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...]
CMHC Worksheets and Sample Letters for Renters
This is part of a blog series for Housing Month. Click here to see the full series. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a lot of information on their website, but today we're going to highlight their worksheets and sample letters for renters. The sample letters cover situations … [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...]
Living with your Landlord
Each province has one law that applies to most renting situations, and then other laws that you may need to know about depending on the kind of property that you are renting. For example, if you are renting a condominium unit in Alberta, you’d want to know about the Residential Tenancies Act and the … [Read more...]
Co-Tenants and Co-Responsibilities
Kim and Tim are in love. They decide to move in to a new place together, and they both sign the lease. Kim and Tim fall out of love, and Kim moves out. Tim stays living in the apartment for three years, and then he falls behind on his rent payments. Three years after Kim moved out, she gets sued by … [Read more...]
Renting with a Pet
After a long day at work, you might think it would be nice to be greeted at the door by a wagging tail and enthusiastic licks from a stalwart companion. Or to look up as you’re leaving for the day and see your feline friend watching you leave from the window. Before choosing to get a pet, however, … [Read more...]
Protecting Your Personal Information When You Rent
When tenants apply to rent somewhere to live, they usually have to fill out long pages of information about themselves, and they often don’t question why or how the landlord is going to use the personal information that they are providing. Tenants should be concerned about protecting their personal … [Read more...]