Philip Davies 7/31/26 Philip Davies 7/31/26

Who’s responsible for that?

We are often asked by our clients who is responsible for the repair of specific items in the property. Generally speaking the landlord is responsible for most repairs of the property. If you are unsure a good place to look is the RTB website and review the policy guidelines. Policy Guideline GL1-1 outlines tenant and landlord responsibilities for repairs.

One of the more common questions we are asked by clients is what about furnace filters?.

The policy guideline is clear that the repair and maintenance of the heating system for the home is the responsibility of the landlord. Landlords are expected to have the furnace serviced and cleaned including cleaning of the ducts on a regular basis in accordance with manufactures specifications, or annually where there are no specifications.

A furnace filter is part of the heating system. This is often missunderstood by many landlords and shockingly property managers. We see on some property management websites that state it is the tenants responsibility to replace furnace filters. This is incorrect. A comparable we use to explain this is the light bulb. If the tenant never turns the light on, a light bulb will never burn out. Although the light fixture is required to be working at the start of the tenancy there is no requirement for a room to have a light fixture. In fact many new condos have no overhead lights. If the light fixture is never turned on the light bulb will not burn out, a tenants choice. Tenants can plug a lamp in the outlet to have light in any room.

If the heating system was never turned on then it is concievealbe the furnace filter would never become dirty or need changing. Unlike a room with no overhead light there is a requirement for landlords to provide heat in all rooms of the rental property.

Heating is different as it is a requirement landlords must provide heat to tenants as part of a tenancy, which means tenants don’t have a choice to not turn on the heating system. If they require heat they must use the system. Policy guigeline GL1-1 as outlined below states it is the landlords responsiblity to replace furnace filters in the rental property. We often do this by providing filters for tenants during our inspections or having them acquire them and reimburse them for the filters when they have purchased them. It is often small issues like forcing tenants to buy furnace filters that turn a tenancy from a positive to negative. It is easy for a tenant to look this information up on the RTB website and see who is responsible for it and when a landlord is adamant they are not paying for it it could lead to the tenant filing a monetary claim with the RTB and or worse causing damage to the property due to the dissatisfaction with the landlord failing to fullfill their responsibilites.

Understanding your responsibilities as a landlord is important. If you are unsure you should hire a professional, one who understands yours and the tenants responsibilities.

Policy Guigdleine GL1-1 Furnaces

N. Furnaces 1. The landlord is responsible for inspecting and servicing the furnace in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications, or annually where there are no manufacturer’s specifications, and is responsible for replacing furnace filters, cleaning heating ducts and ceiling vents as necessary. 2. The tenant is responsible for cleaning floor and wall vents as necessary.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 7/24/26 Philip Davies 7/24/26

What are the benefits of a slower rental market?

There are benefits of a slower rental market for both landlords and tenants. Yes I said there are benefits to a slow rental market, what are they?.

For tenants the benefit is the rental prices are usually on a decline meaning rental properties become more affordable. Other benefits are improved properties and easier moving process.

When the demand out paces the supply the landlord needs to be more competitive not just in price but in the product they are offering. When a tenant moves out and the unit has not been rented for the following month a landlord has the opportunity to perform repair work upgrading the unit. A vacant unit is a good time to repaint, change flooring or replace appliances.

Another benefit for tenants is an easier moving process. The tenancy act requires tenants to vacate their current property on the last day of the month they give notice by 1pm. If the unit has been rented for the next month that means another tenant is moving in later that same day or the following day. When the market is slower we often see units vacant for months or more in between tenancies. This means we are able to allow tenants to occupy the unit a few days before the tenancy starts which allows them to move out of their unit early, which in turn then allows them to go back to their unit and clean it properly. This is a less stressful process for both the move out and the move in. If the bundling is in apartment buildings or condos it also means it is easier to book an elevator as there is less moving occurring each month.

