The Alberta Tenancy Act, or the Alberta Residential Tenancies Act as it’s more commonly known contains the ground rules for landlords and tenants in Alberta.
This landlord and tenant act for Alberta provides all the definitions as far as what properties are covered, how both landlords and tenants are protected under the Alberta Tenancies Act and the various rights of the landlords and tenants involved in a typical Alberta tenancy agreement.
Perhaps the most important part of the Alberta Tenancy Act, to people visiting this website at least, is in regards to the process of evicting a tenant. This includes what a tenant can be evicted for along with many of the timelines for an eviction in Alberta.
The challenge is while this information is included in the Residential Tenancies Act, it’s also incomplete as it doesn’t cover all variables and situations. It’s more of an overview.
Both landlords and tenants should be using the Alberta Tenancy Act as a basis for their leases, and how they can deal with landlord tenant issue sin Alberta, but it can’t always be interpreted precisely.
Yes some of it is fairly cut and dry, like time lines required for eviction notices, inspections and terminations of leases, but there are also vague and lacking areas. These vague issues are important questions like how long an eviction takes in Alberta, the actual process of evicting a tenant and any remedies to try and recover outstanding rent or monies owed for damages.
Some of this lack of specifics is due to the current eviction process (using the RTDRS is taking up to four weeks before any hearings due mostly to the tougher economic situation, in 2010 it was roughly seven days) while others are due to various interpretations of situations (evictions involving school age children or younger tend to be longer as the grace period to vacate or catch up is extended to help protect the innocent).
Having an understanding of the basic eviction process and how the Alberta Tenancy Act works are an integral part of a successful landlords eduction.
With our history AlbertaEviction.com has helped thousands of landlords over the years and we’ve been exposed to hundreds of variations of situations involving eviction giving us a unique perspective on how the rules work.
If this is your first visit to the site I’d suggest you start on our getting started page which you can find here, Alberta Eviction Information Quick Start Page .
You’ll find information about the Alberta Residential Tenancy Act, information about eviction notices, what to do with late paying tenants and much more.
If you need immediate assistance with an eviction, as in how and what to do, I do provide eviction consulting services where I can explain your options and steps required. You can find out more about this service here, Eviction Consulting
You can also proceed to the quick start page listed above where you will find eviction information broken down into different categories to help you learn on your own. I’d highly recommend you check out the comments below the articles as well as there are thousands of questions and responses that may answer questions you may have, or if you’re not in a hurry simply leave a comment as well and I’ll typically respond within a week.
i have a roomate on the lease but i pay everything but welfare said i have to live alone and im the main applicant can i kick him out?
You can’t kick him out as there isn’t a breach of the lease. You could negotiate with the landlord and roommate to have him move out, but you could be in a tough spot as why would they leave if everything is paid for? Since you may have to break the lease due to your situation it may come down to negotiating with both of them.
Bill
I am renting a house, with 2 room mates. they are both on the lease but I pay everything including bills. no written agreement is in place with the room mates as they were friends and were all good before. but now one is an issue and needs to pay more rent. he doesn’t clean either as we verbally agreed. he is also becoming verbally abusive and masogonist. told him rent needs to go up Jan 1 and he agreed to leave Dec 31 however i need proper notice in writing. so not sure what to notice to give him. There are so many forms and nothing really addresses my situation o:(
This is always a tough lesson as we never believe anything between friends can go sideways, but they do. Even if you’re friends you need to document everything so responsibilities are down on paper and people can be held accountable. Unfortunately even if he signs something in writing it can be a chore to remove him, that doesn’t mean don’t just be prepared. I’d just create a simple document outlining timelines, what’s expected and with signature lines of all involved parties and the address of the property. Have everyone sign and date it at time of signing and provide copies for everyone. Doesn’t have to be too complex, and it can help if things go further sideways. Might not hurt to include expectations going forward to the tenants moveout day as well, although that may cause more friction.
B
landlord is selling says we have to move
new to alberta so i am not sure what the rules are here
Hi Nicole,
If you are on a fixed term lease the landlord has to honour the terms of the lease and the buyer as well. So if they sell it say the end of the month and you have six months left on the lease you don’t have to vacate until the end even with a new owner. Granted they also don’t have to renew at that point so you would likely be out at that point.
If you are on a month to month lease, the landlord has to provide you with 90 days notice which consists of 3 full months. So if they give you notice March 2nd, March wouldn’t count and it would be the full month of April, May and June so June 30th to vacate. Additionally they can’t give you notice until conditions come off. So he can’t just give you notice now.
Bill