Renting a Place to Live/Tenants/Notices
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Notices
I pay rent on the 15th of each month. I moved in on March 1st. I know that if I have to give notice to leave the premises, I have to give notice of one tenancy month. Does my tenancy month begin on the first or the 15th of each month?
Your tenancy month begins on the 15th of each month unless you and your landlord agreed upon another date in the residential tenancy agreement.
I agreed to rent a house for one year. My landlord and I never discussed what would happen when the year was over. The fixed term ended two months ago, but I have stayed in the house and carried on paying my monthly rent. Now my landlord has told me I have to leave at the end of this month. Can he do this?
No. When your fixed term ended and you stayed in the house, your tenancy became a periodic tenancy. Because you continued paying the rent and your landlord accepted it, he agreed by implication that you could remain in the house. In order to have you leave the house, your landlord must follow the rules relating to the termination of monthly periodic tenancies. In general, this requires three months notice which can only be given for specific reasons.
Note: Notice may be longer or shorter if your employment is tied to your living accommodation and your employment is terminated, or the landlord wishes to convert the property to condominiums.
When is my landlord allowed to come into my property?
In some situations, your landlord is allowed to enter your property with notice to you even if you do not agree that he can enter. Notice must be given at least 24 hours before the time the landlord is going to enter the premises, and the time of entry must be between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on a day that is not a holiday. The situations are
- to inspect the property to consider repairs;
- to carry out repairs;
- to show the property, or to allow a realtor to show the property to people who might buy it or need to carry out a mortgage inspection;
- to show the property to people who might want to rent it. Prospective renters can only be shown the property in the last month of a fixed-term tenancy or after a periodic tenancy has been terminated; and
- to carry out pest control measures in order that the premises meet public health standards.
A landlord can enter the rented property without any notice or agreement when an emergency requires him or her to enter, or where a tenant has abandoned the property.
I agreed to a one-year lease with my landlady that was from March 1, 1999 until February 28, 2000. Because we were both uncertain about our plans, we had agreed in the lease that during the year either of us could give one-month notice to the other to end the agreement. I had been talking to my landlady about renewing the lease, but we never did. It is now June 2000. I have carried on paying with monthly rent cheques, which she has cashed. Today I received a notice from my landlady asking me to leave in one month because she wants to sell the place. Can she do this?
No. When the tenancy for the fixed term ended and you stayed in the premises, the tenancy became a monthly periodic tenancy. Your landlady can give you notice based upon the fact that she has agreed to sell the property, but she has to give you three months notice. If she gave you notice today and it is later than the first day of this month, the minimum that the notice period can be is three months from the last day of this month.
I have rented an apartment on an ongoing basis for the last two years. I pay rent monthly. I just gave notice of one month to my landlady, but she says I have to give three months notice because that is what we agreed to in the lease. Is she right?
No. The Residential Tenancies Act requires a tenant in a monthly periodic tenancy to give a one-month notice period of leaving to a landlord. It is possible to make an agreement that will increase the rights given to the tenant by the Act, for example, two weeks notice. However, it is not possible to decrease the rights given by the Act by requiring three months notice when the Act only requires one month.
Even if you agreed to something different in the lease, you cannot override the protection of the Act. Therefore, it is appropriate for you to give notice of one month to your landlady.
My landlord sent me a letter of termination by fax. Can he do this?
Yes, if all other efforts have failed. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, notices to end a tenancy must be served personally or sent by registered mail. If a landlord is having trouble serving a notice on a tenant, the notice can be given to an adult person who lives with the tenant, or by posting it in a conspicuous place at the rented premises. If all of these methods fail, notice can be served electronically as long as it will result in a printed copy of the notice being received in the rented premises.
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This page was last updated in November, 2004.
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