The benefits to the landlord are as mentioned it provides options to improve the unit between a tenancy. It also gives the landlord the option to consider other considerations. If it is a condo, house or townhome they can choose to sell the unit after the tenant has vacated the unit. Selling a property while it is a tenant can be difficult for access purposes along with the requirements for providing notice when the unit sells. If the unit is vacant, selling is tremendously easier. Sometimes the stress of the process of moving tenants in and out of properties can be difficult for landlords to manage. Any time you can have some space between the two tenancies it becomes a more pleasant process. When both the landlord and the tenant are experiencing less stress at the start of the tenancy there is a better chance of appositive tenancy existing.

What other benefits do you know of during the slower rental market conditions.?

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 7/21/26 Philip Davies 7/21/26

Landlord use of Property, what you need to know.

During covid there was lots of noise over landlord use of property evictions. Oddly that narrative like many others has slowed down or disappeared in the past year.

Why is there less noise over the landlord’s use of notice?.

The reason there was lots happening during covid is due to the rapidly increasing rental rates many landlords were looking for ways to increase their rents to tenants. Landlords wanted the higher rent and were willing to try a tactic that would have the tenant move and then re-rent the unit at a higher rental rate. We are not hearing this in the current market due to the rapidly decreasing rents. Landlords don’t want their units vacant right now so they are not trying to move the tenants out. If a unit becomes vacant now a landlord could be facing multiple months of no rent, followed by the unit rented at a lower rent then it was before.

Many landlords found themselves on the wrong end of an RTB case when their notice to vacate for personal use was challenged by the tenants. The process for a landlord use eviction is very straight forward and clearly defined by the act. Section 49 of the RTA clearly states who can move into the unit after the landlord has said they are using it for landlord use of property. The only people who can move in are the owners (landlords), their spouse, parents or children or the parents or children of the spouse. This is a very small group of people for a reason. It limits the property from being used for anything other than immediate family.

When a landlord tries to move a person outside these parameters into the property under the landlord us provision they are violating the tenants rights. The government does not like it when landlords violate tenants rights. For this reason they have increased the penalties for abusing tenants rights for the gain of higher rents.

Many people say the process is hard to follow and one should seek help in doing this process. Professional help is always a good idea if you are unsure what you are doing.

The first thing you need to do is identify if the person who is going to live in the unit fits the description in the RTA for landlord use of property. If they do, the landlord can proceed with the notice to vacate. Starting in June of 2025 a notice for landlord use must be generated through the RTB website. There is no longer a form to fill out and send to the tenant. It must be filled out online and the system will advise if it is filled in correctly. It also records the people’s names and birthdates of who are planning to reside in the property. This data is collected for use in the event the tenant challenges the notice.

The notice must be delivered in a proper format according to the service requirements under the act. You may send documents by email if you have the tenants permission. If you do not have permission to send by email you need to send it in an approved form.

When you request the tenants move out a landlord must also compensate the tenant for one month’s rent to vacate the unit. This is often done by not collecting the final months rent before the tenants move out. After the tenant vacates the identified party on the notice must occupy the rental property for a twelve month period. Failing to do this could result in the opportunity for the tenant to claim the landlord acted in bad faith when evicting the tenants.

If a landlord is found to have acted in bad faith when using the for “landlord use notice” the penalty is a full twelve months of rent to be paid to the tenants.

Why have we not heard this as an issue in the past year?. The rental market changed and with a greater supply of products. Tenant’s are moving out of properties they don’t want to stay in. This allows the landlord to do whatever they want with the property. We are experiencing more clients electing to sell the property instead of re-renting the unit. When the tenant gives notice to vacate, selling the unit becomes easier as you don’t need to deal with tenants. Landlords are also taking the property back for personal use without the worry of providing the proper notice.

If you are unsure of your responsibilities for landlord use notice we suggest you work with a professional who can guide you through the process.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 7/10/26 Philip Davies 7/10/26

Government buying condos. How will it affect the rental market?

With the Provincial and Federal government combining to purchase unsold condos in BC how is this going to affect the rental market. This is an unknown question we may not be able to answer for many years. Many of these units would have been sold or rented at lower prices in the current sales/rental market as prices are declining. Now that these units are not part of the market place it will slow down the decline in prices, and it may not. It will depend on how the government uses these properties. Who will they rent or sell the units to?.

