Renting a Place to Live/Tenants/Shared Accommodations
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Shared Accommodations
Two of my friends and I are going to rent an apartment while we are going to university and will all sign the lease. Does this mean we all have the same rights and obligations?
Yes. As roommates who are all signing the lease, you will each be considered to be a tenant. You will all be bound by both the terms of the lease and the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act (as long as it is not a tenancy excluded by the Act, for example, where you share living facilities with your landlord, or it is accommodation rented by the educational institution and is not exclusive possession in a self-contained unit).
I am moving into a house that is rented by some of my friends. They say that I don't have to sign a lease, just move in and share the rent. Will I have the right to stay there or could I be kicked out on short notice if I haven't signed the lease?
It will depend upon whether the terms of the lease or tenancy agreement permit you to live in the house and thereby become a tenant even if you have not signed the lease. Minimum notice periods and other tenant rights are set out by the Residential Tenancies Act. In order for you to have the protection of those rights under the Act, you have to be classified as a tenant. A tenant includes anyone who is allowed by a landlord to live in residential premises under a residential tenancy agreement. This suggests that even if you do not sign the agreement as a tenant, but the tenancy agreement allows you to live there, you have the rights and obligations of a tenant as set out in the Act. It will be important for you to look at the terms of the lease or tenancy agreement that your friends signed to see if it allows for you to move in.
For example, the lease might require new tenants to serve notice on the landlord, state that only a certain number of tenants are permitted to live in the house, or state that someone staying in the house does not automatically become a tenant.
If the tenancy agreement does not allow you to live in the premises, you will not be considered to be a tenant. The landlord could serve a Notice to Vacate on you which requires you to leave within 14 days.
I am moving into a house with some friends who have been living there for some time. The lease allows me to live there, so I will become a legitimate tenant without signing the lease. The lease states that tenants are responsible for upkeep in the yard. Since I haven't signed the lease, does this apply to me too?
There are arguments that go both ways in this situation. You fall within the definition of tenant for the purposes of rights and obligations set out in the Residential Tenancies Act; however, you have not signed the contract (lease) between the landlord and the tenants. Because of that, it could be said that you are not a party to that agreement and are therefore not bound by extra obligations that go beyond the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act.
On the other hand, it could be argued that your ongoing relationship with the landlord suggests that you really are a party to the agreement and therefore you should assume those extra obligations. It could also be said that upkeep of the yard is part of a tenant's obligations in the Residential Tenancies Act to maintain the premises.
In the interests of harmony in your household, it is probably more beneficial to assume that you are bound by the terms of the lease. Even if you are not going to sign the lease, you should ask to see it before you move in to understand the obligations your roommates may expect you to fulfill.
We rent an apartment which we want to keep over the summer months and return to next fall, but none of us will be around to live there during the summer. Can we sublet it if we keep paying the rent to the landlord?
Yes, if you get written consent from your landlord to sublet. A landlord can only refuse on reasonable grounds and must give you the reasons in writing. What is reasonable will differ from case to case. If your landlord does not answer your request within 14 days, you are entitled to assume consent has been given. Your landlord cannot charge you a fee for requesting consent to sublet.
If we sublet our apartment, do we still pay rent to the landlord?
The legal effect of subletting is that you are still the tenants of the landlord and therefore still liable for the rent. The subtenant is also included within the definition of tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act and therefore also has a statutory duty under the Act to pay rent when due. You could arrange, with the agreement of the landlord, to have the subtenant pay the rent directly to the landlord, or you could collect it and pass it on.
If the subtenant does not pay the rent for any reason, you will still be liable to pay the landlord the rent.
Do we need to make an agreement with subtenants about renting our apartment?
Yes. If you know the specific time that you are going to sublet the apartment, it is preferable to make a fixed-term agreement so that you rent it, for example, from May 15th to August 31st. If you make a periodic agreement, for example, by renting from week to week, you will be limited in the timing and reasons that you can ask the tenants to leave when you want to move back in.
