Renting a Place to Live/Tenants/Tenant Remedies
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Tenant Remedies
I have issues with my landlord but don?t have a lot of money to take him to court. What can I do?
First, read your lease. Second, find out about the law that relates to your situation. Your lease and the law will tell you what your rights are and whether you have a valid reason to complain about your landlord. Once you understand your rights, you could discuss the matters with your landlord and hopefully resolve your issues.
If that is not successful and you feel that your landlord is not living up to his obligations, there are other ways you can pursue the issues. Some will cost money to pursue and some will not.
- If you have a Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board in your area, you can ask it to look into the matter and possibly deal with the landlord for you.
- If the issues relate to an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), you can report the matter to Alberta Government Services for investigation.
- If the issues relate to public health, you can report the matter to the local health authority or possibly to the municipality for investigation.
If none of the above options applies or is successful, you may have to consider court proceedings. The RTA provides remedies for tenants in certain situations. Although it is helpful to have the assistance of a lawyer, you can fill out the necessary Renting a Place to Live/Resources#Websites forms for a court application and go to court by yourself. There are court fees that have to be paid.
Can the local government take action against a landlord who does not look after property?
Yes. If the city, town, or village that you live in has a bylaw dealing with property maintenance, this may be an option for you. You can contact your local government office to ask if there is such a bylaw in your area. If so, read the bylaw to see what matters it covers and what you have to do to report an offence.
Even if your local government does not have such a bylaw, the public health requirements mentioned in the question " What kinds of actions can be reported to a regional health authority?" apply to the whole province of Alberta.
What kinds of actions can be reported to a regional health authority?
An owner of a building must keep the building up to certain standards and provide the people that live in the building with
- sleeping space,
- hot and cold running water,
- adequate heat, and
- sanitary facilities.
The standards for the building include items such as
- keeping windows and outside doors in good repair,
- making sure there are no pest infestations,
- providing screens for windows and other ventilation points when insects are prevalent, and
- keeping the roof and outside cladding in good repair.
If a building owner is not doing any one of these things, or other requirements set out in public health laws, a tenant can complain to a regional health authority. The authority will investigate and decide whether to enforce the law against the building owner.
I have made repairs to my apartment at my own expense. The lease states that my landlord was to do these repairs but he ignored this, even when I told him. How can I recover the money I have spent?
If you have exhausted all other efforts, you can start court proceedings against your landlord. For this situation, you do not have to begin a trial process. You can ask the court for an appointment to hear this matter. The appointment is called an application.
You must fill out a Notice of Application form which can be obtained at the courthouse or the Alberta Courts website. The form contains spaces for dealing with a number of different items. Only check those that apply to your case (e.g., claiming damages for breaching the tenancy agreement). When filling out the form, be sure that you have the correct name for your landlord. You must file the completed form at a provincial courthouse and pay the filing fee.
You must also file a sworn affidavit (statement made under oath). Affidavit forms can be found at the courthouse or the Alberta Courts website. When the court has stamped and filed your form and affidavit, you will be given the date and time of your court appointment. You must then serve the form and affidavit on your landlord.
I am having a problem with ants in my apartment. I have told my landlord several times, but he has not done anything about it. Is there anything I can do?
Yes. If your landlord ignores the problem, you can make a complaint to your regional health authority who will investigate the matter. The office has the power to order that the matter be dealt with in some way. The law prevents your landlord from evicting you because you made a complaint.
Your landlord has an obligation to make sure the premises comply with public health requirements at all times. One of these requirements is to ensure premises are free of pest infestations.
If the public health authority investigates, it can serve notice on your landlord to fix the problem. If your landlord ignores the order, you can either apply to court to end the tenancy, or serve your landlord with a 14-day notice that you are going to end the tenancy. If your landlord fixes the problem within 14 days, your termination notice is void.
If the landlord serves a Notice of Objection to your notice, you will then have to go to court to apply to end the tenancy. Given the time and expense involved in this process, you may be better off if you have a periodic tenancy to simply give your landlord the required amount of notice to end the tenancy. This notice can be served at any time.
Under the terms of my residential tenancy agreement, my landlady agreed to carry out repairs to all the appliances and the plumbing. Two weeks ago, the refrigerator stopped working. I complained immediately, but still no one has come to look at it. Can I use some of my rent money to get someone to fix the refrigerator?
No. You should not use your rent money for anything other than paying the rent. Even if you feel that your landlady is not living up to her obligations, you must continue to pay the rent; otherwise, your landlady can evict you for non-payment of rent.
