How do I evict a tenant in Alberta?
Where do I begin?
How fast can I get the tenant out?
These are the three most common questions I hear from landlords hoping to evict tenants in Alberta and fortunately I have answers for those eviction questions here.
To get started, first we need to determine why you are evicting the tenants. For this example, we will deal with the most common reason for eviction in Alberta.
Far and away, this is non-payment of rent. If this is the situation you find yourself in, you have a few options.
An eviction notice for non-payment of rent is simply that, a notice. At the end of the notice period, if they haven’t moved out or paid, you still have to go through the eviction process and you’ve just given the tenant two weeks of free rent.
If you plan on using an eviction notice make sure you use the correct one. If you’re a member of a local Real Estate association you may be able to obtain the correct ones for Alberta for free as part of your membership costs. If you’re not, there are some free versions in the wild, but they are often missing vital parts making them invalid.
I also have some eviction forms packages available for purchase that include not just the blank forms, I also include sample forms and walk throughs explaining how to fill the eviction forms out and then how to properly serve the tenant. Plus with any purchase I provide all the email support you need to move forward!
Just make sure you read this whole article before purchasing in case one of the other options may work better for you.
Option two is either going to court, or the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or RTDRS for short. These can be a far more effective method of getting rid of tenants as they both actually have some teeth.
Unknown to most landlords is the fact they can skip the eviction notice process and apply directly to either of these services and cut out a couple weeks of their tenants just hanging out in their property. But this does come with some warnings…
First, there is a cost involved. The courts will cost you $100 to file an eviction application and the RTDRS is $75. Second, if the tenant pays before the hearing, the eviction will be void. Third, if it’s just for non-payment of rent and it’s a first offence, the judge or hearing officer may not grant an eviction, but may offer the tenant an opportunity to pay the rent before a certain date or even set up a payment plan allowing them to get caught up.
Now there have been some changes in late 2014 that you need to be aware of. The courts won’t be an option for normal evictions if you live in an area serviced by the RTDRS anymore. Due to the backlog and number of cases filling up the courts, they have decided to move evictions just to the RTDRS starting in the fall of 2014.
With this change they have also increased the maximum amount that can be filed for from $25,000 up to $50,000 (hopefully a tenant doesn’t owe you anywhere near that!). If you decide to go the RTDRS route for an eviction it can be a confusing route. The website isn’t as clear as it could be and there are some steps you can take to improve your chances for a quick eviction.
If time is a factor and you either don’t have it, or need someone to do this for you, the next section is for you.
Finally your last option is to hire an eviction service company to deal with the problem. This is the most expensive route, but it is also the easiest for a busy landlord. An eviction service company will deal with the entire process for you so you don’t have to worry about confrontations with the tenant, filing eviction paperwork, appearing in court, or even removing the tenant if they don’t appear to be leaving after a court ordered eviction date.
This type of service starts at approximately $750 and goes up from there depending on how smoothly it goes or how difficult the tenant makes it.
So where to start? Fortunately I have information that can help you with all of these areas right on this site. If you’re looking for information specifically about eviction notices, you’ll find a list of articles talking about eviction notices and explaining when and where to use them here,
If you’re looking for information about the court system or the RTDRS option to evict a tenant (most of the information I write about pertains to the RTDRS, but some of it carries over to the courts), this link lists the various articles I have explaining them,
Or, if you’d like to simply hire someone to deal with the problem for you, I’ve also put together a small list of eviction service companies I’ve used or dealt with over the years. You can find that here,
What about the basics? My tenant won’t pay! My tenant Won’t leave or they have damaged my property, what should I do? Well I’ve put a starter guide to help you with that as well. This is a paid product, but it’s only $7 and explains the necessary steps you need to take for each of these situations.
Finally, if you want to evict a tenant on your own, it’s best to go in prepared and informed so you don’t make any potential mistakes allowing your tenants to stay rent free in your property any longer than they have. To help you with this, I’ve packaged together two separate paid guides to help landlords deal with problem tenants.
One provides you with the exact eviction notices that I use, when I give tenants eviction notices. They have all the required information on them that is needed to make them valid. (Unlike many of the generic or free forms I see out there.)
I walk you through exactly how to fill them out so you don’t make mistakes which could make your eviction illegal (like the landlord that used a free Rhode Island eviction form…, that was thrown out here in Alberta). This seems to happen far more than it should. You can find this package here,
Finally, I also put together a package which walks landlords through how to use the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) to evict a tenant. This takes all the confusion about the process and clears it all up, it shows you how to go about evicting the tenants effectively and properly and walks you through every step.
This site has dozens of articles about evictions, dealing with different types of evictions and ideas for where you need to get started. Most of these articles have five, ten, twenty or more comments at the bottom where people have asked questions and I try to reply back within 72 hours to their questions.
This can be a great resource for landlords and is a great place to start. Due to the overwhelming number of questions I get, it does take me time to reply to everyone and there is no charge for you to leave your own question and let me reply to it when I am available.
If things are a bit more urgent and you have questions you need to get answered as quickly as possible to evict a tenant, I am available to help explain your eviction options to you. When I first started offering this it was almost instantly abused to the point where I had to remove my phone number from the site.
It was easier for people to call me than search the site for answers that were often already here. Due to this, I’ve started to charge a consulting fee for my time. It’s $50 per 30 minute call and the majority of people I talk to find it helps point them in the right direction as well as saves them from wasted time and mistakes, so it’s a win win for both of us.
If this sounds like an action need to take, follow the link below to find out more about this program.
Tenant evictions can be a frustrating and costly experience, so don’t mess around and make sure you do it right ! Take advantage of the dozens of articles on this site to help you get the answers you are looking for and don’t forget to look through the comment sections for even more answers to questions from other landlords. So look around, read through and good luck with your eviction.
And if you have a question, leave me a comment!
The three ways to evict a tenant in Alberta are using eviction notices, by applying for an application for eviction through the courts or the RTDRS yourself, or you can hire someone to go through the process yourself.
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Filed Under: 14 day eviction, Alberta Eviction Process, Articles, non-payment of rent Tagged With: 14 day eviction notice, alberta eviction process, evicting a tenant, evicting a tenant in alberta, evicting a tenant in Calgary, evicting a tenant in Edmonton, evicting non-paying tenants, evicting tenants, eviction process alberta, eviction service companies, how to evict a tenant, Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Center, RTDRS
when a landlord has been awarded a conditional order regarding eviction for non payment of rent with a payment plan but the tenant cant pay in full does how long after the tenant is in default does he have to serve them with notice of default if the order never specified a date to vacate by ? and do they have to serve a notice of default on the tenants ?
Hi Morgan, the landlord should file the notice of default immediately to start moving forward. The order should indicate that if the tenant defaults it should immediately move to the next stage where the landlord has to follow the appropriate steps to secure a bailiff and get the default enforced. Recheck the order as it should have specifics and contact a bailiff to move forward. B
Hi Bill, This is an excellent site with lots of useful information. I do have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to on your site, however. My ex-fiance has been living in our former common-law home, which I own, for a little over 8 years. She has had problems with not paying her bills for as long as I can remember. I am now at the point where I want to evict her based on the following conditions: 1. She has damaged the inside of the property.
2. The property is not sufficiently clean, especially the basement and the bedrooms.
3. After not paying her water bill for several months, Epcor used a city bylaw to make me responsible for the water bill in that residence. We have a verbal agreement under which she pays me the amount of the bill within 7 days of me informing her of the amount. I am now at 20 days since informing her of the last bill and she still refuses to pay me. We do not have a written agreement, only a verbal one. She has been told on many occasions that if she can’t keep the house clean, or doesn’t pay her bills, that she cannot continue to live there. How do I go about removing her from the property? She is definitely not going to leave willingly, as she has almost no income and nowhere to go. Unfortunately I am at the point where I no longer feel like that is my problem. Any suggestions? James
Thanks James, definitely tons of information here as I’ve been active for quite a few years helping landlords and tenants. The challenge you’re going to run into is your situation involves common law law and it will put you outside the Residential tenancy Act. If you at the very least had a contract in place it might have given you slightly more to stand on, but the family law rules supercede much of it anyway. You’ll need to talk to a divorce lawyer to understand where this could go.Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but also the safest. Bill
Our renter is verbally abusive to us and any trades on the property (swearing and yelling)
She doesn’t want us on the property ever . Even though we are the landlords.
Do we have a right to accompany trades onto the property when repairs are being made ? Is this behavior a type of breach ? If so what would it be called ?
You are allowed to do maintenance on your property provided you have given sufficient notice. Document all the notice, document the abuse and warn her continued abuse and disruption will result in her eviction, or you not renewing the lease. Bill
Hi Bill,
I’m not sure if you can help me on this one. I had two tenants who broke lease and now owe me money. However, the issue I seem to be facing in trying to recover my money is that these individuals are on AISH and it appears, since they do not have any property or have any income besides the AISH payments, that I really have no recourse as one can’t garnish disability payments. I have a hard time believing that any individual on AISH in Alberta, who happens to have no other sources of income or property, basically has the freedom to never pay rent and will never face any type of repercussions. Sadly the Fraud department and AISH programs seem indifferent about how these individuals use their money. Do you have any advice on where I can go from here in trying to recover my money. Thank you.
Hi Jay, Welcome to dealing with subsidized tenants… Having experienced tenants who have taken advantage of the system myself it’s quite a pain. AISH, or social assistance folks are supposed to be in need and not to be skipped over due to how they get income, yet they also have zero skin in the game if things go sideways. As a landlord if I’m looking at two individuals one on AISH, and one with a full time job, the full time job individual has to win over as I may have recourse later if the rental goes sideways, with subsidized individuals you end up in the same situation you find yourself. Just to add fuel to the fire (and going slightly off tangent) I actually had a tenant in a rooming house many years ago who was put in through one of the “downtown support agencies”. After two instances where he broke my rules (non-smoking property) on the third offence when I caught him again, I evicted him. I was then given the gears by this support group for not being supportive of this individual, at that point I severed all my relations with them and have real issues when I hear potential tenants are on social assistance of some kind. Bottom line, as landlords we can’t go after there support payments, but they aren’t forced to pay any of those payments to us, so it can be quite a challenge. So when you end up in your spot, you have little recourse other than taking them to court or a hearing to get a judgment on their credit history which may or may not result in getting paid down the line if their situation turns around. Bill
Thank you very much for the reply. It will certainly be my first and last time I decide to rent to this specific demographic. It does seem almost comical that landlords are required to not discriminate against those individuals receiving disability payments but yet have basically no recourse if things go south. It would seem a rather large loophole is in need of closing. Thanks again Bill.
hi. I recently evicted tenants on a 24 hr notice, went to court and got an order and they left on 22nd of the month. Do i need to refund them the prorated rent left ( i.e 8 days out of the 30 days they paid?). Also, can I deduct the costs ordered by the court, from their damage deposit?
Hi Ted, It may come down to how the eviction order/judgement was written. If the order stated pro-rated to the 22nd then you wouldn’t necessarily be allowed, although it may be tough for them to fight as they also broke the lease by causing an evictions scenario. Also the damage deposit isn’t supposed to be a source for anything other than missing rent or damage. Having said all that, you can also charge them for any advertising costs incurred or extra expenses for re-renting a unit due to a broken lease. these can come off the security deposit, you just need to provide a statement breaking down all the deductions within ten days of the move out. You may also use the 8 remaining days to pay the court costs and leave that up to them to go fight if they wanted (and the majority of the time it’s not worth it for them either). bill
I’m in a sticky situation. My common law and I have finally split, he moved out last week. We share 3 kids so he left me the rental. Which at the end of the month I won’t be able to afford. I went to welfare with my issue and the booked me an appointment for August 4th and a paper for a new landlord to sign, if I can find one. I’m worried if I can’t find something before the first, they can evict me and the kids.
