you were told so that he was no longer the previous landlord’s problem.
Hope that helped you move forward,
Bill
Hi Bill,
That exactly what happened last time when I sent a 24 hours notice after a complaint from neighbors. As soon as I notified tenant, they started moving out which was confirmed by neighbors. And the same evening I finished the inspection, they were back which is also confirmed by the neighbor. I did a random drivebys and saw extra cars on the driveway. Also I have a picture showing a truck with furniture in front of my rental property. And neighbors seeing the same people staying over for a long period of time. I guess my question would be, what else can I use as a proof that there more people on the property than it stated in the contract and would not be a complain from neighbors be a breach by itself?
Thanks,
Steve
Hi Bill.
Thanks for such a useful comment board. I have a question regarding my tenant and my best options in this situation. I have a tenancy agreement that I signed with a tenant stated that only himself and his girlfriend allowed to live in the property( in exact wording it says: “there will be no more than 2 people occupying the rental premises”. However I’m constantly getting complains from neighbors saying that people moving back and force into the house with the furniture. I did walkthrough inspection twice with 24 hours notice and of course everything was cleaned and tenant claimed that he is the only person stays there. Also tenant pays rent on time. I talked to neighbors and they will give me a written letter saying that they witnessed constant moving and different people staying in the rental apartment. Does tenant substantially breach the tenancy agreement and can I serve him with 14 days notice? In case he will appeal and I have to bring him to the dispute board will the letter be a solid proof that he breached an agreement?
Thank you for your help.
Regards,
Steve
Thank you, for all this excellent information! I have been living in this place going in my 3rd year. My son was on the lease but moved out and when I re-signed the lease I found a person to sign with me. It is the second month and he has been smoking in the basement even though I told him in a letter that there is no smoking. I have asked him politely more than 5 times through texting, verbally, and an additional letter and he said he wouldn’t do it again and yet he is still smoking. I even provide a but can for outside and offered the garage as an alternative.
In addition, he hasn’t paid the rent which was paid by me on the last day of the month. It is now the second day of the following month. He says he would pay some yesterday and maybe the rest Friday. He is using the excuse that he lost his job for a week due to the flood.
I notified the landlord and he said he would approach the smoking issue and look into it.
What is best to do. I truly believe he will continue to smoke.
Hi Dawn,Since you’re both on the lease the only avenue for you to get this person out (other than convincing them to leave) is to have the landlord evict the tenant for breach of the lease. Hopefully there is something in the lease stating it is non-smoking. If there is and he signed it, this is a relatively simple process, although a tad bit more confusing as they will only be evicting one of the two tenants on the lease.
It’s unlikely he will quit smoking and it’s also unlikely you will get paid by him, especially if he is getting evicted, so your best option is to provide the landlord with all the documentation you have regarding what you’ve sent to the tenant to ask him to comply and to assist the landlord in evicting this fellow. The sooner this gets started the better.
Hope this helps,
Bill
Help My landlady gave me a 2 week evication because my bank accounts got froze though a divorce.I told her she could use my $750 deposit for rent until I got sorted out.I told her I was giving her a month notice because of my financial situation.She comes pounding at my door tring to intimidate me before I could hand her my 1 month notice she posted a eviction notice for 2 weeks I have to be out.She also texts me that there will be a 48 hr for her to walk through.What can I do?
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry to hear about your situation. At this point your best bet is to try and negotiate with your landlord. If you have given her the notice that you’re leaving in a month you can explain to her that evicting you will take until the end of the month at the earliest anyway. If you work together this can go smoothly.
It’s a challenge for a landlord when a tenant hopes to use their security deposit for rent as it leaves us open to be taken advantage of.
I can understand why she would be hesitant, so you may wish to come up with a compelling reason why she should. If you’ve taken good care of the property invite her over to walk through the unit so she can verify there are no damages. Perhaps that will ease her mind.
With the two week eviction notice for non-payment of rent, if you make the payment before the time frame is up the eviction notice doesn’t count. So you also have two weeks for your account to potentially be unfrozen or to come up with the rent money. Additionally, once the two weeks are up, she has to apply to the courts or the RTDRS for a hearing to have you legally evicted, so you really still do have some time.
Hope that helps,
Bill
I guess I wonder why you expect your landlord to ‘live with’ your not paying rent? It’s not their fault your accounts got frozen; it’s not their fault you got a divorce. They’ve entrusted you with a property in good faith. Any good tenant should be paying rent and stepping up to get the rent paid if something happens that causes YOU issues. Why should they use your security deposit? That’s their security against damages today OR IN THE FUTURE! It’s up to YOU to find a solution, not your landlord.
Whew, a little aggressive there Ellen. sounds like you’ve been down a similar path with a previous tenant.
I agree it is the tenant’s responsibility, but sometimes situations occur where it is beyond their control. This is where a landlord has to step up, make an executive decision and decide whether they are being taken down the garden path or there is real validity to the situation.
Examples of this currently in Calgary are the floods and how it’s affected peoples lives. I have several tenants who couldn’t even get to work for a week. I knew where they worked, I knew their information was accurate and I built up reserves in case of scenarios like this. The tenants ended up a week behind, but have since caught up and as a landlord I scored huge points as someone who would work with them.
Unfortunately I have also been on the other side where i thought I was being told the truth, but I was totally being lied too. Bottom line I had to take the loss, so as a landlord you have to make that decision when it comes up and how much risk you can take.
Bill
i was recently evicted from my rented room with a ONE HOUR notice when i came home from work,im sure this is not legal… can anyone tell me if there is a reason possible for this
Hi Ric,
If the landlord lives in the property, then yes it is possible for them to do this, but they are supposed to have a reason to do this. What type of reason did they provide for the eviction?
Regards,
Bill
Bill you helped me out last year with an eviction.I have a problem yet again,my money was froze because of a divorce.I told my landlady she would have to use my deposit to cover the rent till I get things straightened out.I told her I was unsure of my finances so i gave her my 1 month notice.I have only lived in her place since the breakup of my marriage.I’ve went to pay the utitities which she insisted to be in her name but were all in rears.Last bill she presented me was my bill plus the last tents bill.She is pounding at my door harassing me and says there is a notice on my door.I’m afraid of this woman she lives in the same little town.What can I do?
Hi Bill, and thank you for answering all those questions so patiently. We do currently have an issue with a renter that just moved in last month. She has two kids and keeps holding us off with not having received her check for child support do to address change. Every now and then she would email transfer us $200 or $300 which to this day (21st of the month) has not totaled the rent. Can we evict her before the next month starts so that we can try and find a new tenant or do we have a waiting period for this process to be completed? I read somewhere that there is a 10 day eviction notice, but is that also applicable in AB? Thanks for your time in advance.
Nadia
Hi Nadja,
Sorry to hear about your situation. You do have a couple challenges to deal with so let’s see where I can point you.
Yes you can start the eviction for non-payment of rent. This can be done by either providing them with a 14 day eviction notice which actually ends up being a 16 day notice as the day they receive the notice doesn’t count plus the day after the 14 days is for them to move out. If they don’t vacate by the 16th day, you then have to go to the RTDRS (Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service) or the courts to evict them.
Additionally, if you are evicting them for non-payment of rent and they pay in full before the eviction notice date comes up, the notice is null and void and you have to start over next month when they are late.
