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...]
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...]
New website from CPLEA: Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta
The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta (CPLEA) is excited to announce the launch of our newly redesigned Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta website. The new Laws for Landlords and Tenants website reflects the feedback CPLEA received from landlords and tenants across Alberta. It … [Read more...]
If your Employment Ends… Laws for Tenants in Alberta
With oil prices dropping significantly and Target closing its doors, thousands of Albertans have lost their jobs. Many thousands more are worried everyday that they could lose their job. The Centre for Public Legal Education (CPLEA) has created a new tip sheet for Alberta tenants who are having … [Read more...]
Domestic Violence, Renting and the Law
Homelessness is often a result of domestic violence (DV). When someone is fleeing violence at home, he or she needs somewhere to live and often has few or limited resources. There are additional difficulties if the person is a renter and either wants to remain living in the property, or is trying to … [Read more...]
Leases and Residential Tenancy Agreement Forms
Alberta doesn't have standard leases or residential tenancy agreement forms. This means that the landlord and the tenant can make up their own agreements, or they can use forms available from organizations across Alberta that develop them. Landlords and tenants should make sure that they are using … [Read more...]
Alberta Housing Act
This is part of a blog series for Housing Month. Click here to see the full series. The Alberta Housing Act is a law that deals with subsidized housing. Under that law, management bodies are approved by the province to operate subsidized housing in communities across the province. If you are … [Read more...]
November is Housing Month
To celebrate November being housing month, I will be highlighting programs, services and organizations that help within the housing sector in Alberta. I'm the most familiar with renting resources, as CPLEA coordinates the Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta program, but we'll try to get … [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...]