Hi Marley, Unfortunately the landlord will be able to evict you if you don’t pay, so you should be pro-active, contact the landlord and explain the situation. Most landlords will work with tenants if there is an open line of communication (note I said most!), document all the conversations and updates and if the landlord isn’t willing to work the documentation may buy you more time if you end up in an eviction hearing. If you simply put your head down and avoid him, as many tenants tend to do, it just gets worse. If you do end up getting served an eviction notice, be aware that may expedite any assistance form Social Services and you don’t actually have to vacate until you receive a court ordered eviction date which requires providing you notice of a hearing that you must attend. Hope that gives you some direction, Bill
Hi, I rent my garage out and he guy stores his stuff in here. For the last year he has paid maybe 4 times on time and does through an email money transfer. That he was sending checks but they would bounce. He told me he would have rent on the 15th but today’s the 17th I asked for the rent. He proceeded to go off on me and to see horrible things and to tell me to have eviction notice on the door by tomorrow. We have a verbal agreement and not a written lease. How do I go about addicting him properly? He has sent some really awful texts berating me. He hasn’t paid March rent and warned me that the eviction notice better be up tomorrow for him to be out by April end. We are on a month to month verbal. Please help.
Hi Rachel, Obviously you are aware the biggest mistake you made was no lease. Second is not being aware of the rules. The short version is garages do not fall under the Residential Tenancy Act and if you have a proper lease in place you could lock him out today as it fits under a different category. Without anything in writing it could degrade into he said she said. I’d give him the ultimatum of getting his stuff out by Sunday or you’re locking the garage down and selling everything in there to recoup your losses. Forget giving him until the 1st. He may come back and challenge you on this, but ti will ultimately have to be settled in court, so it depends on how much stuff he has and the value of it, but again without a written agreement it gets very hard to prove anything that was mentioned verbally. Bill
Hi,
So I own my apartment and reside in it. My boyfriend moved in with me and shortly after his brother and girlfriend moved in. All three are on a month to month, with no lease. After living together for about 8 months, my boyfriend and I broke up. He found a place in three days and left, and the brother and girlfriend went with him. There was no eviction from me, and the brother never said he was leaving (although I assumed he would). The brother and gf were paid up to date and have always paid on time (paid by the boys’ mother). But the boyfriend still owed me for 12 days. When I returned money to the brother/mother, I subtracted what was owed to me by my ex. So now they are all moved out. But I get the feeling from them that they want to take legal action.
They feel that I have done the following illegal things and that they all could take me to court….
1. I evicted them in a January winter
2. I subtracted rent to pay for the ex what was owed(he always paid late by the way)
3. The ex believes he owes me nothing for the 12 days he stayed because we were broken up and he felt kicked out
4. I evicted everyone with no notice
5. The boyfriend was common law and therefore could take half my property
6. They want $100 back for a building key fob that they paid for upon arrival So now I’m starting to get worried because with no lease and a common law situation and actions that may or may not be legal, I am scared that they can come after me. Do they have right to take me to court? Have I done something majorly wrong? What are my rights here when dealing this?? Thanks.
Hi Rachel, It’s unlikely you have anything to worry about, even though you made a few mistakes. there are some common law issues potentially that could cause you some headaches, but they left so it’s not really an eviction issue. I’m sure if you traded them $100 for the fob it would probably all disappear, but you may not even have to do that. It’s a real pain to take someone to court for something as trivial and convoluted as this, so they will likely just drop it unless they expect some huge windfall. and that only depends on how common law affects this, so to deal with that you may want to have a consult with a common law lawyer who may be able to guide you and advise you of your rights in this situation. You might get a free 30 minute consult or it could cost you a few hundred dollars, but it will put your mind at ease. Again though from the eviction side there is pretty close to zero blowback on this. You may have to return the 12 days if they decide to go to court and then you have to go after the boyfriend, but that’s about it from what you have explained. Bill Bill
Hi Bill, Thank you for making this website. It is very informative. I am in a bit of a odd situation. There is an individual who had arrangements to stay at a room in my house where I reside. They wrote a letter stating that they would give me a deposit on that day of $600 and give me $600 each month for rent (I believe this note was for social assistance who they said would give them money for a deposit). We both signed, then no money was given for a deposit that day, nor thereafter, nor for rent. It was a friend that said they needed help and I wanted to help. We agreed verbally and through text message that they could pay half the rent that month a few days after when they received money. However, excuses were made that day and only a partial payment was given, and after over a week, even though they were sent a fair bit of money from family and friends (once was through a transfer to my email that they demanded I withdraw for them and could not keep any of). After this individual caused a bit of damage (small but they sent me photos), lived here, ate our food, left a mess, and left the door open with pets in the house, waking us up to withdraw cash for them at night, and other various demands that I thought were not reasonable, I told them it would not work out. There was no formal written agreement or lease, and the only thing signed was that letter (which had the wrong address on it but was corrected in pen), but they are demanding that I refund the partial payment or compensate them to move elsewhere right away, even though I stated both verbally and through text message that they could stay for the remainder of the month to help them out, and if they could give me another months rent on time, they could stay another month but that’s it (I did not say they had to leave right away; I told them they could stay the month until they could find somewhere else and offered to help them look). I am not sure if that letter had any weight or how it could affect me at all because I had never received any type of deposit, nor even the full amount of reduced rent. Would you be able to tell me this?
I am living in the same house and I am not sure what laws apply in Calgary. I do not want any trouble, nor do I want them coming after me saying they had paid a deposit that was not given. I am not sure what to do, and if I give them a prorated refund if they leave early via email transfer, is there any way to state in the comments that by accepting the funds, it releases me of any prior agreements such as the letter (even though they never paid me) and any responsibility associated with this individual? I am not clear on this as I have never had issues like this before, but I would just like them out of here with as little trouble as possible, and I don’t want to have to worry in case they decide to be vindictive (they agreed to leave but since I was stupid and careless, I don’t know if anything would come back to haunt me since this individual is demanding money). I asked to speak to the people that the signed letter was given to and they refused; I offered to help find another place, and have records of all the text messages. I am not sure if I should give an eviction notice or even if I would have to since they were supposed to be a roommate in my residence? And even if they were a tenant, wouldn’t they have violated several of the rules set out by the rta such as paying rent and deposit, and by leaving the door open, putting people in danger? What should or can I do in this situation?
Your help/advice would be very much appreciated. I am a bit confused and worried. Thank you.
Hi Jane, It seems like your helpfulness has created nothing but problems for yourself and it seems to be a fairly common occurrence. As friends try to help someone out the established boundaries of a landlord tenant aren’t in place, nor all the precautions that many landlords have learned and one or both parties take advantage of it. Fortunately in your situation you do have some options. You don’t fall under the Residential Tenancies Act as the tenant is only renting a room from you and sharing common space with you the landlord. The closest rules you fit under are the Innkeeper’s Act and as times have changed so has the way this is being applied. Under the Innkeeper’s Act you can evict someone on the spot for not paying and even call in the police to assist. The problem is since this is a civil issue versus a criminal issue, the police often don’t like to assist unless it’s a real confrontational situation and even then there is confusion amongst how to deal with each unique situation. Normally if the tenant is being a real problem and the landlord is being professional about it they will assist the landlord in advising the tenant to vacate, but I’ve also seen it backfire where they have defused the situation, but leave the tenant in place for the landlord to deal with through the courts. You could try pressuring the tenant and explaining you will bring in the police if he doesn’t leave, but it could have mixed results. You could also just apply at the courts for an immediate eviction on the grounds of non-payment and other issues. This might work best, but it could take a few weeks to get in for a hearing. Or finally you could put the pressure back on the tenant by forcing their hand. Give them the deadline of the end or the middle of the month and let them know the locks will be changed on that day if they haven’t paid. This could also cause more problems, but most tenants in that situation simply pack up rather than fight a losing battle. The important part for either party will be proving that you received any payments or what they were for, so you will want to make sure you have good records of everything which it sounds like you may already have. Hopefully that gives you some ideas, Bill
Hello there! First off i’d like to say GREAT site. I’m amazed at the detail of the responses here. Ok, the issue I am having. I rented out my basement suite to two guys. One 32 y/o single dad, very quiet, respectful, and his friend a 21 y/o very loud, smokes a ton of pot and has generally no clue about how the world works lol. The interview and the first two weeks were splendid. However after week 3 I started smelling pot, cigarette smoke and noticing extra people and a dog down there a lot. In the signed and sealed lease agreement it clearly states “no illegal activity, no pets, no smoking”. Well, i’m a fairly laid back guy, so I went and had a chat with them. I made it clear that I was aware of all the breaches of contract, I was willing to give them another chance. Heard a lot of “We’re so sorry, won’t happen again”. The NEXT night the younger one came running into the house with a girl yelling “Get inside! Get inside!” as a car went screaming by my house with guys yelling and honking their horn at them. I stayed up until 3:00 am on my couch waiting for someone to bust through my door. The next evening after that, the 32 y/o had his young daughter over for the weekend for a quiet night of games and bonding time. Around 2am the younger one brings in 4 of his drunk friends who quickly proceeded to wake up the entire household. I had already mentioned to the older tenant to start looking for a new roommate, and we agreed this was the best option. However on Dec 1st, no rent. Waited until Dec 4th, then made some calls. The younger guy is dodging me at every attempt so I need him out. I would like to make it as quick as possible but at the same time keep it legal. This guy has violated almost everything in the lease agreement, and I know I have grounds to remove him. I am wondering though, can I forcibly remove him without all the paperwork? If I physically carry him out the door and change the locks, or change them while he is gone can I face any kind of legal action for lack of due process? Or even assault of some kind? I have a wife and a 2 y/o son in my house, and i feel he is putting my family in danger. Personally I feel it would be my right to remove the threat, but I highly doubt this is the case.
Hi Brian, Just to get started, no you can’t forcibly remove him, there is definitely a process for this and while it may seem too slow for you, it’s what you need to do or he could end up staying indefinitely and you getting fined. Thanks for the feedback about the site too while I am at it. I’d skip any eviction notices and instead give him written notice that if he doesn’t leave by say Wednesday morning, you’ll proceed with evicting him through the hearing process. Also in the notice make sure he is aware that if it goes that route, he will end up with a judgment against him affecting his credit going forward (it stays on there for ten years and could affect him buying a house, a car or even a new cell phone), plus he will have to pay for the costs of the hearing. So it’s in his best interest to simply vacate right away. That will give you a day or two (sorry was tied up all weekend and just saw this today) to prep any eviction paperwork. If it does go to a hearing it will probably be two weeks down the road and depending on circumstances and how you prepare your eviction application it could be another day or two after the hearing or another month for him to stay. I explain how to get the shorter period in my eviction guide available for sale here on the site. So, bottom line don’t remove him with force, just make sure he is very aware of the repercussions if he stays and it might energize him to do the smart thing and just go. Bill
Thank you very much Bill. Your site has been invaluable in this terrible process. I will definitely be recommending your expertise to other rental property owners.