Your agreement with the subtenants should include all the obligations that you agreed to in your lease with the landlord, because you will still be liable for those obligations and you will want to make sure they are carried out. You can consider any extra terms that you think might be necessary.
If we decide that we need our apartment back from subtenants before the agreed time, can we give them notice to leave?
It will depend upon the kind of sublease agreement you have with the subtenants.
If you have a periodic tenancy, you can only end the tenancy for one of the reasons permitted by the law and with the required amount of notice.
If you have a fixed-term tenancy, you might have agreed with the subtenant in the sublease about reasons to end the tenancy early and if you fall within one of those reasons, then your agreement will permit you to end the sublease at an earlier time. However, without any such provisions, the subtenant could refuse to leave or take action against you for damages if you force them to leave.
One of my roommates is moving out and we don't have anyone new to move in right away. Is he still responsible for his share of the rent?
Yes, but you are all bound jointly to pay all the rent by your agreement with the landlord and so the landlord will expect the rest of you to pay the whole rent.
If a tenant leaves, he is still bound by the rules set out in the tenancy agreement, for example, the obligation to pay rent. To deal with this issue, the tenant who is leaving can ask to be taken off the tenancy agreement. This new agreement should be in writing and signed by everyone to avoid later difficulties.
My friend and I rented an apartment together and each paid half the security deposit. She moved out and wants her half of the security deposit back. Can she get it from the landlord?
Your landlord is under no obligation to return half of the security deposit unless you specifically agreed to that possibility in the original tenancy agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, the security deposit will only be returned when the tenancy ends. This means your friend will either have to wait for her part of the security deposit or she will have to negotiate to get her half from you now — then you would keep the entire deposit when it is returned at the end of the tenancy.
I share a house with three friends. We all give separate cheques to the landlord for our share of the rent. If one of us doesn?t pay their share, can the landlord evict all of us?
Yes. If the total amount of rent is not received by the landlord at the right time, he could issue a notice of eviction for non-payment of rent. Any notice to end the tenancy will apply to all the tenants.
As tenants who have all signed the lease, you are each responsible for all of the rent. The landlord will only be concerned that the whole amount is paid, not which tenants paid it. Even if one person moved out, the landlord would still require the whole rent from the remaining tenants.
I've heard that it is a good idea to have an agreement between tenants as well as an agreement with the landlord. Is this a good idea?
Having a separate written agreement between roommates can help in making issues clear. You can agree about things like responsibility for bills, how rent is to be shared, the possibility of reimbursing each other for a share of the security deposit if one tenant leaves before the end of the tenancy, and who is responsible for what chores in the house. You could also include general statements about respect for each other and privacy.
However, even though an agreement between roommates is a very good idea, the agreement is only as good as the people who agree to it. For that reason, you should make sure you are comfortable with the people you intend to live with before you enter into a legal relationship with them. Make sure they are able to pay rent, that their lifestyle is similar to your own, and that they are trustworthy.
I had a bad experience with my last roommate but I cannot afford to live alone. What can I do to ensure that things go better next time?
You will both be bound by the rights and responsibilities that are outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act. However, in addition to the laws, it is a good idea to have a written agreement with your roommate about the things that are important to you. You should agree on how things are going to be handled, such as
- rent,
- utilities, and
- security deposits.
In addition, you might want to agree on things like
- cleaning,
- paying for food,
- parties and guests,
- pets,
- noise levels, and
- the borrowing of personal property.
I have not signed a lease for my basement suite apartment. I had a roommate move in with me to help with the rent. Now my landlord says that I cannot have a roommate. Does he have the right to do that? Can I move out with just one month notice if he insists that my roommate move out?
Although you have not signed a lease, you still have an agreement or understanding with your landlord about the terms under which you live in the property. If you both agreed that you would be the only occupant of the property, then that is a term of the tenancy agreement even though it was not written down. Your landlord could then insist the agreement be kept.