You could also bypass the eviction notice and go directly to the RTDRS or the courts and start the eviction through there immediately. Again though if it’s for non-payment and they pay prior to the hearing the case will be dropped.
If they don’t pay prior to the hearing the courts or hearing officer will give them either a Stay order, which is basically a court ordered payment schedule and more time, allowing them to stay if they stay on schedule or a date to be out. With two kids, the courts and hearing officers are especially lenient and would likely give them a full month or possibly longer to be out. Whenever kids are involved it becomes a more delicate matter, but it also becomes a huge area of abuse by soem tenants who understand the system.
I would suggest giving them written notice that they need to have June’s rent paid in full by say Monday or Tuesday evening or you will have to proceed with evicting them. Hopefully your lease has an area where it explains rent is to be paid at the first of the month and point this out in the written notice and that they are in breach. This isn’t an actual eviction notice but a warning and more importantly backup documentation if you do need to eventually go to court.
Once you see where that takes you, then you can evaluate your next step of either an actual eviction notice or proceeding directly to some form of hearing.
My experience is that if you don’t expect the tenant to pay up or it will just continue to be a problem, skip the notice and go directly to a hearing. If they owe excessive amounts of money that you may not collect, also go directly to a hearing as you can at least get a judgment that way. If you go with an eviction notice and they leave collecting afterwards or getting a judgment can be a real pain.
Hopefully these suggestions get you moving forward and hopefully after receiving a warning letter from you that lets your tenant know you are serious everything turns around. If not, I do sell both eviction forms with complete instructions as to how to fill them out and serve them and a separate eviction guide that explains how to use the RTDRS to evict tenants in Alberta that currently also includes those forms. They are both available via the menu across the top of this site.
hope that helped you,
Bill
HELP!!! I informed my landlord last night I am leaving July 4th, we have no lease. Only signed a lease the first year. She just served me with a 14 day eviction notice…I must be out by June 28th. The landlord has our last months rent and she states I am in breach of my lease I have a dog. The landlord said we would make a deposit arrangement, the dog has done no damage.
What can I do to delay this till July 4th?
Hi Linda,
I’ve emailed you directly with a solution.
Bill
Hello again Bill,
I am giving you an update to see if we are still within our rights. Also, I wanted to clarify we did not sign the damage report as we were not given the opportunity to do so.
As of May 17th, the landlord surpassed the 21 day time period to provide us with a copy of the lease. We were supposed to send her $100 left outstanding on her “pet fees” (originally $600) and $170 for her “prorated rent”. She has also not sent us her landlord address and contact information to date (which we were suppopsed to receive in 7 days). I have had my fiancee since send her an email to inform her that we are not sending any fees or anything until the lease and her contact details are received.
We have also logged in a book all the yard work hours and fees for having done the initial maintenance on the landlords home (which her rental ad said the home came with a landscaped yard and it did not), we have also logged hours for cleaning the common areas of the home, and i am logging what Epcor charges me for garbage disposal fees since its almost a month later and we still have her previous tenants garbage to throw out. We also discovered a bunch of non-functional valves (outside valves do not turn on) and some leaking valves inside (shall i call the health inspector or request she do something about this?)
My plan is essentially to sue this landlord in court and to receive a rental abatement. We are sending her a final formal request before I file my suit against her in the court of law. Please let me know if I am being correct on this. Thank you.
Hi,
I think I answered part of this previously (it becomes a blur sometimes, so my apologies). Since you didn’t sign the walk through, they can’t withhold any of it for damages. They may try and you may have to go to court, but you should be able to get it back in it’s entirety.
She’s breached the rules in several areas already so you are in a strong position, but definitely get something filed and move forward either through the RTDRS or the courts, both would work in your situation. I don’t think a formal letter will concern her as I think she has probably spent most of her career as a landlord abusing the rules rather than following them.
You may not get any funds out of her regarding extra work you put into the property unfortunately as it could be argued you didn’t have to do the work.
Definitely try and find a new place, which is quite hard these days with the low vacancy rates, you really want to get out from under her. Even if, or more accurately when, you win, it will still be a hostile environment and she may try other tactics to make your life uncomfortable.
There is definitely a chance for a rental abatement, but at the worst you may also be able to get some of her issues out in the public record if you get a judgment against her and if this should happen to someone else in the future there will be history of her poor record. It sounds like you are on the right track and as a landlord I’m sorry you were stuck with this person.
So take action right away and in the meantime, don’t withhold rent, as that can tip the scales a little towards her, but don’t provide any extra money for the pro-rated bit and/or the pet deposit, that should have all been dealt with before and the judge or hearing officer can decide the validity of that.
Good luck and I would love to hear how it works out.
Bill
Hello.
We got a eviction notice may 16 for either the end of the month or from the sounds of it end of June. We got a notice today to be out and have the place ready for inspection may 29 or may 30.
We have 3 kids. I have been told by numerous people they can’t evict us in that time because of the kids.
Is this right or is the 2 weeks right
Hi Tiffany,
You need to confirm the exact date that you are supposed to be out and the reason they are evicting you to really know your options. In Alberta and eviction notice is typically a 14 day notice with one day on either side, so a total of 16 days for you to be out. If the dates, or the time period is wrong, it’s invalid.
Legally, the landlord can give you notice to be out, whether you have kids, dogs, plants or none of the above, as long as they have reason. On the flip side, if you don’t leave by the eviction date, they then have to take you to court to have you removed and this may buy you some additional time and this is where having the three kids may give you up to additional time to vacate, but likely with a few catches.
Most of the judges provide additional time for tenants to vacate when kids are involved, but they will add some stipulations. First if the reason for eviction is non-payment, you will likely have a judgment against you for any outstanding monies.This will follow you for up to ten years. This can impede your ability to get credit, buy a car or in some cases even get a new cell phone, so it is important.
Second they may put you on a payment plan if there is outstanding rent, falling off the plan could void the delayed eviction and accelerate the time frame you have to be out. So having kids may provide you with a little more time, but it you decide to delay and have the landlord take you to court to get the eviction it may have other more serious implications for you long term.
Bottom line, even if you have kids as long as there is a valid reason for the eviction the landlord can provide you with a 14 day notice. If you don’t leave at the end of that time, the courts may grant you some additional time, but it comes with extra problems and quite likely additional costs to you as the landlord can now also come after you for some of his court costs.
Regards,
Bill
Dear Bill,
I am having several issues with my landlord. In retrospect, it feels like she is stressing the terms of the lease for us to break the tenancy agreement (which 15 days into moving in we still have not received); so that she can keep our monies and we move out. Please bear with me as this is kind of a long story…
The first issue, we had initially arranged to move on May 1st, 2013 (Uhaul booked for that day and everything). The landlord said her agent was not available to move us in on ANY other day except the Friday prior (April 26th, 2013). The way she had put it was basically that she had “hired” a cleaner so that the tenant would move-in early. She insisted the only day she had available was April 26th and she wouldn’t be able to move us in on the 30th nor the 1st. We ended up having to move in on that date and now she is trying to act like we owe her $170 for “pro-rated” rent when she was the one to insist on us moving in early. Can I refuse to pay this because this is where I am at.
