Notice to vacate for Landlord use of Property
When an investor buys a rental property which is currently tenanted, what options does the new owner have? Are you allowed to evict the tenants and find your own tenants?
Residential Tenancy Laws in BC require an owner of individual rental properties to occupy the unit in good faith for a minimum of six months when a current tenant is served a notice to vacate. What this means is when an investor purchases a property which is occupied they are unable to request the current tenants vacate the property with the intention of re-renting the unit immediately or performing renovations and then rent it again. The current owners must provide the two month notice to vacate, also called “For Landlord’s Use Of Property” .
It is important to understand who can occupy the unit when a two month notice to vacate is served. If the owner wishes to occupy the property while they own it there are certain people who are considered family and are permitted to occupy the unit. They are the landlord, the Landlord’s spouse, children and or parents of the landlord or landlord’s spouse. Only these family members are considered family in tenancy laws. A brother, sister, aunt or uncle does not qualify. If the landlord is a Family Corporation, a person holding shares in the Corporation or a close family member, as described above is permitted.
Failure to occupy the unit for the six months could result in compensation being awarded to a former tenant, and that amount could be equal to 12 months of rent.
If you are selling a rental property which is tenanted and the new owners want to occupy the property, owners are required to provide two months notice, and compensate the tenants for the equivalent of one months rent. This is often provided in the form of non payment of rent for the second of the two months. A key component of providing the two month notice requires the purchaser to provide a request in writing directing the current owner to serve the two month notice to vacate as it is their intention to occupy the property. The letter must be provided to the tenants with the notice to vacate. Failure to provide the written request from the new owners could make the notice to vacate invalid, and the tenants might have a right to continue residing in the property after it has sold.
Need assistance managing your property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
“Helping landlords find tenants a place they call home”
Why is it called property management?
I have worked in the rental and strata property management field in British Columbia since 2009. I have often wondered why it is called “property management”. Truth be told, we as property managers don’t really manage property. I have never received a call from the furnace asking me to change it’s filter, or a roof saying it is leaking or a toilet saying it is clogged.
The occupants who reside in the building are the ones who communicate the issues and concerns at the building. The tenant calls to say the toilet is not working, or that they are vacating the property, the tenant is the person who doesn’t pay rent on time, not the building. The tenant signs the “tenancy agreement” the property has no say in who lives there.
The reality is we are not property managers, we are people managers. When renting your property the goal should be to have a positive experience for both the Landlord and tenants. The property surrounds the people we manage, and when we manage the people well, the property will be happy. Who do we manage? We manage directly and indirectly relations between tenants, owners, building managers, and strata corporations. When property managers don’t manage the people a negative rental experience will occur.
Need assistance managing your people contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
“Helping landlords find tenants a place they call home”
No double dipping allowed
What happens when you have a fixed term lease and your tenant chooses to end the tenancy before the lease expires.
All rental agreements are required to have specific terms included. One of those terms is not the compensation required if a tenant vacates before the end of a fixed term.
A lease should have a term describing the compensation a tenant is required to pay when they end the tenancy early. If the tenancy agreement has no specific term, a tenant may still be held responsible for reasonable costs lost from the tenants terminating early.
When a tenant vacates early, a Landlord has the responsibility to mitigate their loss. What does that mean?. If your tenant leaves at the six month point of a one year lease, a tenant could be responsible for the remaining six months of rent, if the Landlord attempts to mitigate their loss. The landlord has the responsibility to advertise the property for rent, as soon as the current tenant provides notice. If the landlord waits until a month after the tenant vacates, then begins looking for a tenant it may be perceived as not trying to mitigate your loss.
When your tenant vacates and you spend time looking for a new tenant and are able to find one, the current tenant’s responsibility for the remaining months of the lease ceases. Landlords are not allowed to collect rent from a new tenant and charge a previous tenant for unpaid rent for the same calendar month.
When your tenant provides notice, make the effort to find a new tenant immediately, show your efforts of advertising and the applicants and or lack of applicants for the vacant property. These tasks will assist in mitigating your loss and provide information for a case of having the tenant pay for the remaining term of the lease.
