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Does the owner of my apartment building have the legal right to say whether or not I can get a cat? I have lived in this Vancouver building going on to 11 years now and have had a bird for the last 5 ...
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Section 18 of the Residential Tenancy Act deals with pets. Unless it is a guide animal such as a Seeing Eye dog, landlords can restrict and prohibit certain pets as well as limit the size and numbers ...MORE...
Hi I have a question about whether or not your landlord can enter your suite without first contacting you. We are moving out and our landlord is showing our suite to prospective renters but she never...
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This question comes up frequently where a property is listed for sale. Many sellers and real estate agents bend over backwards to accommodate potential buyers but in doing so they demonstrate little o...MORE...
My Landlord demands that I pay my rent in cash or a cashier check. In the past 10 years I have had a check bounce twice. Last month I paid by check. This month my landlord will not accept a check? And...
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This is strange. If your landlord is refusing reasonable attempts by you to make your rental payment and is insisting on cash or certified cheque after 10 years then something has triggered his behavi...MORE...
I recently moved out of a basement suite on March 31st 2005. My landlord did not give me my damage deposit because our hydro bill for March had not come out yet and we needed to pay it. She said it wo...
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The landlord is required to return the security deposit within 15 days of the end of tenancy unless the deposit has been filed against in accordance with the Act, unless the tenant has agreed in writi...MORE...
I have a real dilema. I found a woman that was seeking a roommate, we met, I liked the place, and we decided I would be the new roommate. Later, she called me telling me she had been evicted, but th...
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Yes, it looks to me like you've been had. You have not entered into a residential tenancy agreement so the situation you describe doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the Residential Tenancy Act of ...MORE...
I've been renting a basement suite for 5 years with my daughter and husband and since we have lived here many tenants in the upstairs suite have come and gone. We are not allowed dogs nor are the upst...
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Every landlord is required to provide the tenant with emergency contact numbers should an emergency arise. When an emergency situation does arise the tenant has an obligation to try contacting the lan...MORE...
My husband and I signed a one year lease with a Vancouver property management company. We were verbally told that the house we'd be moving into May 1st would be "cleaned up" and in the agreement it s...
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First off, you present your concerns and complaints to the landlord in writing, stating what you want done, and by when. Indicate that you are contemplating treating the tenancy agreement as ended due...MORE...
Hi, we manage a small building and have our tenants sign one-year leases. We just ask them to provide us with at least one month's notice prior to them moving out. We've heard that some managers charg...
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What you describe appears to be a penalty clause, which isn't generally enforceable in residential tenancy agreements because the Act only contemplates claims for debt and damages. A penalty isn't a d...MORE...
What rights do the landlords have when it comes to showing the house for sale? What rights do we have in this case - can they do an open house etc when we are not home? I have heard of landlords h...
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Practically, I recommend that every seller and/or realtor arrange a schedule with the tenant for viewing, and make an appointment to inventory valuables lest they go missing during a showing. Realtors...MORE...
My Mom is coming for a couple of weeks from over seas to stay with me and my landlord wants to charge me $50 a month for it. Is this legal? I live in a 1 bdr apart with my husband....
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The Residential Tenancy Act of BC prohibits the landlord from restricting who the tenant may have as a guest and also sets out that the landlord can't restrict visitors to the premises to certain hour...MORE...
I have two questions... 1. can a landlord ever take the rent in cash? is that legal? 2. the landlord says you cant break the lease? can you? and what do you do?...
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Canadian currency is legal tender in British Columbia. It is perfectly legal to pay rent in cash. If you are paying or receiving rent money in cash always get a receipt.
A lease is recognized as a ...MORE...
Hello, I have a concern regarding changing rules for existing tenants and new deposit requests. Here is the scenario: We relocated to BC using a national relocation agent to find a rental unit wit...
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You are not alone in this situation. A major landlord in BC has recently issued similar notices regarding pets and pet damage deposits. It is going to be interesting to see how it all shakes out becau...MORE...
What is the legal notification period (e.g., 30 days, 60 days, etc.) for a landlord to ask a tenant to vacate the premises....
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Section 46 of the Act allows for a 10-day notice to end a tenancy for nonpayment of rent or utilities. Sections 47 and 48 of the Act specify a 1-month notice for cause or employment. Section 49 deals ...MORE...
Hi, we are renting home in the country that is on well water. Since moving into the home, I have had 5 bladder infections(never had any before this home). We had the water tested, and there was signi...
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The landlord is responsible for ensuring that rental premises meet health, safety and housing standards established by law and are reasonably suitable for occupation given the nature and location of t...MORE...
My question relates to pets. The lead question on your web site answers part of my question. What I want to know is this: the lndlord claims to have had consulted RTO and that an arbitrator has told t...
