More and more people are signing documents electronically, including digital leases, but are these documents legally binding the same way paper copies and ink signatures are? What happens when you electronically sign a document like a digital residential lease? Is it legally binding like a … [Read more...]
About Judy Feng
All About Rental Fees (Part 2): Parking fees, late payment of rent fees, and lease break fees
Part 2 of this 2-part article looks at whether rental fees like parking fees, late payment of rent fees, and lease break fees are legal under Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act. Over the past year, CPLEA has been hearing about confusion over fees that landlords are charging tenants. The first … [Read more...]
All About Rental Fees (Part 1): Refundable vs non-refundable
Landlords try to charge fees, both refundable and non-refundable, for lots of things, but are these rental fees legal? CPLEA has been hearing lately about confusion over fees that landlords are charging tenants. There also seems to be confusion about whether increasing fees triggers rent … [Read more...]
Double take on mortgages
Getting a mortgage to buy a home is a significant decision. Five things you should know about mortgages include lending terms, security for the mortgage, open vs. closed mortgages, and defaulting on the mortgage. AUTHOR'S NOTE Some of the following content is adapted from CPLEA’s Nested course. … [Read more...]
2022 Housing and Consumer Year in Review
A look back at important housing and consumer topics in 2022, including household debt, rent increases and housing affordability. If this year has taught us anything, housing and consumer law issues are more important than ever. We began the year hearing about soaring house prices throughout … [Read more...]
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL): Do you know what you are getting into?
As BNPL gains popularity among Canadian shoppers, here are three things you should know about it plus some words of caution. You may notice that many online retailers (also known as merchants) now allow you to buy goods and services through a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option. Thinking of buying a … [Read more...]
Rights Within Your Property: Did you know?
Your property rights when it comes to property boundaries, fences, airspace, peaceful enjoyment, and encroachments. Ever wonder whether your fence defines property boundaries and whether there are laws about fences? Do you know what you own and control on your property? How about neighborhood … [Read more...]
Housing Affordability in Review
With November being housing month, it seems like the right time to reflect on the current housing affordability situation. In November 2018, we featured an article covering the housing affordability experience in British Columbia and Ontario, with a focus on Vancouver and Toronto. Both provinces … [Read more...]
Mould and Rental Properties
Caselaw suggests mould can be a deficiency that affects whether a property is fit for living in. But who's responsible for it? We recently heard about a tricky situation involving mould in a rental property. During a property inspection, the landlord found severe mould in the unit. The tenant … [Read more...]
Condominium Bylaws and Rules: 5 things to know
On January 1, 2020, revised condominium governance regulations came into effect in Alberta. This article is part of a multi-part article series on Alberta’s new condominium regulations. This article provides a quick summary of the top five things you need to know about bylaws and rules. 1. … [Read more...]
