Cartref Properties Ltd.

View Original

Who is the Landlord?

When renting a property in BC the standard tenancy agreement requires some specific details be included. One of those details is, who is the landlord?.  The RTA has definitions of who the landlord can be. The definition is the landlord can be one of the following.  

in relation to a rental unit, includes any of the following:

  1. the owner of the rental unit, the owner's agent or another person who, on behalf of the landlord,

(i) permits occupation of the rental unit under a tenancy agreement, or

(ii) exercises powers and performs duties under this Act, the tenancy agreement or a service agreement;

  1. the heirs, assigns, personal representatives and successors in title to a person referred to in paragraph (a);

      (c) a person, other than a tenant occupying the rental unit, who

(i) is entitled to possession of the rental unit, and

(ii) exercises any of the rights of a landlord under a tenancy agreement or this Act in relation to the rental unit;

     (d) a former landlord, when the context requires this;

On the standard tenancy agreement there is space for identifying the landlord, the tenants and the Landlords agent. If you are managing your property yourself then you would be the landlord and should be identified on the agreement in this capacity.

When a Landlord hires a property manager the property manager would be the Landlords Agent and should be identified in this capacity. 

The Landlord and the Landlords Agent are two different parties and need to be clearly identified as different people on the tenancy agreement. We have taken over managing various properties where the landlord agents listed themself as the landlord and the landlord’s agent.    

As a Property management company Cartref Properties always lists the owner as the landlord, and ourselves as the Agent for the landlord.  This recently became an issue in an RTB case where the property management company listed themselves as the landlord. When the RTB ruled in favour of the tenant and issued the order against the property management company they realized they had filled out the tenancy agreement incorrectly. 

The management company attempted in court to have this reversed and make the owner the party listed as the landlord and therefore responsible for the monetary order the RTB approved. The landlord and the court ruled against the property management company and are now responsible to pay the tenant the awarded costs. This would not be a significant issue for a few hundred dollars. In this case the amount exceeded $15,000.  

When filling for the RTB an agent should file on behalf of the owner so the monetary order is issued in the name of the owner not the agent for the owner. 

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