Her “agent” hadn’t shown up until 9:45 pm to deliver the keys and do the inspection report. This agent kept telling us to be prepared to “lose half of our deposit” also saying things such as “even if you leave this place in better shape than it is, be prepared to lose half of your deposit”. He wouldn’t let us point out the dents on the hardwood, the uncleanliness in the unit, the scratches on the doors, the holes in the walls from broken door stoppers. He just took the sheet (we never even signed it) and said he would fill it out. I am not comfortable with this at all. What can I do to ensure I do not lose out on my hard earned monies because of these money hungry scumbags?
As if that wasn’t bad enough, when we moved in the “cleaner” the landlord had hired clearly got a FAIL on the cleanliness scale! None of the walls were washed, the floors were filthy, there was the previous tenants old furniture in the unit (in several rooms) and the front and back yards were completely filthy (dead leaves and mulch sitting there since the fall guaranteed)! We spent the first two days cleaning the yard, throwing out the old furniture, and disposing of trash before we were able to arrange our own belongings. Can we discount any monies from June’s rent for disposal and initial undone maintenance to the home?
Within the 3rd day of moving in it seemed someone with a key broke into our home (door was left wide open) as a matter of safety we changed the locks, informed the landlord (she eventually agreed to the change and I have proof in writing) but to date she has not provided me with any type of address to arrange a key drop off. What happens in this instance?
We also have two pets (small dogs) and she said that it would be fine but never actually quoted me on a price for them. I hounded her for two days calling, texting, emailing this lady to pay for the deposit. She then comes up with “it’s $600 for the pets” when the home is completely worn, the carpets are totally old, and believe me there is no possibly way my pets can do anymore damage to this place then there already is! I was interested in the place because the rent is $1,080/mth + utilities for a 3 bedroom main floor house. My question here is we have already paid her $500 (still outstanding on the pro-rated rent $170 + $100 for the “pet fee”), can we just refuse to continue to pay for this? She never even replied to our request to receive a discount on the rent or deposits considering all the work we had to do to make this unit liveable for us!
We are also having problems with the plumbing (toilet runnning water constantly) and because we were “late on the rent” (even though we paid for the deposit up-front which she later claimed wasn’t a deposit that it was the rent) than she would charge a $50 fee. Well, we paid her the rent on May 1st as per tenancy laws and I have no lease to show cause that I owed rent on April 30th, what can I do? She refuses to fix the toilet and we are not plumbers so we do not want to try and fix this toilet like she is suggesting and be held liable for damage we cause since we are not professionals! Funny thing is, she knew about this problem and brushed it off as our problem yet it is clear this was a pre-existing issue that should have been corrected before we moved in. What can I do?
Finally, I discovered today that there is a new tenant moving in soon (even though I have expressed an interest in renting the whole house) and even though I made this landlord a reasonable offer of $1,700/mth to rent the main floor and downstairs 2 bedroom unit (which she rents for $750 anyways). When I texted her this morning to verify that there are two separate meters in this home, she kept changing the subject and accusing me of being angry and hostile (when I sent a text asking her to PLEASE confirm that there were two separate meters since we did not wish to pay for the downstairs tenant). I finally told her that due to her accusations, she is to deal with my fiancee (who is also on the lease) from now on. I asked her not to contact me anymore and I informed her that I would call the utility companies myself to verify the information I was seeking. Much to my surprise both Epcor and Direct Energy/ATCO Gas confirmed there is one meter for this entire home (even though she claims there are “two separate units”) and that I am the one paying for all the utilities in this home. I want to know what legal rights do I have to demand partial utility payment from her downstairs tenant? Can I shut off the utilities in that unit since they are all under my name? or should I just call the utility companies and cancel my accounts and require the landlord to pay for this nonsense?
With the circumstances mentioned above, I have yet to receive my lease copy and as such I have no recollections of my obligations nor her expectations from me as a tenant. Is it possible nullify this lease and request to move and have the landlord pay for my move-out and return my deposit since this place is a s**t hole already? I am truly not interested in filling the pockets of this pile of trash individual. I want to move and I feel that the landlord made a lot of promises she did not keep and withheld a lot of important terms from me (like moving in early, not having the unit in reasonable clean conditions, and witholding that we would be paying for her downstairs tenant, no access to garage nor shed in the home as she rents them for $500/mth). Please help us because this woman has no scruples and I do not wish to reside here anymore unless I luck out and because of her many breaches I can rent the whole house for my $1,090 a month!!!
Hi RMC,
You have so many problems with this landlord, I’m not even sure where to begin! First off you’re definitely right in thinking about finding another place, but in the meantime, let’s deal with some of the issues.
First, the lease, the landlord is required to get you a copy with in 21 days of moving in. If you haven’t received the lease by then, this is one of the few circumstances where you can with hold rent until you receive it. You still need to pay it, but you don’t have to pay it until you get your copy.
All the information about pets, responsibilities for repairs etc should also be covered in the lease. In this case you should have gotten the pet deposit info before committing, the landlord may have you there, although since you are moving out right away, they won’t see the $600 as there is no way for them to actually force you to pay it after the fact either.
The prorated rent bit wouldn’t carry much water at a hearing as she forced you to move in on that day, she can’t then try and claim extra rent for it as she wasn’t available.
Inspection report, good news here for you and a lesson. First since, you didn’t sign it, it’s not valid, second since it’s not valid it’s almost impossible for the landlord to legally with hold the deposit when you move out. They can try and you may have to go to the RTDRS or the courts to get it back, which can be a pain, but you will get it back. For future reference, if the landlord or their agent won’t let you fill in actual damages or make notes about it, don’t sign it. they are just trying to set you up to keep a deposit.
Plumbing issues, I’m assuming you are paying for the utilities? If so, you may want to bring someone in on your diem to get the toilet repaired, especially if you feel you will be stuck there for a while before you find a place as it could end up costing you. Again you may be able to recoup this through the RTDRS or the courts after the fact, but you’ll have to prove it wasn’t your fault, the landlord knew about it and be able to verify how much it cost you.
Regarding the lower unit and the utilities. Again a tricky situation, the utilities should be broken out int he lease as to how they are paid and who is responsible for what. In this case there should have been something stating the upper unit tenant is responsible for X% and the lower is for y%. Since it’s not there, it may be a loop hole. I can’t comment either way other than to tell you it’s unfair.
I would suggest you document everything in a nice clear fashion along with a timeline of promises and events. If you hope to get out of this lease and get at least most of your money back you will likely need to attend some type of hearing. i would also start looking immediately for a new place, I don’t suspect this will get any better and this particular landlord makes us all look bad.
Hope this has helped give you some answers, if I missed anything you wanted additional info on, please comment again and I’ll see how I can help,
Bill
Hello Bill,
We have yet to receive our lease and the landlords information. I have sent her a notice that we are withholding June’s rent until we receive this information. I realize this may be not in our favor but I need her contact information to file suit in court.
Also, my next issue is this:
The city has deemed her downstairs “unit” as illegal yet she still rented it and the downstairs tenant smokes inside. I have a lot of expensive clothes and purses that I don’t want ruined. I’ve requested the landlord to either vacate the tenant in her illegal unit or to make the home smoke-free. I’ve notified her that failure to do-so will result in us suing her for damages. I’ve also requested she provide our deposit back up-front so we can move. If she doesn’t what remedies do I have left?
RMC
Hi RMC,
Good job with the notice, now you have a paper trail if it ever gets into a court hearing.
Now regarding the downstairs tenant, you’re out of luck. It would be a long shot to be able to sue for any damages in this situation. Also she has to follow standard procedures to get the downstairs tenant out which could be as long as 90 days. The downstairs tenant does have their rights as well.