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Arbitrators are essentially minor league judges. They don't meet privately with parties nor give advice. Arbitrators seldom meet even amongst themselves and they are required by law to judge each case...MORE...
I am currently renting an apartment and my lease is up Aug. 31st 2005. I now in the final stages of buying a home, I close on June 15th. Is there any law or clause that allows a home buyer to get out ...
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While some landlords try to include 'penalty'clauses in leases, Arbitrators operating under the Residential Tenancy Act of BC don't generally recognize penalty clauses as enforceable because the Act c...MORE...
I moved in into my current appartement complex 3 months ago. Ever since the first day, I have been dealing with water leak issue. Over the past 2 months it had gotten worse. I have complain to the man...
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I recommend that you issue your landlord a letter stating what your concerns are, what you think needs to be done to fix the problem, and when you think it is reasonable for the landlord to have the p...MORE...
My inlaws have lived in a townhouse comlex for 23 years paying rent. They have owned 2 small dogs one at a time for 16 of those years. They were hand delivered a note from the acting manager stating t...
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This appears to be another case where the landlord is moving to enforce a clause that it seems he earlier wasn't concerned with. If your in-laws have been given a notice to end their tenancy (probably...MORE...
Hello, I am living in an apartment with another person, we signed a one year lease and I am wondering if there is any way to get out of this lease. Our lease is not up until December 2005. Any inform...
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When you entered into the lease you undertook a contractual obligation to pay x amount of rent per month in exchange for exclusive use of the rental premises. If you walk away from your contractual ob...MORE...
Hello, The apartment my husband and I currently live in has had trouble in the past with water leaking from the pipes throughout the building. Last month they finally had a contractor replace all o...
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The best time to complain about inconvenience is before and during the commotion. After the fact negotiation is always tough and not always successful. Before you think about launching a case in arbit...MORE...
Recently my apartment was infested with bed bugs. After the apartment was fumigated the landlord decided to throw away the box spring to my bed which was only 3 years old. This was done without my ap...
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If your landlord claims he has the right to take your bed and throw it out then you might want to ask him which section of the Act gives him this authority, because it is completely foreign to me.
...MORE...
I advertised my rental unit on newspaper and afterward, agreed in principal to rent my unit out to this potential tenant on the first week of May; the tenancy should start in June 1. I received half ...
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Section 16 of the Residential Tenancy Act of BC says that the rights and obligations of a landlord and tenant under a tenancy agreement take effect from the date the tenancy agreement is entered into,...MORE...
Hello. I recently bought a Vancouver apartment which I intend to move into. It is inhabited by tenants now, whose 1 yr lease just expired in May and are now paying month by month. I take possession o...
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HOLD ON! You could have some very serious difficulties taking possession of the premises on June 1st. From what you say your new property comes complete with tenants, a tenancy agreement, and everythi...MORE...
I actually have a couple questions. 1.We would like to give our tenants notice as we think we will be taking over the space for my husband's office. How much notice do we have to give? and if ...
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The changes in the Act that you refer to came into effect on January 1, 2004.
Section 49 of the Act says that where the landlord intends to use the rental premises for his own use he must give the...MORE...
I have rented a 2 Br Apartment & signed a 6 months lease with the renter. I moved in on the 1st of May, I was promised that the refrigerator will be replaced which took 2 weeks to come. Then the ca...
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Yours is a classic case of why landlords and tenants should put things down on paper. What I understand you to be saying is that the landlord hasn't come through with his promises and now you are thin...MORE...
We have an expensively furnished condo and are worried re damage to contents. I have heard that a landlord can ask for first and last months rent for a furnished suite (as well as a security deposit o...
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Not true. The landlord is restricted to requesting a security deposit only at the beginning of a tenancy and the amount of the security deposit cannot exceed more than one half of one month's rent. Th...MORE...
We (naively I guess) rented our furnished condo to a tenant who wrote a cheque that he said would have to be cashed the next day, as he was just starting a new company in Van. He seemed like a gentlem...
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There is an adage in the landlord-tenant business that says, 'Landlords make poor bankers.” Your case illustrates this yet again.
A material term of every tenancy agreement is the payment of rent ...MORE...
An eviction notice siting section 38 (or section 2 on the eviction form), says with proper permits the person has 2 months notice. On the seventeth day after receiving the notice it is discovered t...
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A Notice to End a Tenancy is given on RTO Form 3. It sets out in Block E the 'Tenant's Right To Dispute'. The time limits in which to dispute such a notice are set out in bold print. The legislation s...MORE...
My wife and I rent a house with a basement suite. In an agreement with our Landlord, we sub-let the suite, with our landlord maintaining that we're the "Landlords" for the tenants therein. As a new La...
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As I understand it, you are the agent for the property owner. As the authorized agent, you entered into a tenancy agreement with the basement tenants. The tenants have all the rights and obligations t...MORE...