Thanks Brian, glad it was helpful. You may also want to check out http://www.TheEducatedLandlord.com for additional landlord tips, articles and information. It is NOT Alberta specific, but includes information that is generally application almost anywhere in the world for landlords. Bill
Hi
my father has two friends living in his basement suite. He is 75 and recently has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The reason these two friends moved in was because it would help them as well as my dad as she was a long time family friend and a registered nurse who offered to keep an eye on him as he is also legally blind. He has told me that they are months behind in rent and he has asked them to leave about a month and a half ago, giving them the deadline of October 31, 2015. Since my dad’s diagnosis I have been getting more involved with his affairs. He has always been very capable and always on top of all his bills etc. and incredibly indepedent and didn’t want my help most of the time but he has slowly been letting me help more and more. These renters do not have a lease and they didn’t pay any deposit. I have been over and able to go into their suite (with their permission) and they have completely trashed the place. They smoke pot constantly and the entire house reeks of it as well as not paying rent for months. Since there is no lease what do we need to do legally to remove them from the premises by the end of the month. There was no written agreement only a verbal one but they are taking advantage of my father and it needs to end. I am close to just calling the cops on the illegal activity alone. Please help. Thank you
Hello… I’m a tenant and unfortunately my husband has left me while im pregnant due in less then two months… I do not have anyone in Alberta and im having a high risk pregnancy to take a flight back to Quebec… I’m not able to keep up with my rent this month and I’m planning on leaving soon until I find something cheaper.. Rent is 1500$ my ex was on the lease as well and left and decidided not to help me… What is the most my landlord can do… ? I’m not in the state of being evicted this month…. And October… Thank you
Hi Nina, Sorry to hear about your situation. Hopefully family back home can come through and provide you some funds to help out at least short term. You may also be able to talk to one of the support groups through your local city government housing programs to determine if they can assist. As for what can happen now, well… If you can pay September great, but if you can’t pay in October the landlord can either give you an eviction notice or file for an eviction hearing. If he gives you an eviction notice and you don’t vacate, he then has to file for an eviction hearing. an eviction notice is 14 days plus a day on either side of it, so if he goes that route, if you follow the eviction notice and he provided it at the beginning of the month you would have to be out by roughly the 18th. If you don’t leave he has to proceed to an eviction hearing via the RTDRS or the courts and that also takes a couple weeks. so it could be November before the hearing. At that point if you have the capability to pay or for some sort of instalment plan it may be an option to allow you to stay on longer. If you don’t and possibly depending on where you are with your pregnancy they may give you an eviction date as early as mid November, but more realistically end of November and possibly into December. Once that date rolls around you need to be out or the landlord can bring a bailiff in and secure the property, locking you out and all your possessions in and with the ability to pack and remove all of your belongings, charge you for this and sell them to recoup any money owed. Basically by that point it’s very serious. So hopefully that answers your question, Bill
Thank u Bill.. That took a huge chuck of stress off my shoulders!!Hi I am living with my ex. I rent from family members of mine. I want her out of the house. I’ve always paid the rent but we have no signed lease agreement. Can I or the landlord (my aunt) evict her and how?
Hi Connor, You get out of the Residential Tenancy Act and fall into family law when it comes to ex’x, although this can depend on how long you two were together. You may need to clarify this with a family/divorce lawyer to confirm your rights and any obligations or repercussions you may run into. As for your landlady/aunt evicting just her, it also doesn’t really work like that and can cause more headaches if you try. Bill
I have a condo unit rented to two single guys for a one year lease. 4 months after they moved in I got complaints from the the condo manager about:
1. Based on the entry log and the the surveillance video, they suspected there are at lease 4 people lives in the unit, Thus it contravene the rental lease.When confronted my tenants said those are their “guests”. 2 Other infractions reported by the building manager against these tenants are:
–.Their “guests” over use the visitor’s parking, In one case the “guest’s” car got towed away.
— In the video, the tenant was caught smoking in the lobby. (the bylaw prohibit smoking in the building)
— Other complaints from the Board: from the video, it indicated that the tenants’ “guests” allegedly stole, from the hot tub area,a pair of sandals belong to another resident in the same building. This resident identified his sandal from the surveillance video.
— Early in the morning, 7:00 am, in more than one occasions the “guests” of my tenants shouted from ground level to the unit (7th floor) for people in the unit to drop down the fob. I did an inspection of the unit, and as expected, could not find obvious evidence of more than 2 people living in the unit (like 7 sets of sleeping bags, or mattresses) But there is no bed in the master bedroom , no furniture in the den, no dining table , The only furniture are a section sofa and a small desk in the living room and a king size bed in the 2nd bed room. During my inspection there is a “guest” sleeping on the bare floor of the master bed room. This was very odd to me and I do believe they are using this rental unit as a some kind of dormitory. I discovered cigarette burnt marks in the living room carpet as well as a cigarette butt in the washroom. There are multiples sets of shampoos ( more than 4 for sure) in the washroom. To me all these seemed to be circumstantial evidence and can it be ground for eviction ? Based on what I presented above, do I have a case for an eviction because of substantial breaching of rental lease and contraventions of the condo by laws?.
Hi Edwin, From what you’re saying it sounds like you have more than enough grounds for eviction, your only challenge will be proving it all. Have you provided any previous written warnings about any of these issues to the tenants? Having previously given notices (in writing) goes a long ways towards providing proof or at least shows you tried to warn them. If you haven’t and have very little actual evidence I would start with that immediately. With the cigarette burns, if you have a walk through showing none of these existed and you have a no smoking clause in your lease that will also go a long ways towards being evidence, although you will require pictures. finally, you may want to also simply discuss this with them, let them know you are aware of what is going on and that it may simply be easier for them to move on and you won’t penalize them additionally for breaking the lease. Hope that gives you some ideas. Bill
Hi I have a question about a lease that I had my tenants sign. I wanted to only give them a three month lease, because after I agreed to let them move in (with recommendations) I got the impression they were going to be difficult. They have been a pain probably nothing illegal but are very uncooperative and are very late paying the heating bill which unfortunately had to stay in my name. They have been there five months and have only paid about a third of the heating bill. Anyway, in spite of my desire to have a three month fixed term, February 1, 2015- April 30, 2015, I inadvertently left in a clause that said it was for a fixed term of one year. It is a married couple, but only one of them signed the lease. Do I have any grounds to say that the fixed term is up and that they are now on a month-to-month lease? I know I have to give them three months notice but I would still like them out. They have made it next to impossible to do any work on the house, they conveniently don’t get my messages, they don’t have voicemail, etc. The house wasn’t even listed as a rental but I let a friend talk me into renting it to her nephew and his wife. They were late with the rent two months until I gave them a later stating it was grounds for eviction. The rent is quite low but now they can’t pay the propane bill until the next payday, this bill is from January and of course the company is getting impatient. I would really appreciate any advice, whether it is what I want to hear or not. Thank you!
Hi Cindy, You’re stuck with them now until the lease expires. Although if the utility payments aren’t being paid and it;s part of the lease, they would be in breach which would allow you to evict them. Document everything, follow the steps in my eviction guide and you should have them out fairly quickly. Bill
Hi I have rented a full house with illegal suite and I told the owner of the house that I am going to sub rent the Basment because I was paying 2100$ Per month and the owner of the house didn’t have any objection that…now I have a problem with the tenant the rent payment was delayed twice And I have written an eviction notice twice for her contract now is expired and she is that she is going to move and every day she make excuse , two outstanding utility bills were not paid until now and she gave a copy of the bills and her share is 40% while mine is 60% she is now threatening to take the bills to the landlord and remanants because as she says she is calming that she is unfairly charged. what are my options please she is now occupying the place for a month now and she is threatening by text messages that this is an illegal suite … She text back today and she said that she cannot move and she will stay 2 month and she can pay the rent with out the utilities ….I just want her to move please advise
I like your website very much since it is very helpful. I would greatly appreciate it if you could offer us some expertise advice quick. I have a very difficult tenant. With RTDRS and Master of Queen’s Bench’s orders, we evicted him two times. He asked for stay of notice of default from the Queen’s Bench as matters of emergency, and the court allow him chances to stay. He didn’t pay his rent on time was the main reason for the evictions. In addition, he has damaged our rental house badly. Moreover, he requested to do the repair work from us, i.e. fixing the damages for us but asking us to pay him $20-$30K. Other contractor said the work would only cost about $5000. As per legal advice, the lawyer said that we never let the tenant do the works. Are we supposed to play this game of eviction and stay of notice of default again and again? What other options do we have?
Hi Siu, It sounds like you have a professional tenant on your hands who seems to understand all the rules. He’s also managed to drag you into a situation where you appear to owe him money due to overcharging repairs.At this point you are so far in you might want to consider hiring a professional eviction company to deal with this, rather than a lawyer. You’re probably looking at anywhere form $1,000 to $2,500 for the process at this point depending on how difficult the tenant makes it. There are some lessons for other landlords out of this though. Most important, you need to thoroughly screen your tenants before they get in. Any eviction can be appealed, although the likelihood of an appeal being granted depends on the amount of evidence and the situation. The better prepared the landlord is, the less likely the appeal goes through. I discuss much of this in my eviction guide, along with what additional information to include plus extra steps to help ensure your eviction sticks. You’ve also learned about repairs. If you ever have tenants do work for you, you should get a second party quote and have a good understanding of the typical costs, or you will get taken advantage of. You’re caught in the system right now due tot he tenant simply knowing more than you, so as I mentioned, I’d look into an eviction company to assist you at this point or it will simply get dragged out even longer and become more expensive. If done properly and started correctly usually it won’t go on like this. Bill
Enjoyed your comments and suggestions as what to do. My problems is for a stopped payment of rent for the month of January. Their lease is up Febuary 1. Can I keep the deposit for the rent Chris
Hi Chris, You can keep the deposit for the rent, but what will you use to pay for any actual damages or if they don’t clean up the property? If you don’t mind paying out of pocket for this then it’s not an issue, otherwise I’d suggest filing with the RTDRS for en eviction. If you do this right away you will likely be able to serve the tenants for unpaid rent before they move out and disappear. It should give you a judgment against them which you may need if there is damage. It won’t guarantee you get paid, but it does put a crimp on their credit for ten years and may lead to you getting paid. If however the place is completely clean, you can still apply the deposit to their rent and you just need to provide them with a statement detailing the deductions within the first ten days after they vacate. The second reason you may want to pursue the RTDRS right away is that fi they do not move out at the end of the month you are about two weeks behind. You can always cancel the RTDRS hearing if everything works out fine, but delaying sets you back and inevitably cost you money directly out of your own pocket! Bill
Hi Bill, I noticed that if I allow tenants to pay the rent per email transfer at the beginning of the month, they are more likely to let me hang and pay late – compared to collecting post dated cheques at the beginning of the (12 months) lease. Now I am thinking that if tenants can not provide cheques and want to do the rent email transfer, I could ask them to sign a credit card pre-authorization that allows me to just take any rent shortfalls off their credit card, if they short-pay or are late. That credit card preauthorization could also contain a clause that allows me to recoup late fees or damages or costs that I incurred at their fault. Do you have any thoughts on this – asking tenants to sign a credit card preauthorization that allow me to recover outstanding monies? thanks
chris
btw: great site. also,
Hi Chris, Email transfers can be a bit of a tradeoff, but you can let tenants know most of the banks can turn this into an automated process so the transfers on completed automatically on a certain date. That may make things easier, and if tenants seem to have a problem remembering on their own, it may be an indicator that it might not be worth renewing their lease when it comes to term. As for setting up a credit card authorization agreement, technically you may be able to do it, but it could become a nightmare for you as it’s so easy for people to dispute credit card charges. Late fees would be a whole different challenge. Bottom line, if they are this much of a headache and you are that concerned, it’s probably easier to find new tenants as there are so many great tenants out there simply looking for a safe reasonable place to live and a good landlord to work with. Bill
I have a guy who rents my garage to storage stuff. The garage is in my rental property, not my house I live. It always takes me many texting/call to collect the $200, and I have to take time to drive there and wait for him. It just doesn’t worth my effort to make this money. So far he do pay each month eventually. Now it’s 8th of December, I’m still waiting for December rent. It’s month to month lease.
I want to get rid of him. If I go to rtdrs, if things go through and I get approval to evict him, what should I do next? Since he doesn’t live there, only storage stuffs, do I still need hire a bailiff? Or just change the lock and remove the junks? Just want to get advise and prepared.
Thanks for all your advise!
