The Government of BC offers a standard tenancy agreement. Cartref Properties always uses the standard agreement along with an addendum. Why do we use the standard agreement? The Residential Tenancy Act has requirements on what must be included in all agreements. The standard agreement meets all the basic requirements of a tenancy agreement. 

One important requirement of a tenancy agreement is properly identifying the legal names of the landlord and tenants. The first section of the standard agreement is the section you fill in the proper names of the landlord and tenant. This section indicates if the landlord is a company, use the last name section for the company name. What we have experienced recently is some property management companies are indicating their company name in this section when they are managing a unit for an individual owner. Is this the correct use of this section? We don’t think so.

After identifying the landlord the agreement asks for the names of the tenants, the address for the rental unit, followed by the address for service and has the option of identifying if the address is for the landlord or the landlord’s agent.

In multiple cases we have seen property management companies identify themselves as the landlord then indicate their business address for service and check the box that they are the landlord’s agent. On a tenancy agreement the landlord and landlord’s agent are two different parties, the landlord can’t also be the landlord’s agent, these two parties must be different people. Why is this important? If the owner of the property elects to move on to a different property management company there could be issues as the landlord is not listed as a party to the rental contract. If the tenancy has an RTB case it could be identified the contract has an issue with the proper identification of the parties involved. 

We are unsure what this could mean in a RTB hearing though it would not look favourable on the landlord or the property management company. Often in a hearing it might be a requirement to submit a copy of the tenancy agreement. With property management the RTB expects landlords to have more knowledge than tenants and property management companies to have even more knowledge than landlords. The higher the expectation the higher the standard the RTB holds for understanding the Tenancy Laws, which can lead to the RTB making a decision not fully based on facts but based on misrepresentation on a tenancy agreement.

Understanding the difference between who a landlord is and who the landlord’s agent is, is an important part of managing a property. Filling out documents incorrectly leads to potential negative experiences in a tenancy.  

Need assistance managing your rental property. 

Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. 

You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com