Important Things to Know About Tenancies
About the Board
The Landlord and Tenant Board (the Board) resolves disputes between tenants and landlords. It is similar to a court.
Either a landlord or a tenant can apply to the Board. Their disputes can be worked out through mediation or adjudication.
In mediation, a Board Mediator helps a landlord and tenant reach an agreement they are both satisfied with.
In adjudication, a hearing is usually held. A Board Member makes a decision based on the evidence the landlord and tenant present, and then issues an order. An order is the final, written version of the Board Member’s decision.
The Board also provides landlords and tenants with information about the rights and responsibilities they have under the Act.
To contact the Board, see the section For More Information at the end of this brochure.
About tenancy agreements
The landlord and tenant can sign a written agreement when a new tenancy is entered into, or they can have an oral agreement. A tenancy agreement is often called a lease. The landlord must give the tenant a copy of any written lease.
The lease should not contain any terms that are inconsistent with the Act. If the lease does contain a term that is inconsistent with the Act, that term will not be enforced by the Board.
The landlord must also give the tenant the landlord’s legal name and address so that the tenant can give the landlord any necessary notices or documents.
Whether there is a written or oral lease, landlords must provide new tenants with information about the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants and about the role of the Landlord and Tenant Board. The landlord must give this information to the tenant on or before the start of the tenancy, in a form approved by the Board. The Board has a two-page brochure that landlords should use for this purpose.
About Rent
Rent for a new tenant
When a new tenancy is entered into, the landlord and tenant decide how much the rent will be for a rental unit and which services will be included in the rent (for example, parking, cable, heat, electricity).
In most cases, the rent cannot be increased until at least 12 months after the tenant moved in.
Rent deposits
A landlord can collect a rent deposit from a new tenant on or before the start of a new tenancy. Where the tenant pays rent by the month, the deposit cannot be more than one month’s rent; where the tenant pays rent by the week, the deposit cannot be more than one week’s rent.
The rent deposit can only be used as the rent payment for the last month or week before the tenant moves out. It cannot be used for anything else, such as repairing damage to the rental unit.
If the landlord gives the tenant a notice to increase the rent, the landlord can also ask the tenant to increase the rent deposit by the same amount.
A landlord must pay the tenant interest on the rent deposit every year. Under the Act, the interest rate is the same as the rent increase guideline (see the section Rent Increase Guideline).
Exception: For the first interest payment that the landlord has to give the tenant after January 31, 2007 (this is the date the Residential Tenancies Act became the law), a 6% interest rate applies for the months up to January 31, 2007.