Hi Lee, Good news and possibly less good news. First the RTDRs doesn’t rule over garage leases. They fit under a different category and you should be using a warehouse or garage style lease to differentiate that when renting storage space. Because of this, the rules are also different. If you are using the proper lease, you can basically padlock the space up. From there, you have to follow some practices in disposing of items in the space, but often when they become aware you can lock up their stuff they either take anything of value or move out on their own accord and abandon it. If you’re not using the proper lease though you may be obligated by the contract you signed to follow different procedures and in either case you could end up in court to get final judgement. Bottom line, confirm what lease you have and what it says and move forward from there. Bill
It’s very frustrating with my tenants, the guy who came to rent my basement with his boys, and once everything was done, he came with damage deposit when I rejected all other tenants, and he told that if you don’t mind I have a very small puppy, it’s so nice, and moved in with 2 big horse size dogs, just after 2 days his daughter came with her boy friend and her girl friend, a big crowd of friends started to live , and from first month I started to beg for rent , I remind him every time, and he only give me new dates, but not rent. Just after a week he came to live, I don’t see another dog, and I asked him about it, and he told me that he poisoned it, because it was a female pregnant dog, and once she slept forever, he and his son just through it some where, he never care to reply my texts, he send his minor son under 15 to talk with me, i have faced horrible time of my life. I am a single mom with a 9 years old daughter, my monthly expences are to run this house 3000$ , and I am making only 1200 per month because of certain limitations with a child. I gave him more than 3 notices, but he never cared about it.I had room mates on main floor, when I go to work he is busy to teach them trick how to harasse this lady by not giving rent money, and use her groceries, so when I am busy with them dealing, he rest in peace, because I have no time to ask him, and because of him I put 2 room mates out, and with third one he busy to teach the tricks, and hard time is with me. I am trying to help myself, but he is putting burden on me. The latest story I went to rtdrs, first hearing was adjourned because as usual he never come to reply so when I called him, his son came so I gave it to his son, to give him the notice of hearing, so rtdrs officer said that hearing is adjourned because it was served through a minor. And yesterday it took place. My main concerns were not paying rent from 3 months, subrented unit to 2 people, mentally harassing me and my daughter, verbally screamed and fight in front of little child, unlimited use of laundry, and changing water level to very hot from warm. I just wanted to put them out, before go to court, he complained police about I am stealing his mails, that I had submitted to court as proof, that he getting money from alberta works, and he was lieing that not getting any money and called the police to arrest me, trdrs gave him time to make payments and he can live as long as he wants. The dog is pooping and peeing every where that I have seen. ?The lease is going to finish at the end of March, so will he go ? how will I put him out? I just want to get rid from them. They are trouble makers. Please save me and my child.I am not satisfied with judgement,I don’t want to keep, rtdrs did’t read the proofs even, I submitted the proof, butthe front lady forgot to submit. Rtdrs told that on desired date if he doesn’t pay the rent, I can put them out by the help of court. Please guide me.
Hi Tanya, I can see a lot of problems along the way here from screening your tenants to not having a clear lease stating rules about occupants and pets to not taking immediate action when things went wrong. I wish you would have found me much earlier as I am sure there are dozens of examples throughout the comments on this site that could have helped you. As for the RTDRS not including information you provided, that would be an obvious grounds for an appeal and a new hearing. However, working with what you have in what sounds to be a conditional judgment you’ll most likely have to move forward as is. If you did indeed take his mail, that amy be a whole other issue, the correct procedure may have been to take photos, but you can’t actually take his mail. At this point you simply need to wait until he misses a payment and then as laid out by the hearing officer you can move forward with his eviction. You’ll need to file the appropriate paperwork, the affidavit of default etc to move forward, but from what you say it is just a matter of time for him to miss a payment again. Barring that, once the end of March comes up, if your lease doesn’t have any wording defaulting it to a month to month lease and is a true fixed term, you can let him know in advance (at least 30 days, more if possible even though the rules don’t state you have to provide notice for a termination of a fixed term) so he can be out on time, or you can again file at the RTDRS although this time you may want to pick up my guide so you are better prepared. Hope that helps, Bill
hello,
i am in a tight condition where i discovered my landlord might be doing drugs and smoke a lot which he said he didn’t do.i am suspicious about him and i don’t feel safe any more because hes so aggressive. its a two bedroom apartment and i share with him. i notified him that i am moving out at the end of this month and he said he will return my damage deposit next month on 24th, but i don’t trust him at all because he always says hes broke.
please advice. does he do that legally? he tells people am his girlfriend not a tenant and he tells me to do the same.
advice me on what to do please.
Hi Goretta, If you don’t feel safe it is definitely best to move on. Under the Residential Tenancy Act the landlord has to return the deposit and/or provide you a statement listing any deductions within 10 days after you move out. You are under a roommate/Innkeeper situation it sounds like which is loosely based on some of the RTA rules, but also has it’s own Act. It doesn’t directly address deposits though. You may need ot take him to court to try and get your deposit back. Your priority though should probably be getting out now and worrying about the money later as he doesn’t sound very safe. Bill
Hi,
I have a renter who has several breaches in contract. It is however the winter months. In the warm weather the renter would get 14 days notice to vacate. Can I do that in the winter months? Is there a required amount of notice for the winter?
Thanks Lauren
I have a question as a tenant who just moved into the main floor of a house at the beginning of Oct. When I first looked at the suite, the landlord also had the basement suite available and I was interested in the main floor but also wanting to help find a good, quiet, respectful tenant for the basement. I actually advertised for the landlord for free for a month to find a tenant for the basement and met with him and the prospective tenants several times to see if they would be a good fit. He told me that if I found him someone for the basement he would the main floor to us at a discount. We also agreed there would be no smoking, drinking, partying or loud noise in the house to be respectful of both tenants. He also told me verbally he would allow cats but not dogs in the house. I told the landlord I did pet sitting as one job and that I had taken in a couple of cats I was looking after and he said that would be fine. So I moved in and the basement tenant moved in and then I found out the basement tenant who said he was a quiet old man lied and was having friends over partying, drinking, playing loud music and there were cigarette butts outside. I asked him nicely about keeping the noise and partying down and he ignored it. He also let his brother’s dogs in the house which were not allowed so basically broke everything we had agreed to. He refused to keep the noise down and the police and landlord were called to deal with him. Then suddenly a few days later the landlord has his wife and daughter come out and tell me there were no pets allowed and that the basement tenant complained we had cats and claimed he was allergic which is obviously a lie that he made up to retaliate against me for complaining about the noise. The basement tenant knew before he moved in that we said cats were allowed and never said anything about having allergies. The landlord wanted me to sign something saying I knew in the lease it said no pets. I looked at the lease and it said no pets without the landlord’s permission and he had given me permission verbally before the lease was ever signed or I would not have moved into the house to begin with. After all this work I did to find this place and make him a deal and find a tenant for the basement he is now basically favouring the basement tenant and telling me I either have to get rid of the cats or move. Is he allowed to do that after he already gave me verbal permission I could have the cats or would I have to fight this in court? Shouldn’t the basement tenant be the one getting evicted for causing trouble?
Hi Kim, It does seem rather unfair that you’ve done all this work and the landlord is siding on the problem tenants side, but it may be because it’s easier. At least at first. For the landlord it may appear it’s easier to appeal tot he lower tenant as you may not be as hard to deal with and the downstairs tenant my be a tougher nut to crack so to speak. Basically the landlord may be trying to avoid confrontation and you’re the easy way out. I’d suggest you draft a letter to the landlord recapping what you’ve done for them, the problems you’ve encountered with the downstairs tenant and that you feel it is unfair. Further explain that you two had a verbal agreement about the pets which is why you took the place and that you are being unfairly treated. Basically put everything in print and explain you won’t be leaving unless you are evicted and that he needs to deal with the problem downstairs before it gets worse. Now he may want to proceed with an eviction as it is your word against his about the verbal agreement, but by putting all of this in letter and/or email you will start building some evidence for your side if it does come down to an eviction. Hope that helps a little, Bill
Hi Bill, My wife and I have had to evict our roommates for not paying rent on time. Do they still owe us for this months rent or partial rent? Or do we forfeit that by terminating the lease? Thanks, Chris
Hey Chris, If they’re breaching the lease they may be liable for a portion of the month’s rent, but usually not the entire month’s, although that can depend on the market and how hard you try to refill the space. At the very least you can deduct any costs to re-advertise the space. Bill
My 23 year old daughter in in a fixed lease until April 1 with a roommate. The roommate moved in with her boyfriend and asked to break her lease. The landlord told her she only needed to give one month’s notice and give up her damage deposit in order to leave (this isn’t stated in the lease, however). The roommate is now gone. My daughter cannot find a suitable roommate due to the condition of the building (mainly older men replying) and cannot afford the full apartment rent. She has texted and called the landlord several times to explain her situation and give her notice for the end of November. The landlord isn’t responding to calls or text. My daughter doesn’t know what to do at this point. Thanks for any advice/help/insight you can offer.
Hi Jane, Without seeing the lease, I can’t be sure of any additional clauses that may be contained, but under Alberta’s Residential Tenancy Act, the landlord cannot retain the full deposit in most situations for a broken lease. If they’ve been given adequate notice it’s the landlords responsibility to fill the property as quickly as possible. Now there are specifications that if the landlord cannot fill the property then the tenant may be responsible, but in today’s near zero vacancy rates the only reason you can’t fill a property is lack of trying. Your daughter needs to document everything, make the apartment presentable for viewing and tell the landlord with proper notice it will be available for showing to new prospective tenants for November 1st. She also has to make sure she has the property in the same condition or better when she vacates as that is when the landlord can start claiming part soft he security deposit for cleanup. Also, the landlord can claim costs for re-advertising the lease as it has been broken and there may be some sort of clause within the lease for charge for breaking the lease that may or may not be enforceable. Finally, even though the landlord shouldn’t keep the deposit, it’s no guarantee they won’t. If they do, your daughter has to be prepared to file with the RTDRS or the courts to get it back. That is where documenting everything now will pay off in the long run. Hope that helps, Bill
Thank you so much for the helpful information! I do want to clarify that my daughter isn’t worried about losing the damage deposit. She called the landlord/tenant act and (perhaps mistakenly) understood she would now be responsible for the full rent until the lease terminated in April because the roommate left. The manager also said something about initiating a court case if the full rent isn’t paid . The lease also states that there will be a $30 fine levied daily for late payment and she can’t pay the full rent. The property manager isn’t responding to her calls or texts re breaking the lease, there isn’t a mailbox to leave a letter that she knows of or even an email address. She’s saved her texts and I will have her document everything that she can. Thanks again, Bill:)
The situation has been resolved – thank you again!!Hi Bill I have recently moved back to a property that my ex wife and I jointly own. My ex wife had a pre existing verbal agreement with a tenant that allowed him to store vehicles and various other “stuff” in the barn and in the yard. I understand the agreement included a monthly rent of $150.00 which hadn’t been paid for a few months prior to my moving in and has still not been paid. My ex wife gave the tenant notice on my behalf and he did call me to ask if he could pay the back rent and continue the arrangement. I clearly stated “No” and he should come and retrieve his belongings. On September 2 I made phone contact and again stated I needed him to remove his belongings; he stated he would come on Thursday, September 4 but still hasn’t arrived. I left him another voice mail message today, September 7 and again stated he had to remove his belongings. What recourse do I have if he doesn’t remove them?
Hi Robert, Agreements for rentals of barns, yards, garage and non-living space isn’t covered by the Residential Tenancy Act or the Innkeeper’s Act, but falls under another section which is related to renting warehouse space. I’m not entirely familiar with the specific act, but the rules are much more specific about non-payment and I believe allow you to lock the tenants out if they don’t abide by the agreement. Without a written agreement though it can be harder to verify the rules agreed upon, but with previous payment history you can establish the rent and to go with that you may want to make sure you document every interaction with the tenant in case it does end up in court. Since this is beyond my area of expertise I don’t have a specific answer as to what to do with any items left in the storage. You might need to contact a lawyer who deals with this specific area, or even contact a local self storage place to see how they deal with unpaid space. Bill
Hi I’m a tenant living in a house and my lease is terminated on September 30. On September 5 my landlord entered my house for a pre-move out inspection. On September 6 I received a letter on my door saying I was being evicted and must vacate by September 20, 2014. The reason being was that the home was in “deplorable condition” and there is an extra dog on the site. I’m dog sitting for my younger sister, which I explained to the landlords agent, and told them that she is kenneled if no one is home. Can they evict me that quickly for that reason? Do I get some of my rent back for the month of September if I am being evicted 10 days before the month is over?