The only wrinkle might be if in your lease and in the advertising a smoke free environment was promoted. That might give you a minor opportunity to try and sue her, but we’re in canada and most minor suites end up as nothing or end up being so costly to pursue it’s not worth the minimal return.
Finally, she doesn’t have to return the security deposit until 10 days after you vacate. You will be responsible for coming up with a new deposit for the next property. She already sounds shady, so make sure you go through the exit walk through with her and note everything. She will likely try to withhold some if not all of it, so be prepared to take her to the RTDRS for a hearing and make sure she is aware you will be doing it.
Regards,
Bill
My roommate and I moved in together she signed the lease. Things are not working out so she has given me a notice to move for April 5. I found a place but can’t move till the 13th. She is trying to force me to move on the 5th. Can she change the locks? What are my rights? My rent is paid in full.
Hi Gloria,
You’re in a bit of a gray area right now. You’re not on the lease, but it also sounds like you don’t have a written agreement with your roommate. If you were subletting, you would fall under the Innkeeper’s Act, but it sounds like you are somewhere in the middle.
She could change the locks, but she would also require permission from her landlord to do that. Is the landlord even aware you are sharing the rent? She might be illegally sharing the place with you and the fear of you approaching the landlord might calm her down. Having a second person there may void her lease.
The big problem being, without you being on the lease, you lose some of the rights of being a tenant, some, not all.
If she does change the locks you can potentially sue her for breach of the verbal agreement you had in place, you can likely even call the police who will come and perhaps mediate a bit although they tend not to like to get involved in situations like this, but the thought of having the police showing up and her landlord showing up may also be enough to get you the extra eight days.
If you can’t reason with her, it sounds like you might have to impress upon her you will contact the landlord and explain the situation and see if he will work with you.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi, I am asking for my dad, the tenants lease was up and my dad rise the rent to $850. But every time he go to collect it they give $800 only and give him a whole bunch of reasons. the rent includes utilities, in the past few months the utilities bills went up a lot due to they bought another freeze, plug a kettle 24 hrs and use a hot plate to hotpot. My father told them they can’t use them and they agree, however once my father left they plug them back in. My father cut the cord to the freeze and took the kettle and hot plate away. He told them they would be return and repair when they leave. This month my dad was call to pick the rent of from the tenant’s wife. When he got there she got my dad to sign a receipt for proof that they pay the $850 for the month, however she went on and on about the freeze and started throwing stuff, my dad told her that her husband has agree that it be repair when they leave. At the end she didn’t hand him any money and accused my dad hitting her. Now we want them to be evicted, what reason can we use and how.
Hi Michelle,
When I first read your message my initial reaction was frustration. Unfortunately it was frustration with your father. There are rules for how landlords can deal with tenants and cutting the cord of a freezer and “stealing” kettles and hot plates are not allowed!! Actions like this give all landlords a bad name and can land your father in hot water!!
Knowing that he did this brings into question whether the rent increase was legal as well. If the tenants are under a month to month lease, your father has to give them written notice 90 days in advance of the rent increase. This 90 days requires three full months, so if he gave them the notice say January 3, the increase would be after February, March and April, so May 1st.
If the tenants are on a fixed term lease, you father can increase it after the term is over. In both cases the rent can only be increased after a year has passed. You cannot charge the tenants $800 for six months and then increase it to $850 before 365 days have passed.
Now, if your father did do that correctly and it was written notice, the tenants are in breach of the lease and need to make the outstanding payments. They can be evicted for not catching up to the payments. If your father raised the rent without following the proper requirements, there is nothing you can do at this time and you have to hope the tenants don’t report your father for breaking the Residential Tenancy Act by damaging their freezer and stealing their property.
I obviously don’t have all the details, but from what you’ve told me so far your father may want to consider selling the property and getting out of the landlord business before he gets hit with fines or he takes some sort of training so he knows the rules and regulations involved.
Bill
just to clarify the pet deposit can only be half of what the rent is right so just say if the rent is 795.00 per month the pet deposit would only be 397.50 ! is it wrong for the landlord to go over the half mark ! the landlord did tell my roommate when se came in that she did have 2 cats and then when I came in 2 weeks later she then turned around and said 200.00 I did offer her funds at tat time not only for the pets but to also to get a key for the unit and she declined it ! so what would be the best way for me to make things right cause I really don’t like the thought of having to move in the coldest month ! would I need to have a letter from the witness followed by contact information ! and I also did ask for a copy of the leasing agreement and her reply was I am sorry we don’t have any here !
I believe the maximum the pet deposit can be is one month’s rent, and it depends on how it is worded. Some landlords make it a pet deposit some make it a monthly surcharge and some simply make it a non-refundable deposit for having pets. All can work, depending on how they are worded.
If there was no pet clause originally in the lease you may not have a problem.The landlord should have dealt with any deposits prior to you moving in, after the fact, they are much harder to get.
If you have to attend a hearing of some kind, having the witness in person would be best, second best a sworn statement.
The landlord is supposed to provide you a copy of the signed lease within ten days or they are breaking the rules. If it’s over ten days, ask again politely and just remind them they are supposed to provide a copy to you within ten days.
Document every interaction with the landlord as well in case it comes down to a hearing. Withe everything documented you will look much more reliable than just trying to remember later.
Regards,
Bill
Good morning! I am curious to know that I and a friend of mine moved into a 1 bdrm apartment! We have two cats, now my roommate moved in at the start of December and I had moved in 2 weeks later, now the landlord had told us verbally tat the pet deposit is only 200.00 ( there was a witness to the verbal agreement ) now she is saying that the pet deposit is now 400.00! Do we have only pay the 200.00 or do we have to now pay the 400.00? The landlord did not have it in the lease at the start of rental agreement ! If so, Can the landlord evict us with a 14 day notice and with-in that 14 days that we have the pet deposit do we still have to move out !
Morning back!
It can be a bit tricky when everything is verbal, which it sounds like in this case. Check your lease, see what or if anything is stated in there. If the lease has information about any pet deposits or fees, it will take precedence as it is written and hopefully signed by all parties.
If you breached the written lease by not paying the extra deposit, you could get evicted (worst case for you). If it’s not in the lease, but the landlord can prove they verbally told you it was $400 they could potentially evict you (very hard to prove verbal agreements without witnesses and you have one, so helpful to you).
Additionally deposits should be paid prior to moving in, which may work in your favour. So, with the information i have the landlord could try to evict you with a 14 day eviction notice, but you could most likely fight it and stay, or worst case the RTDRS or the courts may decide that you can simply pay the extra $200 to nullify the eviction.
If you plan on staying there for a while it might be in your best interest to work something out with the landlord so as to maintain a good relationship, but from the information I have it sounds like it might be hard for the landlord to get a successful eviction.
FYI, if you don’t move out by the end of the 14 day eviction period stated in the eviction notice, the landlord then has to take you to the RTDRS or the courts to get an actual eviction. What I’ve discovered is the majority of landlords who provide their tenants with 14 day eviction notices use invalid forms anyway and it’s often easy to have the eviction nullified o delayed.