If there was no mention of whether or not other occupants can live in the suite, the issue might come down to the status of the roommate. If your landlord knew the person was there and accepted rent from that person, it could be argued that the roommate was in fact a tenant. Any notice to end the tenancy would then have to be in accordance with notice provisions under the Residential Tenancies Act. If your friend has no right to be in the suite, your landlord can serve a notice requiring the roommate to move within 14 days.
The amount of notice that you have to give depends upon the type of tenancy you have. It will be different depending upon whether you have a weekly, monthly, or yearly tenancy.
My roommate is moving out before the end of our lease and wants me to pay him his share of the security deposit and the interest that the landlord would have paid at the end of our lease. Do I have to pay? How is interest calculated?
No, you do not have to pay your former roommate his share if he moves out before the end of the lease. Your landlord is under no obligation to return the security deposit until you both move out.
However, if you decide to pay him his half and the interest, you can find the amount of interest you would owe by using the interest calculator on the Alberta Government Services website.
I moved into a house with friends but did not sign anything. We agreed that I would pay them $300 each month for rent and help out with groceries. After a few months, they now want $500 for rent each month starting next month. I want to move out; do I have to give them notice?
This is a good example of why roommates should have a written agreement among themselves in addition to a lease with the landlord. It might be the case that your friends are the landlords of the property, for example, if they own it or have permission to sublet. If you are sharing living quarters with a landlord, the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply and your oral agreement will govern your rights and responsibilities. Did you discuss any of these things with your roommates before you moved in? If you had an agreement about rent increases and notice for moving out, then you may be bound by those terms.
If your friends are renting from a landlord, it will be important for you to know whether you are also a tenant. The Residential Tenancies Act states that a tenant includes anyone who is allowed to live in residential premises under a residential tenancy agreement. This means that even if you did not sign an agreement but the landlord allowed you to live there, you still have the rights and obligations of a tenant as set out in the Act. This would include paying rent and giving notice.
You should check what the total rent is that the landlord requires to be sure that the share requested of you is accurate.
Can we evict subtenants if they don't take care of the apartment?
Who can do the evicting depends on your status as landlords and whether or not the primary landlord wants to do the evicting. Subtenants become tenants of the primary landlord as far as the Residential Tenancies Act is concerned. If the primary landlord thinks that the subtenants are in breach of the obligation to maintain the property, he can use the procedures under the Act to evict the subtenants.
If any of the original tenants who made the agreement with the subtenants have stayed in the apartment, then you will likely not be considered to be landlords under the Residential Tenancies Act. The Act does not cover rental situations where a landlord shares living quarters with a tenant. In that scenario, you would have to use principles of common law to evict the tenants.
If none of you are living there, you would be considered a landlord under the Act and could use the procedures to evict the subtenants.
I am going to share a rented house with several other students. We will each have our own room but share the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Will the Residential Tenancies Act cover our house?
If you or one of the other students sharing the house is also the landlord, then the tenancy would not be covered by the Act. If the landlord is not living in the house or sharing the living quarters, the tenancy is covered by the Act.
I am going to rent a room in a house that is already being rented and lived in by some students. Will I be considered a tenant of the property if I don't sign the lease?
It depends on a number of factors. The Residential Tenancies Act states that a tenant is anyone who is allowed to live in a residence under the terms of a residential tenancy agreement. Therefore, if the tenancy agreement permits you to move in, you will likely be considered a tenant for the purposes of rights and obligations that arise under the Act.
A lease might also include extra rights and obligations that are not dealt with by the Act, for example, the obligation to carry out repairs. If you have not signed the lease it might be said that you are not bound by the extra terms. The counter argument might be that there is something about the circumstances of your ongoing relationship with the landlord that could be construed as an implied agreement and that you should assume those extra obligations.
If the tenancy agreement does not allow you to move into the property, then you would not be a tenant. For example, the lease might state that a maximum number of people can live in the property, that occupants do not automatically become tenants, or that the permission of the landlord is required before someone new moves in.