Thanks
Krisat
Hi Krista, If you’ve breached the lease and the property is indeed in deplorable condition the eviction date should have been September 15th, so you could fight the eviction on the grounds that it was improperly filled out. However once you do that they can then advance this to the courts or the RTDRS to evict you. This could take a couple weeks due to back log to get into a hearing, but if the condition is indeed deplorable they might be able to get a hearing sooner. End result though is you likely wouldn’t get an eviction date until the 30th of September anyway which is right in line with your lease ending. So at this point you may want to counter, then to go over the condition with the landlord that they find deplorable and fix it so you can get your damage deposit back. Bill
My roommate and I are both on the lease, but I’m the only one who has signed it. It has now been 4 months. He will not sign the roommate agreement. .. fair enough. I have talked to the landlord about possible eviction of this person. To make sure I’m not breaking any conditions. They are fine as long as they have written knowledge of anyone new. The living conditions are less than ideal. The partying is out of control. And there is drug use. How do I get rid of this person?
Wow, had a nice long response and hit the wrong button. Bottom line, you should fit under the Innkeeper’s Act, but you have no paperwork. Read some of the comments under the Innkeeper’s posts on the site, advise the roommate to be out by the end of the month or you will bring the police in to escort him out. Without proper agreements or acknowledgement that he did fall under that they may call it too gray and you may have to go to court to get him out. Bill
Hello Bill,
I had a tenant who stopped paying rent. I served her an eviction notice, stating she would have to vacate the premises in 14 days unless the rent was paid in full. I came home one evening during the 14 days and she had moved out and I assume has absolutely no intention of paying what is owed. What steps, if any, can I take to try and collect that money?
Hi Devon, Hopefully you can apply the security deposit against part of what was outstanding, but as for the rest well.. If you know where she works and it’s a good job, you could go back to the courts and get a judgment against her. Once you have the judgment and if you know where she works you can then apply to have her wages garnished. The problem that comes up is that typically once they get this garnishee deduction on their check, unless they have a great job, they typically quit and go find another. You now have to track them down again at your expense. Figure out where they’re working again, reapply at the courts to have their wages garnished and then repeat the process. Alternatively you could hire a collections agency who will simply try and track her down and then call and harass her hoping she eventually pays and if she does they will keep one quarter to one half of the amount. Unless this is several thousand dollars it usually isn’t worth it due to all the frustration, wasted time and negative energy it creates. It’s also why it’s so important for landlords to react immediately when there are problems with tenants. May not have been the answer you were looking for , but hope it answers your question, Bill
Hi Bill, I live in Ontario and my daughter is living in Alberta and renting. It was her and her boyfriend renting … and you know how that ends 🙁 I am a landlord here – but do not know the laws there. I have been reading about your laws but still unsure and I of course want to do right by the landlord, as does my daughter … we raised her right. She has paid her 1/2 of the rent this month but her boyfriend is refusing to move out or pay his share. He wants them to get evicted so he can stay there rent free as long as possible. My daughter is horrified that he would want that and not pay his way – life lesson. So they have a lease which expires October 1st – he is on the lease but never signed it … What I would like to do is have him removed from the lease and put my name on the lease with her and pay his 1/2 of the rent as my daughter wants to stay there. My question is can he be remove from an unsigned lease – put my name on it and change the locks?? Without his concent? I don’t want it to become messy with him trying to force his way back into the apartment if he has a legal right too. They have lived together since Oct 1 2013 Any help would be appreciated I want to do right by this landlord and ensure my daughter has a home to live in. Catherine Brazeau
Hi Catherine, Your daughter is in a bit of a dilemma. I’m not sure exactly what you can do here, but step one will be to talk to the landlord and explain the situation. At issue is whether he is an actual tenant as he didn’t sign. If his lack of signing nullifies his position as a tenant, then it may be easier to get him out as he legally isn’t on the lease. I’m just not sure of the rules in this case though as the landlord should have never let them in without all the appropriate signatures. You may also want to contact Alberta’s Landlord and Tenant board at 877-427-4088 as they may have some ideas for you as well. The issue for your daughter is even if she is sharing the place, the landlord can go after her for all the unpaid rent, so it’s very important to get on their good side. the landlord may end up having to evict both of them, but be able to put an agreement in place that once they are evicted she can be allowed back in, but this will depend on what she can work out with the landlord and whether the landlord will trust her at this point. If she’s upfront and keeps him informed he may be agreeable to it, but you never know. Sorry I didn’t have a better answer, Bill
Thanks Bill for your reply – she does have a great relationship with the landlord and yes, this is also the situation in Ontario. We go after whomever we can get the rent from. I always explain to young couples first time renters what happens if there boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t pay rent … you may end up paying it all. I find this helps them understand there responsibility. Sounds like your rules are mostly the same in Ontario and I will get her to call the Alberta rental board. Thanks for your advise. Catherine
Hi Bill
So, my situation is that I have had tenants on a month to month lease who moved to another province and have left their adult daughter, who is not named on the lease, as the tenant. She has been late on paying rent the last two months and has been short by 50/month for the past 5 months. I would like to evict her based on her not having a signed lease for the house. Can I do that and how much notice must I give her?
CH
Hi Rene, First off, you really needed to put her on the lease when the parents left and then removed the parents at the same time. You’ve created a rather convoluted situation that I’m not entirely sure of the answer for you yet. Since you’ve let this slide for so long, it could be argued there is a verbal lease in place, which may negate the option of evicting her for staying there without a lease. The other issue is if the lease is still valid, you may have to actually evict her parents, who are named on the lease and not her. By evicting her parents, you in turn automatically evict her as well. It may have to be decided by the courts which situation actually applies, but to get started, you may want to discuss with her that she will be getting evicted and if she would prefer to move out at the end of the month it will save her having to go to court and possibly having a judgement put on her and potentially her parents credit reports. Explain the repercussions of paying late consistently and that it will be simpler and easier if she leaves, but that you will go through an eviction with her if necessary which will not only potentially affect her future credit, but increase what she owes to you. With any luck she may simply decide to move on and while you may be left short for anything outstanding, you can think of it as a short lesson in what you won’t ever do again with changing tenants! If she doesn’t it may involve hiring an eviction service company to let them walk through the potential minefield you’ve created, or try to do this on your own through the RTDRS or the courts. It may be a valuable lesson and it may be simpler than it appears, but it may not…. Hope that helps, Bill
Thanks for the reply Bill.
I wasn’t clear on one fact, I did not know her parents had moved. No one informed. I found out only once rent started to be paid late. I tried to contact the parents and had no response. I did have the daughters ph # so ended up finally contacting her. I have since found out she has other people living with her, has additional pets that she has not had permission to have and is smoking cigarettes and pot in the house when there is clearly a no smoking and no pets and no other people not listed on the lease living in the house.
Do any of these details change anything that you suggested in your orginal response?
Rene
Hi Rene, I think your best tactic at this point is to evict the people listed on the lease, server her the paperwork as she is an adult and include every breach that you are aware of and can prove.
Her parents will have to appear, or not, to defend their situation and with all the numerous breaches it should be fairly easy to get a positive result. There may still be issues due to the daughter not being on the lease, but once the main tenants get evicted everyone else is supposed to leave as well and armed with a court order it makes it much much easier. You can still warn her you are evicting her to see if she leaves on her own, but it might just give her more time to drag it out. Bill
Hello! My boyfriend and I own an house in calgary and we are renting it out. Originally we had three people on the lease and 3 bedrooms in the upstairs one of them being very large. After a few months into the lease they had a fourth person move in, they were struggling with rent so we let that happen. We never discussed too much about where the fourth person would be staying, we had it in the lease that no one was allowed to live in the basement room (no windows) and we wouldn’t be liable if this was breached so we assumed that they maybe sharing a room, we had a girl living there with three guys and one was always away in brooks working so we thought it was all worked out… We went through the process of writing a new lease we sent both out to them to sign, we had already signed but they never sent it back out to us in Vancouver that is. They thought by not signing the new lease with the new roommate on it that our other lease wasn’t valid anymore, i soon corrected them. They now will not send back out that lease so that is in the air, we also found out that the girl is living in the basement. We soon evicted them all for breaching contract and now they are threatening us with having inspections come in (which shouldn’t be a problem) and saying how we knew they were living in the basement how did we expect a fourth the live there. Which to my honest response i thought there was a couple but after learning the girl had an outside boyfriend and my plumber seeing her live down there i learned otherwise. At this point we have not heard from them for a week and we are wondering what to do. My boyfriend has spoke with one of the tenants about living there an extra month because they couldn’t find a place that allowed pets and he seemed interest and than we haven’t heard anything after. We are wondering if we have anything to worry about? We really want to get our house back in one piece. the eviction is dated for august 3rd move out but we don’t know if they need another month and also we are trying to avoid the hassles of court. Your advice would be muchly appreciated!! Thanks
Hi Kayla, Not sure what you’re asking here. If you weren’t aware someone was living in the basement and warned them that wasn’t acceptable prior to the fourth person coming in you should be fine, if you have it hopefully in writing. If you were aware about it and sat on it for a while it doesn’t paint as good a picture, but you had warned them. Tenants often use the threat of inspections to try and scare landlords, but if your property is fine, which is sounds like, they only cause more havoc form themselves especially if they have created an illegal basement unit. You just need verification (in writing hopefully, that this wasn’t allowed. You need to follow up with them ASAP to determine their plans. If you’re living in Vancouver, you need to know when they are gone so you can coordinate long distance to get them signed out or arrange to come out yourself, so it;s in your best interest to follow up with them, find out their plans and make sure it flows through. you may want to update them on their responsibilities and how they can get their security deposits back as well. This will involve letting them know how much it will cost them for you to clean up after them, what needs to be cleaned and fixed up etc. so not sure if this answered you or not, but hopefully it points you int he right direction. Regards, Bill
Thank you bill that was helpful! My situation is, that I wrote it in the lease as one of the clauses that no one was to sleep in the basement bedroom. When we were speaking about the 4th person moving in prior to him moving in they seem to think I said that it was okay for him to live in the basement. But I did not and I don’t know how they came up with this idea, I thought having it in the lease was self explanatory. I don’t think it will be a problem because I do have it in writing that this wasn’t allowed but I did just want to make sure. And yes I’m thinking we are going to have to go to Calgary to get our answers on what they would like to do because they are still not answering us via phone or text.
Hello Bill, For Starters, I rent an entire house from my Landlord in Calgary. I am the only one of the lease of this house. I then sublet the rooms in the house. My one roommate (I’ll call R1) is having problems with another roommate (R2). I want to ask R2 to find a new place to live. I just don’t know how to go about it. (R2 moved in April 1st, 2014 and our verbal/ written agreement is his stay at the house is based on month to month as long as rent is paid on time and his damage deposit will be returned providing there is no damage etc.) The only thing Is, he will ask why I am asking him to move out- and I can’t think of a non-confrontational reason. Because obviously, if I say, R1 is having problems w/ you, then it’ll be super awkward for this next period of time he will be at the house (whether I legally have to give him 3 months notice?? or if i can legally give him 1 months notice?? I am not sure how that works, so please clarify). I don’t want anyone being mean or hostile to each other. Problems R1 is having w/ R2 include: R2 will drink excessively and get aggressive, R2 doesn’t pay for groceries and eats R1’s food, asks for rides…etc. Finally, myself and R1 do not want to try to work things out w/ R2. We would just like to find a new roommate. Is this something I can do? Just asking someone to leave because I feel uncomfortable around them? (again i do NOT want to tell R2 the reason I am asking him to leave is personal–because he seems unpredictable) What is the law regarding subletting when no one else is on the lease? How much notice do I need to give him? Thank you very much!!