You do have other remedies that you can pursue. You could call someone to repair the fridge and then take legal action against the landlady for the cost of the repair. In court, you could also claim a reduction in rent for the period that you were without the use of the fridge and a sum for general damages for your inconvenience.
Before taking legal action, you might wish to try talking to your landlady to explain the difficulties you are having and to see if you can work out a course of action acceptable to both of you.
For the last two weeks, there has been renovation work going on in my apartment building. I work at home a lot during the day and find it very loud. My tenancy agreement states that my landlord would not disturb my peaceful enjoyment of the premises. Is there anything I can do about this?
The term "peaceful enjoyment" of the premises does not mean literally that your landlord guarantees that the property will be quiet or peaceful. It means that your landlord will not interfere with your ability to live in and enjoy the property. In order for there to be a breach of the promise of quiet enjoyment by your landlord, there has to be a physical interference with enjoying the premises. There must also be evidence that the landlord has either done something or not done something which has led to the interference. What is sufficient interference will depend upon the circumstances of each case.
Your first option should probably be to speak to your landlord to see if anything can be arranged with regard to the timing of the work. If this is still not satisfactory, another option is to take legal action against your landlord for breach of his obligation to allow you peaceful enjoyment. In considering the case, a court will want to see that the interference with your rights has been significant.
If the premises were rented as residential accommodation, then it is possible that a court would find that the daytime noise is not interfering with your ability to live there. The fact that you cannot work there may not be relevant because that is not the purpose for which the property was rented. In fact, you might want to check your tenancy agreement to see that it doesn't say anything about "not" working in the premises. You might also check local zoning and business licence rules before you make a public fight on this issue.
I have reported a problem with my landlord to the local Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board. It said that it could mediate the problem for me. What is mediation?
Mediation is when a third person talks to all the parties involved in a disagreement and tries to help them find a solution that is agreeable to everyone. It can take place in a meeting with all parties, or if that is not possible, the mediator can talk to each party by phone. Mediation is voluntary, so no one can make you or your landlord take part if you do not want to. Any agreement that you reach will also be voluntary.
How do I start a court action?
You can hire a lawyer to take action for you or you can take the steps yourself. You must first complete a civil claim form which can be obtained from your local provincial courthouse or the Alberta Courts website. You must be sure to complete the form accurately. Be sure that you have the right name of the landlord. If your landlord is a company, you can carry out a name search against the company through an Alberta Registry to be sure the name is correct.
Once the form is completed, you must file it at the court office and pay a filing fee. You are also responsible for getting a copy to your landlord. You can
- give it to the landlord in person;
- leave it at your landlord?s usual address with someone who is at least 16 years of age; or
- mail it by registered mail.
If your landlord is a company, different rules apply as to where and how the forms must be sent.
You can also hire a process server to give documents to the other party. This person must complete an Affidavit of Service, which confirms how and when the documents were given to the landlord.
What happens after I have given the court forms to the landlord?
The landlord then has an opportunity to file a Dispute Note with the court to defend the claim. If a Dispute Note is not filed within 20 days of the court action papers being served, you can ask the court office to issue an order that the landlord should pay you the amount you have claimed. A form called Requesting Default Judgment is available at the Alberta Courts website. If the amount you have claimed is a straightforward debt, the court office can issue the order. If the amount you have claimed is more complicated, you will be given an appointment in court with a judge.
If your landlord files a Dispute Note, the court office will set a date for a trial. In some centres, you might be directed to try mediation before a trial date will be set.
My landlord has served me with a claim for loss of rent (I left a fixed-term tenancy before the term was finished) and for the cost of damage to the property. The papers say it is a Civil Claim in Provincial Court. What should I do?
If you want to defend the claim you must file the Dispute Note that was served with the claim. It must be filed with the court within 20 days of receiving the claim, or 30 days if you are outside Alberta. You can include details of any claim you are making against your landlord. This is called a "counterclaim". Once you have filed and served your papers, the court will set a hearing date.
You should also check that you are named correctly in the claim and that the claim has not been filed over two years from when your landlord could have first claimed these sums from you. If it has been over two years, the claim might be invalid. This is something that you might want to consult a lawyer about.
If you do not want to defend the claim, you can contact your landlord to try to agree on a solution. If you do nothing, your landlord will be able to enter judgment against you after the time period for filing a Dispute Note has passed. You can apply to have the judgment set aside, but you will still have to decide whether to dispute or settle the case.
You might want to consult a lawyer about your case — although it is possible to represent yourself in Provincial Court.
See Also
This page was last updated in November, 2004.
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