Giving notice to vacate by tenants?
When has your tenant provided notice to vacate the property?
A tenant has a responsibility to provide proper notice when vacating the property.
Section 52 of the Resiential tenancy act describes the format a tenant must provide notice to vacte the property for it to be effective. The notice must be in writing, and include the following information:
-be signed by the tenant
-give the address of the rental unit
-state the effective date of the notice
Section 45 of the act states when the notice must be sent to be effective. In BC a full calendar month’s notice is required to vacate the property. The full month can depend on when the rent is payable. If rent is due on the first of the month the notice must provide notice on the last day of the previous month. If rent is due on the 15th of each month the notice would need to be provided on the 14th day of the prior month for it to be effective.
When a tenant provides notice and fails to meet these requirements they have not provided proper notice. The landlord then has a choice to make. They can enforce the Residential Tenancy Act laws and require the tenant to provide proper notice. Or they can accept the notice and allow the tenant to vacate the property.
For example if the tenants are on a month to month agreement and rent is due on the 1st of the month and the tenant provides notice on the 1st of August to vacate at the end of August, they have not provided proper notice. The landlord can choose to accept the notice allowing the tenants to vacate without holding them responsible for the September rent. Or they can indicate to the tenant it is insufficient notice which would make them responsible for rent for September, if the unit is not rented again on September 1st.
When the tenant moves out without proper notice and a landlord indicates it is not sufficient notice they must take steps to mitigate their loss. The first step here is to make an effort to
re-rent the property for September 1st. This must be a legitimate effort and a landlord be able to show they were attempting to rent the property.
Even after the tenant vacates the property and it has not been rented this doesn’t automatically give the landlord permission to keep the security deposit. A landlord must have either the tenants permission and or an order from the Resdential tenancy Branch to keep all or part of the security deposit. In the case when insufficient notice to vacate is provided the landlord would need to file a claim with the Residential Tenancy Branch to keep the security deposit towards the unpaid rent for September. During the hearing the Residential Tenancy Branch will determine if the landlord has tried to mitigate their loss by trying to rent the property again. If the unit is re rented for September 1st the security deposit may only be used for damage issues at the property. A landlord is not allowed to charge two parties to rent the same property.
Only after receiving the monetary order from the RTB is the landlord permitted to keep the security deposit funds for the unpaid rent.
A good pracitce is to have a clause in your addendum that clearly explains to the tenants requirements for providing notice when vacating the property. This provides additional information in the event of a hearing when the tenant may indicate they were not aware of these requirements.
Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