Hi K, In your circumstance you’ve got a good argument to say this fall sunder the Innkeeper’s Act, versus the Residential Tenancy Act. You are the landlord in this situation and the tenant is renting a room from you and sharing common space in the home. This puts it outside the RTA. Still, while this gives you more leeway in getting him out, we’d always prefer to do it the nice simple way. For that you’re going to have to be straight forward with them and discuss the drinking. That is definitely not something you want going on as not only does it lead to aggression and confrontations, it can lead to disturbances, damages that you will ultimately be responsible for covering the costs of, noise complaints from neighbour and potentially physical altercations. In your situation that may be enough for you to say, this isn’t working out and we’ll have to end this relationship. I would caveat it and be nice about it with something along the lines of at this point I will give you until the end of May to move out, but if any more issues arise with drinking, that will be off the table and it will require your immediately moving out. I would also reinforce that you fall under the Innkeeper’s Act versus the RTA and I have several posts about the difference along with hundreds of comments and questions from other people in similar situations you can read through for more information. If you plan on continuing down this path with roommates, you may want to become very familiar with the IA as it will definitely help you in the future and I even provide some packages that explain it further for you along with the necessary forms and information you need to stay on track listed across the top menu section of the page. Hope that helps, Bill
Hi bill. I have a tenant who has rented my home for over a year. He was on a 6 month lease and is now month to month. We are planning on selling the house and after doing a walk through with a relator we now see the house is in bad condition and we need to do some fixing up to sell. How much notice do I have to give to evict him?
Thanks
Jennellej
Hi Jennelle, This is one of those situations where knowing in advance that you were selling this spring it would have been very beneficial to simply stay on a fixed term lease. Since you’ve now moved to month to month, depending on the condition of the property, and the tenant, you may have some headaches. If the fixups are rather minor, you don’t have a valid reason to evict the tenant for renovations. If they are extensive then you do, if it’s in the middle then it could be appealed if the tenant wishes. Unfortunately the eviction period for major renovations is 365 days. Depending on your relationship with the tenant, you may want to simply negotiate with them to see if they can move out sooner. This might involve a flexible move out schedule, reduction of rent for one month allowing them to save up a deposit for the next place or something in between. What ever the arrangement, you will want it all in writing. Bill
Hi Bill, appreciate your help here. I have a question about evicting tenants. Basically, no pets are allowed. And they’ve had a dog for several months without even discussing it with us. Is this breach of contract? Can I evict them? Tenants are on monthly term. They paid upfront for 3 months and April is their last month. I’d like them out by mid-April if possible; or end of April if necessary. Tenant on lease has another person living on premises who is not on lease (never had background check); she is the one with a dog. In addition to numerous late payments over past few years, this dog issue is the final straw for us. Is this grounds for eviction? Thanks Bill!
Hi Bill,
My parents, the landlords, have been renting out their property to the current tenants for many years. My parents and the tenants have a pretty bad relationship… My parents threatens to kick them out for many years due to constant late payments (like +6 months / year)… and the tenants have threatened before (not sure about now) to assault my parents. As for the property – well… It’s in a horrible condition now. Windows are loose, furnace and plumbing was in a bad condition since the last time my parents saw it a few years ago… To be honest they’re not even sure about the condition of the property as the tenants refuse to allow my parents to inspect it for the past years but my parents estimated it’ll cost at least $30,000 just to fix up all the damages. Why wouldn’t they kick them out earlier to do the renovation? Well.. the tenants doesn’t exactly have the best temper and my parents constantly fears that they would ruin to the property to the point that is beyond repair which in my eyes is pretty close.
Now after many, many, many years of this toxic relationship my mom decided to raise the rent because they realized they’re renting their property at least $300 less than the minimum rental property around their area to people who isn’t even taking care of the property. They’re hoping that raising the rent would either:
1) Bring in more money so my parents can save more money to repair the damage property
2) Give them a valid excuse now to kick the tenants out for good.
In my perspective it’s a huge improvement as both been too scared of their tenants to take any actions. Even now my parents been arguing among themselves whether they should increase it by $50 or $150 – a increase that the tenant might struggle to pay.
So while I was reviewing the contract to make adjustments for the increase rent the contract had no fixed terms. I reviewed and understand that we can only increase rent payment once a year… However I don’t actually know when the original contract was signed. So with no fixed terms, and lack of the first contract I don’t know what would be considered a fair notice indicating when the new payment should start and / or how many days they are legally given before they need to vacated the property. Help
Hi Helen, My first thought would be to simply evict them at this point. They won’t take care of the property, it will just continue to get further run down and they are intimidating your parents. If your folks are concerned with confronting the tenants, they can use an eviction service company to deal with the entire process and they won’t have to deal with the tenants at all. This can range in cost from around $800-$1,200 and sometimes more depending on how tough the eviction is. The negative part of this is, the property sounds un-rentable once these people move out and it will likely cost thousands or even tens of thousands to get back into shape and into a rentable condition. So how much more damage can they do if you do decide to evict them? So that’s one option. If they are going to simply raise the rent, the minimum notice for a rent increase on a month to month lease, which is what it appears you have is 9- days which includes three full months. So you need to give them the notice before April 1st and it would take effect July 1st. Hope that helps, Bill
Hi Bill I could really use your help. I have been a tenant here for almost 2 years. The first year the building was owned by a single owner who we knew. When he sold the building April 2013 a equities company took over. Long story short they accepted our rent for the last year as a periodic tenancy. We got a letter saying that they need us to sign a new lease (the new lease has a TON of new things like no pets (we have pets they were allowed since we moved in) the new lease also says we have to do all our own repairs and pay power when it was always included in our rent) We told them we would like to stay as periodic tenants so that we can continue with our old lease agreement and were told if we do not sign the new agreement we will get a 90 day eviction notice. My question is this… I know there are only select reasons for a 90 day eviction here in Alberta but if they choose the most obvious one (The landlord’s family is moving in) and I don’t believe them if I take the landlord to the residential tenancy court here in Edmonton alberta can I ask that they prove the family is moving in? They are not just making me sign this lease…it is 6 of us old tenants that they are trying to do this to in a 36 unit building… they can’t possibly have 6 family members moving into 6 different units … please tell me what my options are! Thanks!
Hi Laura, At this point you don’t have to sign a new lease and they cannot force you to. If you can get the lease modified to suit your needs, perhaps there is a compromise position. For instance if the pets section is struck and you get other clauses removed or struck out and initialed by both parties, it may work. However, from the sounds of it, they won’t be playing nicely. Hopefully you have all of this in writing and it’s not verbal. If it is only verbal I would ask for everything in writing so you have records in case you do end up in court. Once you have this information, if they do try the 90 day eviction, you have history showing they may be up to something. I would also suggest you get on close terms with the other six families and all share information to make sure you are a united front. Unfortunately in the end, there will be ways for them to eventually get you out, so it may just be a matter of stalling versus permanently stopping their attempt to get you to sign a lease. You can likely stall or delay them , but if they understand the rules, it will only be delays. Priority may be to get a workable lease in place, or to consider moving on. There is always the option of pursuing them later and get fines levied against them if they are indeed underhanded, but bottom line is it won’t stop them. Sorry, Bill
Hi Bill, I am renting out a room in my house on a month to month basis. I have a roommate that I would like to evict. He has been in the house for a week. My other roommate and I don’t feel comfortably with him here. What would be the steps in a evicting him? Thank you
Kim
Hi Kim, Lot’s of variables here that are missing. First, you always require a reason for evicting someone, uncomfortable may not quite cut it. I would start by offering them a full refund or a prorated refund if they leave right away and set timelines for this. So if they are gone by say March 22nd, you will refund half the March rent back to them. Explain it’s just not working and see where it takes you. Hopefully your lease may provide some options as well to settle this, so if you haven’t reviewed it thoroughly yet, take some time to see if there are avenues in there. Hope that provides a starting point. Bill
Kim, Bill’s answer is not correct. If you are renting a room in your own house, the Alberta Residential Tenancy Act does not apply to protect him. Instead, the tenancy is determined by the common law of property and contract law. If the terms of your contract address this situation, you must act according to your contract – but your contract cannot be “unreasonable” in contrast with the common law of property. If your contract does not expressly apply to the situation, then under the common law of property you do not need a reason to evict a tenant – although inability to get along with a new tenant is a recognized common law reason – all you need to do is give your tenant “reasonable notice”, where reasonable relates to the time period. How much is reasonable notice? It depends on factors such as urgency, damage to property by the tenant, threats or personal harm by the tenant, etc. The courts have usually held that two weeks’ notice to terminate a tenancy is reasonable. If the tenant has any health issues that would slow down his/her physical ability to move or other reasonable excuse, or the availability of similar accomodations is limited (hot rental market) a court will extend the “reasonable” time period to a month (on some occasions up to 6 weeks). Finally, note that neither the Alberta Provincial Court – Civil nor the Alberta Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service has any jurisdiction over common law tenancies. If either you or your tenant need to proceed to court, you must apply to the Court of Queen’s Bench, a superior court, which charges start at $200 to file an Originating Notice of Action. The vast majority of eviction “agents” have no standing or sufficient knowledge or experience to represent a party before Queen’s Bench, and either will not do so or will be refused permission to represent by the judge. You would invariably need to hire a lawyer to assist or represent you. P.S. I am not a lawyer, but I did do law school.
Hi Bohdan, While you’re correct the Residential Tenancy Act doesn’t really cover landlords renting out rooms in their property, it forms the basis where the courts go for rulings. With rooms rented out in a property the closest legislation is the Innkeeper’s Act, which is vague in it’s own right. Which brings me back to needing a reason to evict. In this comment, there is little reason provided other than being uncomfortable. Unfortunately if someone went to court asking to have someone removed from a tenancy because they are “uncomfortable”, it wouldn’t go so well for the landlord. After the verbal berating for even bringing it to the court and the lecture about the rules, the landlord would be sent packing and it would be even more difficult to remove the tenant with a failed eviction in the history books. If you can get a tenant out by other means as I suggested it’s still much easier. Having to hire a lawyer for an eviction simply doesn’t make sense on so many levels and isn’t practical for most landlords. Bill P.S. I also am not a lawyer, but I’ve dealt with hundreds and hundreds of tenants and helped thousands of landlords and tenants with practical information about evictions and the processes. My information is not legal information, just knowledge from real life experience.
If they dont listen to the eviction and they are a tenant in your own house can you change the locks?
Hi Vince, Until you get a court ordered eviction date, you cannot change the locks and then not until a bailiff has been there to enforce the eviction. Bill
Hello Bill
I have renters that I have an eviction service hand the notice to well actually they had to post it because the renter turned their dogs out on them. I really need in the house due to the fact that the water line that runs through the house to the other tenant’s house could potentially freeze up causing lots of grief. However when I went to the RCMP about who to call about the renter problem the officer asked the name of the people, the officer informed me not to enter the house, under NO circumstances without RCMP being present. What is your suggestion?
Hi Lori, I would get a 24 hour notice of inspection up ASAP for tomorrow afternoon. At the same time, also coordinate with the RCMP about who you are, who the tenants are, the warning the RCMP gave you about the tenants and how you would like someone to accompany you tomorrow. You’ll be on the RCMP schedule, so make sure the inspection has a wide time frame, say 1-4, but with the sounds of it, you don’t want to mess around with those folk, so make sure the police can accompany you for your safety. Bill
Hi Bill
Thanks for your speedy answer. My next question. What of they won’t answer the door? What if I post it and they won’t be there to let us in? They changed the locks some time ago. If I post this will it In Any way effect the eviction service progress?
Hi Lori, It’s actually against the rules for tenants to change the locks without providing you a key. You might want to also contact them to let them know they need to supply you with a key for emergency access. Although I am sure they won’t comply. It will help add to your eviction, so hopefully this was included with your eviction application. In this case, you have a couple choices, a) demand the key or at least access tomorrow as not being able to access it can cost you much more if pipes do freeze b) inform them that if a locksmith is required to provide access they will be billed for the expense (you will likely get stuck with the bill for this as they won’t pay, but put up a brave front as you need to get in there). Option b will require more coordination with the locksmith and the police, but considering how expensive it can be to repair water damage from a frozen pipe it is going to cost far less in time and energy now than later. Bill
Thanks Bill. My husband just pointed out that they might have already moved some of there stuff out and might not come back and if they are still here they have mean dogs. Any insite?
I so thank you for all your time.
Might end up being a humane society issue or bylaw issue if the dogs are abandoned at the property or dangerous. The police may be able to also help with this. Bill
Bill I really appreciate all your wisdom in these matters. Thank you again so much.