I am concerned about sharing a place to live with two of my friends. We will all sign the lease, but if someone does not pay his share of the rent, can the landlord evict us all?
Yes. If the total amount of rent is not received by the landlord at the right time, he or she could issue a notice of eviction for non-payment of rent. Any notice to end the tenancy will apply to all the tenants.
As tenants who have all signed the lease, you are each responsible for all of the rent. The landlord will only be concerned that the whole amount is paid, not which tenants paid it. Even if one person left, the landlord would still require the whole rent from the remaining tenants.
It's a good idea to have a written agreement between roommates that is separate from the tenancy agreement. Roommates can agree about responsibility for bills, how rent is to be shared, and the possibility of reimbursing each other for a share of the security deposit if one tenant leaves before the end of the tenancy.
I rented an apartment and signed a lease with my landlord. My friend came to live with me a few months ago and shares the rent. If she leaves, will I have to carry on paying the full rent to my landlord by myself?
Yes. Depending upon the facts of the particular situation, there are a few ways that this kind of arrangement could be defined legally. If the landlord knows that your friend is living there, it could be argued that your friend is also a tenant because the Act defines a tenant as a person who is permitted to live in the premises under the terms of the tenancy agreement. For this reason, many tenancy agreements will state that a person who is staying at the premises does not automatically become a tenant. Alternatively, it might be argued that the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply to your agreement with your friend because you are in the position of being her landlord. The Act does not apply when a landlord (you) is residing in the house and sharing the living quarters with the tenant (your friend).
However, even if all occupants of a residence are parties to a tenancy agreement, they are each responsible for the whole rent, not just their portion. So even if your friend is a tenant, you are still responsible for the whole rent once she is no longer paying a share.
It can be a good idea to make a written agreement with your friend that covers her obligations to you. You would still have to enforce this agreement against your friend if she was unwilling to pay the rent.
My cousin has been staying in a room in my apartment for the last few months. He has been in a bit of trouble with my landlady for being noisy, and now my landlady says she wants my cousin to leave the building. Can she force my cousin to leave?
Yes. When a landlord wants to evict a person living with you, she can issue a Notice To Vacate. The notice must give the person at least 14 days to leave the property from the time the notice is served. The notice must be written, signed by the landlord or her agent, and it must set out the date and time by which the person must leave the premises. If a person living with you does not leave by the time set out in the Notice to Vacate, your landlord can apply to court for an order that the person leave the premises.
I signed a lease for a year, but I just found out that my job requires me to move next month. My cousin is willing to move in and pay rent instead of me. Can she do this?
In this situation, you can ask whether the landlord will allow you to break your lease and then make a new one with your cousin, or whether he will allow you to sublet or assign the lease.
You have to get written permission from your landlord to sublet or assign. If you ask for permission and your landlord does not reply within 14 days, he is taken to have given consent. If your landlord refuses to agree to allow you to sublet or assign, the reasons given must be reasonable.
Your landlord cannot charge you a fee or ask for anything else for agreeing to the assignment or sublet.
If I can't break my lease, would it be better for me to sublet my apartment or assign my lease when I move?
There are different considerations for each situation.
If you sublet the apartment, you will still be responsible for the rent and other obligations under the tenancy agreement and the Residential Tenancies Act. For example, if your cousin moves in and she does not pay the rent, you will still be liable to pay it. Subletting is not very secure for the person that moves in (sublease), as his or her occupation of the property depends on the lease between the original tenant and the landlord. For example, if the landlord terminates the original tenancy agreement, the sublease will also end.
If you assign the lease, your cousin will become the tenant, but it is necessary for you to obtain a release from the landlord. If you do not obtain a release, you will remain responsible for the rent. A release will be a new agreement which releases you from all your obligations as a tenant. Once the release is signed, your cousin becomes responsible for all obligations under the lease.
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This page was last updated in November, 2004.
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