With the holiday season just around the corner, it’s that time of year again for hosting guests. If you are currently renting a property and plan to have guests over, there are several things you need to know. The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is the law that applies to most renting situations in … [Read more...]
Having Problems with another Tenant?
Is another tenant living in your building driving you crazy? Are they making excessive noise? Leaving garbage out in the hallway? Are they dumping dirty water or flicking cigarette butts onto your balcony? For many renters, living alongside people who they may or may not get along with is a fact of … [Read more...]
Tenant Move-Outs: Cleaning and Security Deposit Deductions
The rules for cleaning and security deposit deductions for landlords and tenants in Alberta. Your lease is expiring in one week and you have already given notice to your landlord that you are moving out. You think that everything looks clean but you are just not sure whether you should stay up … [Read more...]
Shared Accommodation Problems: What Can A Tenant Do?
Here at CPLEA, we have been getting more questions lately about shared accommodation problems. There are two living arrangements that typically fall under the term shared accommodation: roommates living together in a rental property and a landlord and tenant(s) sharing living space (for example, a … [Read more...]
Renting Out Your Condominium: Six Facts You Need to Know
Did you know that both the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and Condominium Property Act (CPA) apply to condominium rentals? As a landlord and owner of a condominium unit, you must be familiar with your responsibilities under both pieces of legislation. In Alberta, the RTA is the law that applies to … [Read more...]
What is an offence under provincial renting laws?
In many provinces, the law that applies to landlords and tenants states that if someone breaches specific sections under that law, then they have committed an offence. For example, in Nova Scotia, section 23 of the Residential Tenancies Act states the following: Any person who violates or fails to … [Read more...]
Can a landlord charge a tenant for renovations?
I just got a question from a tenant. The landlord replaced all the windows in the rental property, and then gave the tenant a bill for half the cost of the renovations. Seriously. The tenant doesn’t have to pay the landlord the money. There are some costs that are simply the costs of doing … [Read more...]
I’ve Been Good. Can My Landlord Make Me Move?
Can a landlord end a tenancy when the tenant has not done anything wrong? It depends. We're going to look at some different factors that come into answering this question. Just so we're all on the same page, today we're talking about periodic tenancies, which are the kinds of tenancies that continue … [Read more...]
What should you do if you get an eviction notice?
There are a lot of different notices that a landlord can serve on a tenant. The notices that we receive the most questions about are the eviction notices. We’re going to talk about eviction notices that are given where there is fault being alleged by the landlord. In other words, the landlord is … [Read more...]
Volunteerism Fuels Class Action at the Landlord Tenant Board
“I couldn’t raise my children here, there were mice, cockroaches... every day. I accepted this as part of my life for too long. What changed was a light went on in my head, and I realized that this was not right.” - Fatima Fatima is one of nearly 25 low-income tenants who decided to take … [Read more...]