Sincerely thankful
Lori
Hi Bill:
I have a tenant who has constantly been late is paying rent and at the moment still owes me back rent for October, November, December and January. I’ve filed with the RTDRS and have a hearing scheduled for February 4. In the mean time she has sent me another etransfer for 4600. Should I take that and apply it to what she owes me, or does that invalidate my trying to evict her via the RTDRS hearing?
Hi Marc, I would take the money, because you will never get it otherwise, or it will be a tough time getting it. The big question now though is are you evicting her for non-payment of rent, or for continuous breach of the lease by paying late? If you were evicting for non-payment of rent, your hearing will be invalidated. She paid. If you were evicting for continuous breach by not paying on time and paying late, your hearing would stand. It’s going to come down to what exactly the hearing is for. Bottom line though, we’re talking $4,600. If you don’t take it, and were evicting for non-payment, you might get a judgment, but it could take years or you may never get paid. If you do take it and the eviction gets dropped, it sounds like she will likely pay late next month and then you just refile, but next time you file for continuos breach which can’t be resolved by simply paying. Make sense? Bill
Marc, There is some misinformation here. As a landlord you do NOT have an option – any amount of money that a tenant offers you, in any manner – cash, cheque, money order, certified cheque, email transfer, etc. – must be taken. You cannot refuse to take money owed to you, even if it only partly satisfies the debt. The reason is that under the law, you as the landlord are required to mitigate your damages. What that means is that you must do everything and anything reasonable to limit the amount of damages (rent money) that you claim IS OWED to you by the tenant. Failure to mitigate your damages is sufficient reason for a court to terminate your application for damages and/or eviction and require you to start all over again – from the beginning. That would also “clean the slate” of the tenant’s prior conduct which you could never bring up as a reason or argument for eviction again and limit you solely to a claim for outstanding rent remaining, if any. Bohdan
Hi Again Bohdan, Again, I’m not a lawyer and I did not go to law school (if you’re not a lawyer, why did you go to law school?), but I don’t believe this is correct. If it was the case of someone trying to pay you rent and you refusing so you have a reason to evict them, that would be one thing. In the case of Marc, who is owed a substantial amount of money, there may be multiple reasons to refuse. These could range from payment method (would you really take a personal check from someone who has been writing bad checks?) to logistical reasons. Ultimately I would always suggest taking the money if you can, but I don’t believe you have no options. If anyone is concerned, they can consult their own lawyer! This is free, non-legal advise remember. Bill
Bill, As I stated in my response “… must do everything and anything REASONABLE to limit the amount of damages …”. If someone has consistently bounced cheques, then it really isn’t reasonable to keep accepting them, now, is it. However, most landlords at that point insist on a certified cheque or money order, and refuse to accept cash or email transfer – this is unreasonable. As for the requirement – commonly mis-stated as a “duty” – to mitigate damages, confirm that with a practicing lawyer if you don’t want to believe me. P.S. I’m not a lawyer because I’m retired and don’t practice law or pay liability insurance to give legal advice. my “advice” is also informational only. For legal services and assistance, consult a practicing lawyer. Bohdan
Hi Bill,
After the hearing at the RTDRS the tenants were given until the 26
of Jan to evacuate.
If they were not out by then i do know that i am suppose to call
Enforcement Agent , how about the amount they are suppose
to pay from jan 1st till the 26 who and where do i collect that from ?
Thank you
Hi Rubi, As part of the eviction order, you may or should have also received a judgment for outstanding money. This amount you have to collect from the tenants. Depending on the order, they may have to pay this by a certain date or the eviction is accelerated or you have to go after them after the fact.
The good news is the judgment stays on their credit history for ten years and can be renewed for a longer period after ten years impacting their creditworthiness. The bad news is a judgment is no guarantee of payment. With the judgment you can send it to collections, you can garnishee their wages if you know where they work, or you can simply wait to see if they need to fix their credit several years down the road. All with no guarantees.
The most important part to remember is you have an order for them to be out and that you acted quickly enough that it’s only a month’s rent you would be out in this case. Some landlords let tenants get several months behind and collecting at that point is almost futile and much more harmful to a landlords pocketbook. Bill
I love this site. My question is: The tenants text me that they were moving out on the weekend of the 15th of January. They owe December and January rent plus the propane bill. They just informed me that they were staying until the first and there was nothing I could do about it. Keep in mind that the rent also includes electricity. And that they have at least 14 days because I didn’t give them an eviction notice. Do I really have to give an eviction notice when they informed me when they were moving out?
Hi Lori, DO NOT USE AN EVICTION NOTICE! You need to get a judgment if they owe you two months rent or you will never ever see the money. Even with the judgment you may not see it, but it makes their life a bit rougher for ten years or longer if you take the time to renew the judgment.
The judgment is just a court order saying they owe money and it follows them on their credit bureau, but to get it you need to go through the RTDRS system to evict them, or the court system. If you simply give them an eviction notice they disappear and it’s nearly impossible to get anything, even satisfaction of causing them some grief for not paying. And I’m glad you love the site! Bill
Thank you Bill for your quick response. My husband and I have discussed it in length. We have decided to have an eviction service business do this. My husband and I both drive trucks for a living and really do not have the extra time to give up. Extremely thankful
Lori, Bill is not quite accurate in his response. Whether you serve an eviction notice or not, you can always bring action against a tenant for failing to pay rent either with the RTDRS or the courts as long as you initiate action within one year of their leaving the premises. Even if you can’t find the tenants, you can ask the RTDRS or the courts to permit substituted service, and ultimately get a judgment against them even if they don’t show up for the hearing/court date. Then, as Bill says, you register the judgment with the credit bureau and/or garnishee their wages, etc. – judgment is good for 10 years (then you can renew it for another 10 years). Bohdan
Hi Bohdan, Did you have a lot of free time on your hands this weekend? While Bohdan is correct that you can always bring action against a tenant later, the practicality of it is useless. Once they are gone, unless it’s a huge amount of money owed, the extra time, negative energy and money to pursue it typically aren’t worth it. It can be a case by case scenario, but the majority of tenants who vacate due to lack of money, don’t have money later to pay the judgment off. Garnishing wages while sounding attractive is mostly impractical as so many tenants in Alberta tend to change jobs like people change clothes. Every time they change a job (which usually happens right after the first garnishee), you have to track them down again, find where they work and go back through the courts to get the garnishing moved to the new work place. As for the judgment on the credit bureau, this is effective at hurting their credit, and while I have had a judgment paid several years after the fact, more often than not they won’t be buying a lot of items with credit and will just ride along. In one of your many earlier comments, you mentioned you went to law school Bohdan, the problem is there is a definite distinction between the law from a lawyer’s perspective and the reality of getting a tenant out. As a landlord, your priority should be to get the problem tenant out as quickly as possible and regain control of your property. This may cost you some money to do, but there is a practical limit. I’ve consulted with landlords who have hired lawyers at $300 per hour for evictions. I’ve shown these landlords and informed the landlords about tactics and rules the lawyers knew nothing about, for a fraction of the cost. You could indeed hire a $500 per hour lawyer to evict your tenant who makes $36,000 per year and they could create an incredible case, have every detail nailed down and help you get your tenant evicted for you. $10,000 dollars later, you have your property back and your tenant is ousted, but it’s not necessary and this site helps landlords understand that by providing the basic information to help them move forward. Defending all of my comments gets tiring, am I going into the specific legal detail of every facet regarding the vague questions and info I have? No, I provide generic information, for free, to help landlords and tenants. My apologies if I don’t respond to your other three or four comments as you are just confusing the issues for landlords that need help. Bill
Hi Bill, your information was just what I needed. The tenants are out and the judgements are I’m place. And we are relieved to have them gone. Thank you for you help. It is greatly appreciated.
Lori
Bill It is of no assistance to landlords and tenants if your comments or generic information is wrong, incomplete or misleading. The fact that some poor tenant whom you’ve illegally evicted hasn’t the funds or knowledge to sue you doesn’t make your conduct or tactics lawful, ethical or socially acceptable. The fact is, since you are selling information and advice, you are legally liable for it. Any of your clients or readers who act on your information or advice can sue you for damages – and as you’ve stated, you have lots of assets available to cover those claims. Of course, feel free to consult a practicing lawyer to confirm your exposure – don’t take my “generic information” for it. Bohdan
I’m not even sure where to begin. Getting lectured by a “former lawyer” about lawful, ethical and socially acceptable tactics is a sticking point from the get go.
I beg to differ that the comments and the information on this site is misleading or wrong. At times is is incomplete, but again without the full story (which I rarely ever get and then only one side) I can only provide information based on what I have.
If the area is beyond my scope (I often get family eviction questions) I specifically state I do not know the answers and suggest they get legal assistance.
The generic information I provide is simply based on the facts as they are given and I always state there should be a reason for an eviction. There are rules in place that prevent landlords from randomly kicking people out as there should be.
And it’s not just landlords I help, I also help tenants and I have NEVER suggested someone illegally evict someone.
Yes, I sell information on the site and I have actually had other practicing lawyers purchase my products (which you haven’t it appears) to help educate them on the process of the RTDRS. The information provided is meant to help educate people on the processes as I understand them through my own personal experiences, via interviews with eviction service companies and through feedback from helpful followers.
While I truly appreciate the warning about being legally liable for it, the reality is we are legally liable for just about everything, from driving down the street to shovelling our walks. You’re getting so caught up in the technical legal aspect of an eviction, you’re missing the point.
Many of the landlords out there cannot afford a lawyer to evict a problem tenant that is already costing them money and the actual process isn’t that complicated. It seems to be only made complicated by the legal rules put in place. My advice and my guide helps people walk through the systems and processes that are poorly explained on government sites and that there is scant relevant and helpful information readily available to for landlords and tenants.
I’m sure if I put out a request I could get a lengthy list of people who will confirm when I talked with them or they purchased my products my information as helpful, relevant and valid. Basing your comments off of hundreds of internet questions is a a tough run. If you honestly felt you were helping people, my apologies, but you simply come across as antagonistic to me.
If the tenants who haven’t paid rent for two months and basically destroyed the property wished to hire lawyers to defend them, there is a very high likelihood they could stall and delay the eviction for months, but the reality is these tenants didn’t have money for rent, so where will they get lawyer money, they don’t deserve to be in the property if they are breaching the lease and they deserve to be evicted.
I’m trying to help people and you’re scaring them. I guess ideally (at least for you it seems), I should be shutting this entire site down and just let the lawyers deal with it. At this point it’s not going to happen.
I feel like I’ve reached the point of just ranting now, so I need to end this.
Thanks for your input and your comments, but let’s just get back to helping people rather than fear mongering. Bill
Hi Bill,
i have a hearing date at the RTDRS with my tenants , as they breached
the aggrement of paying rent. And when i say late rent it means weeks and
i do have payments to make at the end of each month, However how long
do they usually stay after the hearing day ?
Thank you
Hi Rubi, There are quite a few factors that come into play. If they have any school age kids, they often get extra time, this can be a whole month or sometimes a bit longer. If it’s just one individual, it may be much faster depending on the severity of the breach and your evidence. If you’ve taken weeks to do anything about the late payment, the hearing officer may determine it’s not that serious of a breach and give them extra time as well. If your hearing is coming up next week, the eviction date could be anywhere from the 31st of January to the 28th of February depending on these factors and if the tenants come across as trying to pay, but just in a rough patch, the hearing officer may put them on a payment plan allowing them to stay as long as they make the payment schedule. Bottom line, without knowing all the details it could be a week or six weeks. It’s too late at this point for you, as you’ve already filed your application for the hearing, but in my guide I actually include some tactics to help ensure you get them out as quickly as possible. Regards, Bill
Hi Bill, I have an issue with a friend and his girlfriend who moved from the US and is currently staying at my place. Originally, they were supposed to only stay here for a month while they looked for a legitimate place to rent. However, as time passed there doesn’t seem to be any commitment on their part to move out. They are paying a small fee as gratification for letting them stay, however it is a fraction to what a rental fee normally is. Things have turned rather sour between us because we drive each other insane and have had many arguments. We have a verbal agreement for them to leave on a specified date, however I am not sure whether or not they will honour this agreement. At this point in time, I just want them out as soon as possible, because they are taking advantage of my hospitality. My questions are, what constitutes a landlord&tenant relationship and do I have to treat them as tenants? What is the best way to approach this? Thank you so much, Tina
Hi Tina, You’re in one of those gray areas where you’re not really a landlord, but you’re accepting money for someone to stay. In your situation, I’d suggest taking a strong stance, giving them a deadline to be out and letting them know there will be no exceptions. Whether it’s the end of the month, the middle of the month or tomorrow (depending on how much it’s deteriorated), without a deadline, they will likely continue to coast and not understand the urgency. If push comes to shove, you would likely fall under the Innkeeper’s Act, but most likely it would never come to that. Make sure you document any dates or timelines you impose, make sure they are aware how serious you are and let them know that you’ll pull the plug even sooner (if you are giving them extended timelines) if the relationship sours anymore. Hope that helps, Bill
Hello Bill,
First… Glad your site is here as there is some good info.