Hope that helps,
Bill
I have been renting 2 rooms for my self and children from a friend I just found out they have to leave if they dont have the rent for Nov by Dec 4.I am not on the lease so what are my rights here.Can I pay the rent and get the lease changed into my name or what.Also where I paid my rent part can they kick me out with my children in the winter months p
Hi Bessie,
If you aren’t on the lease you have far fewer rights in this case. You may be able to approach the landlord directly and ask if they will accept payment from you, however the landlord is going to want the complete rent, not just for the rooms you are renting. If you can cover that, I would also try and get on the lease, otherwise they have the right to ask you to vacate. There is no guarantee they will agree though.
Since your friend is already half a month behind your landlord is probably not going to be too eager to carry on, so getting it paid right away might be incentive enough for the landlord to extend your stay as well.
And yes, they can evict you even in the winter.
Hopefully this helps you with some answers, although perhaps not the best news,
Bill
Hi Bill,
I have been reading the above posts but I am confused as to what I can do with my situation now. I served this guy a 14-day notice for not paying rent AND breach of notice by having strangers live on the premises. But now it is obvious he won’t be evicting after my countless efforts to solve this peacefully (and quickly as the faster I get him out of here the more advantageous it is for me) But he has refused to see me and has been taking showers and doing suggestive things inside his room with his “girlfriend” while I wait for him to come out and talk. I am a fairly young landlord, I have never met this kind of person! I am planning to change the locks as I gave him a 24-hour notice to move out… DO I still file a RTDRS right now?? I will be out another 2 weeks…and I am scared he will hurt other tenants in the house as they are not on good terms with him.
Thanks for your help!
Jenny
Also, I even offered him the option of him moving out within 10 days and returning to him the remainder of the security deposit! This is a shared accommodation with shared kitchen bathroom, etc but each tenant has his own room…so it does not fit under Innkeeper’s Act.
Hi Jenny,
If you are sharing the kitchen and common area, you definitely fit under the Innkeeper’s Act. He is only renting the room. You could bring the police in right away to help him make a decision, although the police have become less helpful as the lines between the Innkeeper’s Act and the Residential Tenancy Act have blurred.
Worst case you have to go the RTDRS route which should be stil fairly quick for you.You should have bypassed the 14 day eviction notice and gone directly to the RTDRS or the court system to save time.
When is the 14 days up? That is what helps make the timeline for the RTDRS come in to play as you cannot file until the eviction date is almost upon you, That is why bypassing a 14 day eviction notice can accelerate the process as you can file right away.
hope this helps,
Bill
Hi Bill,
The notice is up today…but he has refused to move out or see me to make arrangements. If I need to file the RTDRS it will be Tuesday…Can i change the locks on him tomorrow?
I am not sure if it is the Innkeeper’s act because I do not live there, it is a shared accommodation with other people. He says he is going to look at a place next weekend, which I know he is buying his time…I need him out now before he harms other tenants…so if I change the locks on him, what if he still refuses to vacate?
Thanks Bill, so just to clarify, next time I should just file the RTDRS instead of the 14-day notice?
Hi Jenny,
Sorry I didn’t realize you don’t live there. In that case you fall under the Residential Tenancy Act. Either way, never just change the locks! You will have to file at the RTDRS Tuesday, if you have fears he will hurt someone because he has threatened the other tenants you can evict him using a 24 hour eviction notice, but this would require him threatening someone within the last day or two. The longer ago it was or the less proof you have the less valid this avenue is.
Best bet at this time would be to file directly at the RTDRS, especially if the 14 days are up. Educated tenants know that the 14 day eviction is just a warning and really holds no weight to evict them, you still need to go to court or the RTDRS. In the future, if you plan on using an eviction notice only use it as a warning method. If you think they are going to be a handful, then bypass the notice and go straight to the RTDRS.
Eviction notices are a courtesy, they are not compulsory.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi Bill.
We have three 20-yr olds on a 1 yr lease. They pay on time but have loud parties, invite poor quality friends over and breached condo board rules numerous time. They are in a “substantial breach” position and we want to serve them notice of 14-days for this. We are VERY nervous they’ll be mad and wreck our place well beyond the $1000 deposit. Is there anything that can be done to safeguard the property? Thanks.
Hi Sandra,
Unfortunately there is very little you can do as far as safeguarding the property, but there are some things you can do to help convince them to leave properly and without damaging the property.
First you can talk to them and explain why you need them to leave. Let them know that if they leave by X date (you may want to consider making it the end of the month for easier transition) and leave the property in a clean ready to rent condition they will get their full security deposit back.
If it isn’t as it was when they first rented it, they will forfeit a portion or all of it to cover cleanup costs. the important part is next. Remind them that the current vacancy rate in the city is quite low, due to this finding a new place without a positive reference from their current landlord can make finding a new place virtually impossible.
If you find this just aggravates the problem then skip the 14 day eviction notice proceed directly to the courts or the RTDRS and ask for the judge or hearing officer to set a very quick eviction date as you have real concerns for potential damage ot the property. You will have to back this up with evidence showing this may be a valid concern.
Just remember 14 day eviction notices are not mandatory and by going through the courts or the RTDRS you can get evictions much quicker, especially with difficult tenants.
Hope that helped,
Bill
hi,
i have a situation maybe you could help me with, i rented out my home september 1st, 2012 with no lease just an agreement of it being monthly, 3 tenants moved in and right from the get go there were problems with the house and so i had tried to fix them and did fix them taking time to do it in the process, now in the last week of september he vented at me again saying its the sink so i took time to fix it and it was hard to get someone to do it so he went off on me saying he wants a lease and wants it now or he wont pay me rent, its now October 13 and he hasnt paid me rent for this month and said he wont pay it till i give him a lease, ive been nice enough to drop the rent for the month of october soooo much so that no one in there right might would drop it to what i have, but again they wont pay me the rent, im not sure what to do, i dont have a lease with them it was just a verbal agreement month to month, and also i noticed that one of the tenants doesnt live at the house anymore and that one of the tenants brought in a new person to live at the home, which makes me think they are planning on staying at the house and not have to pay rent, what are my options, i do want to move into the home when they are all out, but i dont want to keep them in this house if there not paying rent, sorry for long email, just wanted to know if not having a lease in place can i have them evicted by police? or do i have to go thru the process? or any other options?
Fez, YOU NEED TO GET A LEASE IN PLACE!!!!!!
I can’t emphasize that enough. Never ever do a lease verbally or it becomes a he said/she said scenario and it leaves you extremely open for interpretation of what (or if) there are any rules.
Your lease needs to include all the rules regarding your property such as tenant responsibilities, whether it’s smoking or non-smoking, whether pets are allowed, it needs to list all the tenants who will be living there, it should cover responsibilities for the yard and the sidewalks, who is responsible for utilities and much much more. It should even include when the rent is due!
I’m probably going out on a limb here, but did you do a tenant walk through before they moved in? If you didn’t, you better create one as part of the lease. Without a properly completed walk through that is signed by the landlord AND THE TENANT, you can not keep any of their security deposit if they damage the property. you have no proof of the original condition, unless it is signed by both parties.
Leases and walk throughs are some of the basic issues all landlords need to know about and have in place. Being a landlord is so much more than putting people in a property and collecting money. Fez, you seriously need some help righting this situation, you might want to contact me directly for soem consulting before you really find yourself in trouble. At the very least pick up one of the landlord packages form Staples or Office Depot to get started. Their information doesn’t cover everything and the leases are just basic, but it will give you a place to start.