If the government uses them for lower income housing it may not affect the rental or sales market very much. It will take a long time for the government to fill these units with renters. The people they will rent these units to are not likely applying to the majority of rental properties currently for rent.

If they are units in condo buildings the tenants will be subject to the strata building bylaws. This may be a challenge for the government to manage on an ongoing basis. Government agencies are not set up to manage these types of properties long term. Who in the government is going to respond to and pay the bylaw infraction fines tenants incurr?

The bylaw infraction process is hard to navigate for the average property owner of a rental property. A government trying to manage thousands of them could be very interesting.

Maybe the government will hire outside property managers to manage these units on their behalf, which might be the best case scenario. The problem with this is the management company will want a fee that is profitable to them, I don’t see companies lining up to participate in this option if offered. This will increase the cost of owning these units.

The government may be able to manage them for about five years before they become too difficult and too costly to justify.

There are still a lot of new products entering the sales and rental markets and many already built products entering the sales and rental market everyday. We anticipate they will eventually turn around and sell the units when the market increases, taking the profits as any owner would. This may not be a bad thing as then they could use the money to build more purpose built rental properties for lower income families which is what is needed.

Buying these condos does affect in many ways the sales and rental market as it takes product out of the market. In a round about why this is going to slow the decrease in sales and rental prices which in turn increases the cost of housing to all. That is not the outcome the government is trying to achieve by purchasing these units. I am not sure I would call it a bailout, though I do believe there was some influence from the developers to have this happen even when they are saying differently. Many developers have come out to say they didn’t ask for this solution. If they didn’t ask for it then don’t sell the units to the government.

I could be wrong but I don’t think the government can force them to sell the units to the government. I would like to see some developers refuse to sell their units to the government in this situation. I am not holding my breath for that to happen.

Time is the greatest test of decision making and in this case we will only know in five to ten years if this was a good decision or not. I am predicting it is the wrong thing to do long term.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 7/6/26 Philip Davies 7/6/26

Short Term Rentals?

In the past landlords often rented to student tenants by signing an eight month lease the length of the school year and the students would go home for the summer.

We still hear of landlords doing these short term agreements or wanting to have time limited agreements where the tenant vacates the property. These types of tenancies are illegal in BC today and a tenancy agreement with a clause to vacate requires the owner move back into the property.

A landlord is allowed to have a fixed term tenancy agreement. Any fixed term agreement must end in one of two ways. On the standard BC tenancy agreement there is a section that the landlord must indicate how the fixed term tenancy expires. If the landlord selects box C indicating it is a fixed term they then must identify either box D which indicates the tenancy will continue on a month to month basis, or they select box E which requires the tenant to vacate the rental unit.

What many landlords fail to understand is that if they select box E it means a specified party must move into the unit. In this circumstance the specified person is identified in section 49 of the tenancy act, which states a family member, meaning the owner’s parents, spouse or children of the parents or spouse must occupy the unit. This is called personal use of the rental property.

This part of the act was changed in 2017 yet we continue to hear landlords who are signing tenancy agreements for specified terms with an expectation for the tenant to vacate the unit in six, eight or twelve months. We are often asked if we can find a tenant to meet these standards and clients are surprised when we inform them this is not legal in BC. If you create a tenancy agreement with this clause and the tenant elects to stay past the date you were expecting them to vacate the property, the landlord has no right to evict them.

It is these situations that have landlords ending up at the RTB in a hearing and the tenant being awarded the equivalent of a year’s rent to compensate them for illegally vacating them from the property. We recommend landlords use the standard BC tenancy agreement then have a lease addendum along with the standard agreement. Using the standard agreement gives both landlords and tenants the ability to clearly understand what the expectations are for the property. Using the BC form also means landlords are meeting the requirements of a tenancy agreement in BC.

If you are unsure of the laws for renting your property we encourage you to hire a professional to assist you with managing your property.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com