My issue is this, I have a tenent in my home since Sept in Southern alberta, Constantly late with the rent. I dont mean a day or two I’m talking weeks. Actually he still owes $600 for decmber and January’s rent check bounced. Here is the underlying issue… I dont live in Alberta anymore. In fact I dont live in Canada anymore. My daughter takes care of a few things there yet I cant get them to pay on time or even close.
Now my question, to the best of your knowledge can I give them an Email eviction and have a paper copy handed to them the next day? Not sure how to procced.
Thanks
AJ
Hi AJ, Glad you’re enjoying the site and the info. Since it sounds like they owe you a bit of money, you may want to consider taking them to the RTDRS or the courts to evict them. By doing it this way you can get a judgment which doesn’t guarantee you will get paid, but does put the debt on their credit rating for ten years. It might be a moral victory, or in five years when they go to buy a car and find they can’t due to bad credit, they have to pay your debt out. If you do want to go with an eviction notice, be aware that at the end of the eviction period, if they don’t leave, you have to take them to the RTDRS or the courts to evict them, so the 14 day notice is just a free stay period of sorts. Now technically you are supposed to be able to send it electronically, but it’s the least preferred method. It’s too easy for them to say they didn’t see it for several days, making it invalid. By delivering it in person or posting it on all the entrances to their space, it’s a bit harder to deny. So why not send them an email letting them know you will be evicting them, but then have it delivered the next day. One more day for an eviction notice doesn’t make much difference, especially of they know the rules. Bill
Hi Bill. Great info here. I have a tenant that is constantly giving me grief. She always pays, but is late a day or two consistently. Sometimes asking for a week. She has bounced a cheque at least once, if not twice. She says her bank account was garnished, and for that reason needs to pay cash every month, which is very inconvenient to have to “chase” her for. In my lease it states that the tenant is required to give twelve post dated cheques. She originally did, and then bounced one and has been paying cash ever since. So two q’s i guess. One) am I being too picky getting frustrated with her being a day or two late occasionally? (I do have bills to pay with that rent though) Two) Is that a breach of contract or lease, if I require her to give post dated cheques, and she dosnt do that? And furhter to that, could I evict on that grounds. I am a really nice and tollerant person. This tenant is simply taking advantage of me. Plus I think she is smoking in the house and I say in the lease it is a non smoking property. Thanks for your expertise.
John
Hey John, Glad you’re finding it helpful, but if you dug a little deeper I have just the solution for you. It’s right here, What To Do With Continually Late Paying Tenants. You’re not being too picky, you have bills to pay and she has rent to pay. It’s great that you’ve been understanding and helpful for her, but as the saying goes, if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Now not to paint all tenants that way, but unless you are very specific that paying late is a one time event, it gets to be the rule rather than the exception and that is why you find yourself where you are. So in summation, yes it is a breach of the lease and yes you have grounds to evict. The problem you might face is evidence. Starting immediately, if rent is late or rules may be broken, you can have a phone conversation, but follow it up with an email and/or a written letter for the tenant going over the problem, the resolution you have come to and what must be done. This becomes your future evidence if the behaviour doesn’t change and you do have to go to a hearing for an eviction. Also, with the cash payments, make sure you give out receipts and they are all dated so that you can prove when the payments were made. If you’re already doing this you have the basis of an eviction, if you haven’t been, you may have to suffer through another month or two of this to get enough solid evidence to make an eviction stick. Hope that helped, Bill
Thank you Bill for clarifying. So to make sure I have this straight; even though I allow them to park in the driveway of our home/on our property (it’s a basement dwelling), they are doing nothing illegal with regardrs to being a tenant, even though it is illegal the moment they enter their vehicle, which is on our property. If I however confronted them in the driveway and they threatened me in doing so, then a 24hr eviction notice could be served? And yes, I realise the problems of calling the police. What if however the police were called and somehow they were caught in that brief moment while being in the car, intoxicated, on our property?
Hi Jay, If they threatened you, yes you could issue then a 24 hour eviction notice. If they don’t leave in 24 hours, you could then take them to the courts or the RTDRS depending on where you live to get them removed. If they were caught then they could be charged, but they could likely fight the eviction and they would even likely have a good chance of winning. The intent of the rule was to keep tenants from running an illegal operation on the property not so much as doing something illegal. While drinking and driving is illegal, they may be able to turn it into an extended argument that while they were charged, they have not been found guilty throwing the foundation for your eviction out the window. You could then wait the two or three or six months until after their court case where they have been found guilty, and then you might have a good shot at winning. It ends up being a catch 22 scenario at this point. I’m assuming you simply ant them out and are looking for a reason. If you’re on a fixed term lease, then simply let them know you aren’t renewing. If you are on a month to month, oops. But if you are and you haven’t raised the rent in 365 days, consider a steep rent increase. If they stay, it might be worth the extra annoyance if you raised it enough. If they leave with the tighter rental market try renting it for the higher amount as well. Regards, Bill
Thank you very much Bill. This certainly clears things up. With this type of behaviour, you are indeed correct, it has come to a point where I would just like them out. We have already decided on exactly what you suggested. Since there is no regulation with rental increase in Calgary, we are just putting the rent up beyond what they will pay. But if they do, then I’d be willing to put up with the behaviour for the time being. Thanks again!
I have a question about immediate evictions. It is my understanding that if a tenant is breaking the law in any way, then they can be evicted immediately. I have a tenant who drinks and drives. Is the simple act of getting into their car on the property while intoxicated grounds for immediate eviction?
Sorry Jay, that is incorrect. they cannot be evicted immediately, there is still a process. Ac close as you can come to an immediate eviction is a 24 hour notice for threatening other tenants or the landlord or damaging the property severely. If they were intoxicated, drove the car into the building and subsequently charged with impaired driving you may have a chance, but if they are driving intoxicated it has nothing to do with your property. Still doesn’t make it right or legal, but they are not doing an illegal activity on your property. Now, you can of course report him to the police if you see him leaving drunk, but if he gets arrested and thrown in jail now you have a new challenge trying to evict him as you still have to serve him eviction papers. Hope that clarifies things, Bill
Hi there, I’m a tenant here in Calgary. I had a full year lease that ended in August. I’m now month to month. My landlord just emailed me to say that he and his wife are moving back to Calgary and want me vacate the premises as they want to live there. I’ve always paid rent on time, I’m a good tenant. How much notice does he have to give me? Is there any formal way to do it? Do I get 90 days? Thank you in advance!!
Hey Aaron, Unfortunately, if they are moving back you will have to move out whether you are the best tenant or the worst.They need to give you three full months (90 days) notice. If they gave you notice on the 2nd of September for instance, September doesn’t count and you would have to be out at the end of December. The notice does have to be in writing and it does have to explain why you have to leave as well, otherwise it is invalid. You may want to clarify with them that you may be leaving sooner as I would advice you to start looking right away. Because you are month to month you can leave with as little as 30 days notice, it may even be helpful for them if it was sooner if they are simply waiting for you to leave. Use this leverage to make sure you can get a nice reference letter from them as the market is pretty tight these days. Additionally if you get a reference letter now, you can hang onto it and use it in the future as well. Sorry I don’t have better news for you, Bill
Thanks Bill for your helpful answers. You answered my question before. Now I have a couple of more questions for yearly lease. If the tenant wants to move out in the middle of the lease term, how many days of notice does he need give the landlord? Does he get deposit back? Versus, how many days of notice does the landlord need give a tenant? Does the landlord still need give 90 days notice before lease end? I’m wondering, either RTDRS or Alberta government website, is there a simple chart to list how long the notice needed corresponding to some common circumstance? thanks.
Hi Lee, The tenant is supposed to give 30 days notice, but with fixed term leases, it’s a bit more confusing. Technically they are responsible until the end of the lease. In court though, it’s been decided that doesn’t hold up. If they have to break the lease the onus is on the landlord to fill it as quickly as possible.
The landlord can deduct for advertising costs they incur and if they were to leave in the middle of the month they could charge them for the full month.
The landlord is required to give 90 days notice (incorporating three full months) on a month to month lease, but legally doesn’t have to give notice to terminate a fixed term. At least at the end of the term, which is stupid….
If you don’t give the tenant notice, how can they find a new place? Or know they have to be out? You’re just looking for trouble if you do this and it also backfired on one landlord I talked to as the tenant was given substantial extra time to find a new place.
To my knowledge there is no simple chart out there, just random info, but it does give me the idea to help create this for everyone! Hope that helped explain things, Bill
Thanks Bill. I want to send my landlord email to that effect. Where can I find that in any laws, statutes or the like. I’d like to read that section for myself and go into this armed and ready.
I rent main floor and basement separately. The tenants live in the basement have trouble to pay their rent. They only paid me $95 for deposit when they moved in. They told me they were flood victim, promised me pay the remaining deposit every two weeks until done. I felt sorry for them agreed. but they never pay more deposit so far. they paid August rent. now told me they will pay me September rent next week. I want them move out asap. we signed 1 year lease. can I end the lease? what’s your advice? thanks so much.
Hi Lee, You can’t end the lease, but you can evict them for non-payment. You can give them a 14 day eviction notice for non-payment if you think they will leave easily or pay you up, or if you are more serious, or suspect they won’t leave, go through the RTDRS or the courts. Bill
Good Day, I came accross your web.page and could not believe my eyes: id there any help at all for landlords. First of all: thank you for being there for us!Second: here is my question: I am a Landlord in Ontario and need advice how to deal with a tenant constantly threatening, harrasing me and trying in any way to intimidate me. Please advise. Thank you. Best regards, Elena
Hi Elena, The rules are definitely different in Ontario than they are in Alberta. Ontario is actually very tenant friendly, even when they are destroying property. I believe the Ontario has some sort of tribunal you have to go through to deal with issues and it’s not the easiest process. Sorry that’s all I know about the rules out there. Bill
What about if the situation is in Alberta, what rights does the landlord have.I’m not sure I understand the question Amy? Did you read the actual article? Or is this is response to one of the other comments on this page? Bill
I just want to know how many days notice I need to give. They are always late with the rent but do pay and my ex is wanting to move back into his home…does he need to give a full 90 days?
Thanks
Kristi
Edmonton, AB
Hi Kristi, You need to provide the tenants with three full months written notice to terminate this. So yes it’s 90 days, but it must include three complete months, so if you give them notice anytime prior to the end of April will be for August 1st. Alternatively you could evict them for continuous breach of rent, but if you’ve never issued them an eviction notice or provided them written notice for some type that they were in breach it could be considered how you do business and could get thrown out. Hope that helps, Bill
Made a verbal agreement with someone to share part of my home. It has ended up not being what we verbally agreed. How much notice do I have to give this person?
Hi Jane, Are you the owner, or on the lease together?You might be able to push it through as falling under the Innkeeper’s Act as technically you are subletting or acting as the landlord for this individual. so go with my earlier option of letting them know they can go on their own or you will evict them under the Innkeeper’s Act. Note I am not a lawyer, this is just my thought, so if you want to be entirely protected, check with a lawyer. Bill
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 […]