Or if you have friends or associates that are landlords, buy them coffee, heck buy them lunch and dinner and get some information out of them!
If you want me to help you, I do provide consulting services and can also provide leases, so let me know.
Regards,
Bill
info@albertaeviction.com
I understand and your right I should do a lease up but I don’t want the tenants in the house anymore shouldn’t a lease be done by me if I want them there for months… Do they have the right not to pay rent if there is no lease? I just to have them leave the home..
They still have to pay rent, your options at this point is to a) ask them to leave by the end of the month (least effective, but if they are not happy might work), give them a proper 14 day eviction notice (moderately effective although if they don’t leave you have to go to court or the RTDRS) or c) proceed immediately tomorrow to file at the RTDRS or the courthouse Monday for an eviction based on non-payment of rent.
Of course if it’s just for non-payment and they pay you, the eviction will be null and void.
Bill
Hey Bill,you helped me before with an evication,my landlady now has put locks on my doors,i did not receive a 14 day evication for non payment of rent,i still have my stuff in the house,she never even gave me a chance to clean the place.What can i do?Can i Civil sew her?
Hi Jennifer,
Wow two Jen(n)’s tonight!!
I can’t recall your specific situation, but if you are under the Residential Tenancy Act, she cannot change your lock. If you are under the Innkeeper’s Act, the rules are different and there are several ways she can do this.
Just to clarify, if you have a self contained suite with it’s own kitchen bathroom and sleeping area, you would fit under the Residential Tenancy Act. If she changes your locks, you can report her, you can bring in your own locksmith to open the door and you can sue her to make the payments to cover any costs you incur.
If you rent a room, share the kitchen, bathroom and common areas, you will be under the Innkeeper’s Act and you may have some recourse to sue her in small Claims court.
If she is home and she won’t let you in to retrieve you things, you may be able to call the police and have them help. They really won’t be able to enforce much, but they may be able to escort you in and supervise the removal of some of your items. Note this will be a low priority on their list, so they may not show up immediately.
Hope that helps a bit!
Bill
I am currently renting a house and I provided my notice for Septemeber 30, 2012. My landlord had another unit come avaliable and I have paid $1600 damage deposit on the new place for october 1, 2012. While doing a viewing for my current place my landlord noticed I had 3 cats not 2 and wants me to get rid of 1 in the next 7 days. Now my question is if I refuse to get rid of the cat (which I will because it is not the cats fault) and my landlord chooses not to rent the new place to me (I have already paid security deposit and signed lease) is she obligated to return the deposit I put down for the new place? I am asking only because I know she will try to keep it and cannot find the presice legislation to back up my situation.
Hi Jessica,
Let’s start with checking your receipt. If your receipt says it is a security deposit and you do not take the unit, either because you don’t get rid of the cat or you find an alternate place, she is obligated to return the deposit and cannot hold it.
If however your receipt shows that you had a deposit against the first month’s rent, it gets trickier. Now it’s not a deposit which is governed by the RTA, it is a payment towards the rent and it decided differently. If she ends up renting it for October 1st to someone else, it would be very hard for her to argue that she could keep it in it’s entirety, if you provided sufficient notice that you were not taking it. If you waited until the 29th to tell her, then the rules change again.
Either way, if she holds on to it, or threatens to hold onto it, you have some good grounds to get it back, although it may require going to court to get your funds back (or at least knowledge of what to do and the threat of taking her to court because you are informed and now educated 8′])
Good luck,
Bill
What if the tenant has paid the landlord more than half the rent, and the landlord has accepted this payment arrangement, is there still an eviction if the rent will be paid by the end of the month on a fixed term lease?
Thanks
Hi Norma,
I think I need more information. If you accepted a partial payment and you had provided them with a 14 day eviction notice, they still have to pay the outstanding amount in full before the eviction date. Unless a separate agreement was reached.If it’s a verbal agreement, this would have to be proved either way or if there was doubt it may fall to either side.
If it’s a written agreement accepting this schedule it would likely fall to the tenants benefit and basically negate the eviction notice putting the landlord at square one.
So I’m not sure if that answered your question or not, I tried to answer it best i could.
Bill
Thanks,i’ll check on tuesday and see what the landlord tency act says,then i might get a lawyer to write her a letter tell her that i have 3 months by law.
Hi Jenn,
Here is the actual information I have about it, if that helps. You really don’t need a lawyer for this, you could just challenge her eviction with a signed and written objection letter that includes part fo the following information.
Terminating a Tenancy (Lease): Notice and Timing
No notice is required to end a fixed term lease. A fixed term lease ends automatically at the end of the term. Notice to end a tenancy by a landlord must be signed and include the address of the premises, the date the tenancy ends, and the reason for ending the tenancy. The amount of the notice required depends on the reason for termination.
If a landlord intends to convert the rental premises to a condominium unit and the premises must be vacant, or the landlord needs to do major renovations that require the premises to be unoccupied, the landlord must give the tenant 365 days written notice to terminate the periodic tenancy. Once a notice of termination is served for one of these reasons, a landlord cannot increase the rent payable.
Note: Major renovations do not include painting, replacing floor coverings or routine maintenance.
In addition, a landlord may end a periodic tenancy if:
The landlord or a relative of the landlord wants to move in.
The landlord agrees to sell the premises, all conditions of the sales agreement have been satisfied or waived and the buyer or a relative of the buyer wants to move in.
The landlord intends to demolish the building that the tenant lives in.
The premises are a detached or semi-detached dwelling or one condominium unit. The landlord agrees to sell the premises and all conditions of the sales agreement have been satisfied or waived. In these cases, the buyer must ask the landlord in writing to give the tenant a notice to end the tenancy. Neither the buyer nor the buyer’s relatives have to occupy the premises.
The landlord is an educational institution and the tenant was a student at the beginning of the tenancy but the tenant is no longer a student or will no longer be a student once the notice period has passed.
The landlord intends to use or rent the premises for a non-residential purpose.
The notice required in these situations are:
Weekly: 1 full week
Monthly: 3 full tenancy months
By the way, since three full tenancy month’s are required, November 1st would be the actual time you would have to be out as July now doesn’t count.
Regards,
Bill
Thanks so much for this information,at least i know i have time to find a new place.Should i send her a letter telling her this information or get a lawyer to write her up a letter?
Hi Jenn,
You can likely save your money and just write it up yourself. Include the info below about the time line for having you out and explain you want to work with them, but it may require less notice due to the tighter rental market. As long as you can explain to them the bonus of working together it should work out ok.
The alternative is you drag it out and they don’t have access until Nov at this point. Of course, I would also recommend getting any verbal agreements down on paper just so it doesn’t come back and bite you.
Regards,
Bill
If i rented for almost 9 years can my landlady give me a 30 day notice to vacate with the reason she wants to move in?I have paid my rent up to date.
Hi Jenn,
If you are on a month to month lease she has to actually provide you with 3 full tenancy months notice, so the 30 days isn’t enough time and it would be very easy for you to fight. Having said that, you want to make this work out as best as possible for yourself.
I would suggest negotiating with her and letting them know you will do your best to get out as soon as possible, but to make this work you might not be able to give them a full month’s notice due to the tighter rental market and you have a concern about losing your security deposit if this occurs.