How does Cartref Properties help mitigate these issues?. Our lease agreements have a clear explanation of when a tenant vacates the term early the cost to the landlord for ending the lease. We also clearly explain the required notice period a tenant must provide to the landlord when vacating a property.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
“Helping landlords find tenants a place they call home”
Renting to friends or co-workers is that good or bad?
Renting your investment property is an emotional and stressful process. Performing proper due diligence helps select quality tenants, and that still may result in a negative rental experience.
There are many places to search for tenants, recently I heard a suggestion that your network of friends, family, co-workers and neighbours are good places to find tenants. You may find a quality tenant in one of these groups. The important part of searching for a tenant is “due diligence”. When we take the recommendation of friends, co workers or family we may reduce the amount of due diligence we perform, allowing a person to rent who may not be the right fit for your property.
When a co-worker recommends a person to rent, do they really know their financial history? Maybe they buy coffee at the office, but are buried in debt and won’t be able to or are currently not paying their rent. How many people truly know how much their co-worker is earning, many wages and salaries are kept private.
When a friend recommends a person do you gloss over the possible red flags because they were recommended by your friend. If something comes up that appears inaccurate or untruthful are you prepared to reject the friend’s recommendation and how will that affect your friendship.
The goal of finding a tenant is, find a person who matches the rental property needs with your expectations, which will then result in a positive rental experience for both the landlord and tenant.
You may find quality tenants from friends, co-workers and other close relationships. What is important is you continue to perform your due diligence when checking their information, and be prepared to take the necessary actions if the tenancy becomes a negative situation, including eviction.
Evicting a person for non payment of rent or damage to your rental property can be a very stressful and emotional experience. Having to perform these actions against a friend, or co-workers recommendation would be more emotional than normal.
People prefer to avoid conflict, so eliminate the conflict by performing your due diligence or find other sources to rent your property. Using a property Manager can also reduce the emotions and stress of renting your property.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Is the Residential Tenancy Branch favorable towards tenants?
Is the Residential Tenancy Branch favorable towards tenants?\
This is a phrase I hear all the time from Landlords, people who have rented before or who are not familiar with the rental laws in BC. The simple answer is yes, the Residential Tenancy Branch leans towards protecting the rights of tenants, as the government doesn’t want to make a person homeless unless the process has been followed correctly.
Recently a friend mentioned their friends’ experience in renting out their basement suite. They spent good money fixing it up, rented it to two “professionals” only to have them “trash” the place and fail to pay rent. They had a difficult time evicting the people and had significant costs to repair the unit.
The above issues have nothing to do with the direction of the Residential Tenancy Branch. My dad always told me “the game of golf is simple, It’s just not easy”. Renting a property is simple, being a landlord is not easy, yet many people think they understand the issues and can manage them on their own without a professional. I have rented many properties to “professionals” and I have turned down many professionals who applied to rent units. The tenant selection process requires a lot of reading between the lines to find out as much information before you allow a person to occupy your investment property. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, taking your time to thoroughly investigate and review the applicant’s information provided is a necessary step to a positive experience in renting your property.
Doing your due diligence and reading between the lines will often raise red flags, as I call them, that you should consider another applicant. It’s a process that should never be rushed, and good applicants will provide the right information you need to make the right choices.
How do you read between the lines?. Recently I had a landlord show me some documents from her applicant which turned out to be a negative experience. The application form said he earned $5,000 per month. The tax document provided, which turned out not to be his, said he made $150K the previous year. Simple math shows this information to be inaccurate and the landlord should never have rented to this person.
A recent applicant to a property we manage advised they worked for a Canadian Airline and when asked if they were still flying and indicated they were. A few pointed questions led me to believe the information was inaccurate and eventually the person admitted they were laid off due to the pandemic. It’s not prudent to rent to a person who provides inaccurate information in the application process.
Many of the laws on renting have been created or amended due to Landlords over reaching the boundaries of the laws causing governments to make changes to protect the renting public. It is my experience when a landlord follows the laws they can have a positive experience renting their property.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com