Then make sure you get it in writing from the landlady that she will refund everything to you barring any damages. This should work out in both of your favor as it gives you more flexibility to get a new place without the pressure of having to rush this month, or try to fit it into a monthly schedule, and it gives the landlord earlier potential access.
I’m sure ideally you would prefer to stay on, but according to the rules in this case you will have to leave in three months anyway, so better to leave on your terms and with mutual cooperation than dragging it out and making it messy.
Hope that helps,
Bill
P.S. for you landlords out there, if you have had a tenant for nine years who has been helping you pay your mortgage and look after your property, the most appropriate thing is to let them know what your plans are if you intend to move in, sell or anything else that may cause them problems. It’s the proper thing to do!
Hi.
I am about to evict a roomate that is basically a pig. there is only a verbal agreement and no lease. He ths not met up to his obglations on sanitary upkeep of the house. I own the house and he has not been required to pay any damage deposit. I know it wiw cost $500.00 to $700.00 to clean up his mess and possably more if I have to replace parts of the new carpet that I installed which are now covered with assorted food products. How and how quickley can I evict him legaly.
Hi Bruce,
If you are renting out a room to him and have shared space you both use you would fit under the Innkeeper’s act and can get rid of him right away. You can read more about it here, https://www.albertaeviction.com/alberta-eviction-process/innkeepers-act-vs-residential-tenancy-act/
You may be out of luck trying to collect any additional money from him for cleanup though. You can try negotiating with him, but otherwsie it’s off to small claims court which might be a challenge.
Bill
I recently bought a house that had tenants living up and down in separate suites. The downstairs tenants moved out at the end of November and the upstairs tenants agreed to move downstairs Dec 2. I am going to be doing renovations to the upstairs and living there myself. I got to the house on Dec 2 to make sure everything was in order for them, and it was. I received permission from the upstairs tenant to start removing kitchen cupboard doors and she moved her bathroom items to the downstairs bathroom so I could begin removing tile from the bathroom. I left in the early evening when she wanted to put her son down to bed. They were to move downstairs that evening. I helped her move her son’s room items downstairs and the crib. I advised them that I would be back the next morning and everything had to be moved out of upstairs and into downstairs. When I got there the next morning, there was a sign on the door that said “There will be no more reno’s. Call *********” and they had changed the locks for the upstairs so I could not access the house. They had also left some of their things in the basement because they had started moving and then not finished. So I called the male tenant and he informed me that they no longer wanted to move into the basement because it was not “livable.” Trust me this is a really nice suite! Their reasoning was that there were marks and scuffs on the walls, and that there was mold in the bathroom. I just had a safety inspection done and no mold was found. There is just a ceiling tile with a water stain on it. After trying to reason with him he hung up on me. So I changed the lock for the downstairs because they no longer needed access to it and allowed them to move their stuff that was downstairs back upstairs. I also put a 14 day eviction notice on the door. The tenants called me later to open the downstairs for them so they could have a shower since I removed the tile from their bathroom upstairs. But they were supposed to move downstairs and had a functioning bathroom downstairs. I came and unlocked it for them, and left if unlocked. But I am afraid that they will cause damage in the basement. Can I lock it back up? They no longer have any rights to the basement as far as I am concerned. The plumbing upstairs is still hooked up and they have a functioning bathtub, toilet and sink. But the tile and drywall have been removed. I evicted them on the grounds of changing the locks without my permission (that is a breach of the Residential Tenant Act) and also smoking on the premises, which is against their lease agreement. (that lease agreement transfers over to me with the sale of the house right?) If the lease doesn’t transfer over to me since I listed the smoking as a reason on the eviction notice does that make it void? The female tenant smoked outside in my presence multiple times. I also know that they have had marijuana on the premises. There is a little storage room that smells very strongly of pot and my realtor can attest to that. My safety inspector also pointed it out to me and he found roaches in the windowsills. With these breaches am I able to speed things up at all? Or because I gave the 14 day eviction notice I have to wait out the 14 days? I would like them gone asap because they no longer have a right to the upstairs they were supposed to move out on Dec 2, and I have a contractor hired to do the renovations etc. so them still being there is really messing up my plans for the home. And they have not given me any rent yet. Is there any more I can do to get them out quicker? In my eyes they are squatting! I hope that all makes sense. I didn’t get a lease agreement signed yet because I was going to do it on Saturday morning when they had moved but then I was locked out and they wouldn’t answer the door. I do have a voicemail from the female tenant confirming that they were moving downstairs on Friday Dec 2 and inquiring on when they would receive the keys, so I have proof of our verbal agreement. So basically, have I done everything right? And can I get them out any faster? And can I lock the downstairs back up? Thanks for your time
Hi Erin,
Wow, looks like you have a situation.
Hopefully you have written permission from the tenants in case it get’s ugly. Written agreements help reduce the he said/she said scenarios.
You might want to start by asking them what you can do to make the unit livable for them as you have already started the renovations and the upstairs unit will take some time to complete. Even f they simply move downstairs for the duration of the updates and then they can come back up?
You can use the safety inspection as evidence for them if it helps. Now all of this is based on you wanting to keep them. If however you don;t want to keep them, you have some good ammunition.Even better if you have any of this in writing!
First it’s a major violation for a landlord to change the locks on the tenants, but it is also a fairly serious violation for tenants to change locks on the landlord. With the smoking, do you have proof of them smoking inside? Proving they have been smoking can be tough, but if you have proof and it is a breach of the lease, then you need to include it as well. For the drugs, if you have pictures it would also help.
At this point, you really have to wait out the 14 day notice. If it appears they will not be vacating, you can file near the end of the notice period, you will just have to get a hearing date roughly five days after the eviction date in your notice. This will give you time to serve them notice of the hearing and give them the required three days.
You could lock the downstairs back up, but you would be taking a chance they would use the showed anyway and damage the walls upstairs. It depends on how vengeful they are, it might be worthwhile leaving it for now. The big potential mistakes are not getting everything in writing (if you did, ignore this) and signed by both parties and not getting the lease signed before they moved.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Bill,
Do they still owe me a full months rent even though they are getting evicted?
Hi Erin,
Technically yes, but at this point they may not be out until the beginning of January anyway. If you have just given them the 14 day notice and they leave mid month, you won’t have to return any of the rent as they have been evicted. If they decide to fight the eviction and don’t leave by the eviction date, your next step will be to get a hearing with the RTDRS or the courts directly. By then it will be just before Christmas and with a young child, the minimum time frame they would normally get is two weeks, but with Christmas, it might be even longer due to the difficulty in finding a new place at that time of year.
You also have to consider if you refund them half the month whether it will help them move out. You could use the half month’s rent as leverage. If they are gone by the 15th, you will refund half the month’s rent plus their security deposit, less any damage or cleaning costs required. If you decide to play hardball and go by “the rules” where you get to keep the money and tell them they likely won’t get any security deposit back, there is no incentive for them to move on early and no incentive for them not to not damage the property.
Although it’s always nice to get some extra cash that is rightfully owed you, often it’s more prudent to just getting control of your property back and give up some cash. Make sense?
Bill
Great information Bill – thanks for hosting this site. We too have just found out about a tenant that has a dog (we think they have had it for over a month since someone added a gate to block off the backyard – which they did not ask to do before doing it – and attached it to the house). Can we go after them for damages to the outside of the house?
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the comment and the question. If the tenant completed unapproved modifications that you now have to fix, yes you can charge them for the work to repair it. You most likely even have a clause in your lease stating repairs or modifications of the property require written landlord approval as it is fairly common for leases (if you don’t, perhaps it;s time for a new lease!).
Just be sure to get a couple quotes for the repair work (even if you complete it yourself), so you have some documentation verifying the costs. This way if they do try to fight it, you can show the costs. Then when you refund whatever remains of their security deposit you can include a breakdown of costs deducted from the deposit. Make sense?
Regards,
Bill
P.S. If you haven’t registered to get the free walk through of the eviction process yet, perhaps take a moment and do so. It’s just on the right top side of the page. You’ll get information on the steps involved in an eviction through the RTDRS, what to expect and then a whole series of tips on how to avoid it happening again along with handy tips to make life as a landlord easier and more profitable!
I currently have a tenant that there is an agreement of where no pets in the house, they currently have a dog living there now. Wondering what I can do? Please help
Hi Stephan,
If the lease stipulates no pets, the tenants are in breach. My first choice would be to write them a letter stating they are in breach of the lease and they have seven days to get the dog out of the property. If the dog is not gone within seven days you will evict them. You can also include a reference that since they are in breach, you can could immediately proceed with the eviction, but would prefer to do this fairly.
Of course you can pick a shorter or longer time frame, but seven days should be sufficient time to have the dog move on. The letter is also your back up if they do not have the dog removed as it shows you tried to work with them and you can then use it as evidence if you have to go to the RTDRS.
Good luck,
Bill
I was unable to download the eviction package that I bought from you. Can you help me with this?
Hi Walter,
I just emailed it directly to you, sorry for the download issue. In the email I asked if you could describe the problem, someone last week had an issue as well and if I can get some feedback as to the problem I can see if I can find out what the issue is and make sure this doesn’t affect anyone else.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Regards,
Bill
I have two tenants renting my house who i need to get rid of. I am going to enter into a rent to own arrangement with someone else. I just did an inspection of the property and they have not been telling me about problems througout the two years they have been renting. There is a roof leak, the freezer died, they painted a room without permission, the sewer backed up and they didnt tell me until I asked after the town sent me a repair bill. The neighbours have been complaining to the police about noise at night and they have let mold grow from water leaks that have gone unreported. The house used to be so nice, i lived in it myself and renovated it for three years. Now i just want to get them out as quick as possible. The lease is just month to month, what are my options?
Hi Brant,
You have a few options, you could evict them on the grounds of the painting, which is a breach of the lease. You could also include not taking proper care of the property with that. You could fairly easily have them out in about a month’s time. Depending on how much mould and the condition of the place, it might take until the end of August though if it’s not bad.
You could do the legal large rent increase, this takes 90 days to come into play, and must include three full months, so they would either have to pay the large increase in November or be out.
With rent to own you cannot really say you are selling it and they have to move out as it’s not an official sale, which is another option to evict soemone. This also would take about three months.
Finally, you could just negotiate with them and tell them if tey are out at the end of the month you will refund their full damage deposit unless more damage is created. Also mention if you have to go the traditional eviction route they will likely forfeit their entire damage deposit due to the painting, the lack of notifying you about problems and the repairs you are now facing. This one will cost you the damage deposit, but it may be worth it to speed up the process. Although I would start by just asking them to leave so you can do repairs.
Important recurring note from this comment and many others, people absolutely have to stop using month to month leases or allowing their leases to lapse to month to month. If you only stick with fixed term, you do not have to renew and it is incredibly easy to have the tenant evicted at the end of the term, month to month allows it to drag on. Consider term leases your light at the end of the tunnel!
Good luck Brant, I’d love to know how it worked out.
Bill
I have tenants who signed a one month fixed term lease as of July 1st to July 31st. They have not paid me the full rent. Over $500 is outstanding. They keep promising me this and that, and never actually come through. It is now July 5th and again they said they would pay today, making plans and then nothing happened. Can I put up a 14 day notice to evict for unpaid rent? Or is it not worth it because their lease expires on July 31st anyways? I will need to rent it again so it would be easier to rent if empty so I don’t have to deal with them.
Hi Kal,
You have a few options. They need to be out by the end of the month, so you could just wait, they may try staying on after that, but its a very easy eviction as they are overholding and staying beyond the lease term. You would likely have then out by the 12th of August at the latest.
You could pressure them early and give them a 14 day eviction notice, that would have them due to be out on the 21st if you gave it to them tomorrow. Of course at that time if they don’t leave, you could file at the RTDRS and likely get a hearing before the end of the month, maybe the first week of August and they would likely get 24 hours to vacate.
Or you could give them the option to pay you by Friday and if they don’t go file at the RTDRS on the Monday, have a hearing date likely beginning of the next week and get a court order that they have to be out by the 31st.
The challenge is whether you truly believe they will be gone or not. Since they haven’t come through yet, paying the $75 for filing is almost like insurance for you. Worse case if they come through and pay the money you would be out $75, or you could charge them the filing fee to see if you can collect it from them.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Hi there, I have 2 tenants who they don’t give any rent. I already gave evict to them just today Mar 26. Just wondering if they don’t move out what am I supposed to deal with this? Going to court or change the key. They complained my house is not safe and healthy to live. I told them leaving and I will give you back Deposit. They want more for me and threaten me that my house will tear down……..
Please help me and give me advice.
May be they know my English is not good and a lady.
I want them to leave with going to court as take a long time.
Thank you for your help,
Hsiu
Hi Hsui,
This is a pretty common tactic from bad tenants. It’s usually a sign they will try to cause as much trouble for you as possible, or they are just bluffing to get free rent. I recently had a former tenant threaten to report me for health violations because I wouldn’t remove a collections charge from his credit record. He was bluffing as the property was fantastic.
So, if your property is safe and healthy to live in, you have to treat this as a bluff like we did. You cannot change the locks, you will need to continue with your eviction notice and then if they still don’t leave the next step will be to go to court or to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS). The RTDRS is a much more recommended method, although there is a two to three week delay in hearings right now. As long as you are confident in your property you can stand your ground and be firm and let them know you will come after them for any outstanding rent as well.
Good luck,
Bill
Can I evict my roomate for not paying rent, its been a week, he is on the lease. He lied and said he had it, and he paid it to our landlord and he didnt. Now he is gone and his stuff is here. So can I change the locks so he doesnt show up when we are gone?? please please respond to my email, or call me? please? 403-826-3997 I have to go away for 1.5 days fri-sat but I really need to know?? what can I do? please??
Hi Kelsey,
Technically you cannot “evict” him as you are not the landlord. Also, the landlord cannot evict him since he would be obligated to evict both of you if there was outstanding rent. You can explain what has happened to the landlord and perhaps have him removed from the lease and also ask the landlord to change the locks for security purposes. Again, since the roommate hasn’t indicated they are actually moving out it may cause problems for the landlord later.
Your best option, if you can get a hold of the roommate is to arrange a time for them to retrieve their stuff, tell them you are taking over the whole lease and they will be removed from the lease. Then have the landlord change the locks for you. Your lease most likely states that you are not allowed to change the locks without the landlords permission and they most likely have a system for their locks which they would need to maintain.
You are really caught in the middle of this as you don;t have the rights of a landlord, but are getting messed up by a fellow tenant. If you are going to try and recover the money this individual owes you, the process you would haev to go through would be small claims court. Hopefully this helps you a bit.