When 24hrs is not really 24hrs
Owning a rental property requires understanding your rights and your tenants rights. One area that is often misunderstood is access to a tenanted rental unit. Even though you own the property, when the tenant lives in your unit, you must follow the rules regarding accessing the property.
The residential tenancy act provides the authority for landlords to access them under certain conditions. A landlord may inspect the rental unit on a monthly basis when they provide the required notice. Section 29 1,b of the Act requires owners to provide at least 24 hours notice to enter the unit, and that notice must not be more than 30 days before the entry. This notice must also specify why the unit is being accessed, which must be reasonable, the time entry will occur which must happen between 8am and 9pm. Landlords should not provide a notice for inspection then when onsite begin performing repair work to the property without the tenant’s approval.
The confusing part of 24hr notice is how you deliver the notice. If you agree with the tenant verbally or by email on a time then you can access the unit at the agreed upon time. We suggest a confirmation email or letter confirming the verbally agreed upon time for reference in the event there is an issue to the reason for the access.
If you send a letter in the mail or post a notice on the door of the rental unit then you must wait the allotted time for it to be deemed received. Section 90 of the Residential Tenancy Act outlines when documents are considered received. If the notice is mailed it is deemed received 5 days after it is mailed. This means if you mail a 24hr notice and enter the unit before the 6th day, you have not provided the tenant proper notice. If the notice is posted on the unit door or sent by fax, it is deemed received 3 days after, or the fourth day. If the notice is posted on a door on Monday the earliest you can enter is Friday, as the notice is not deemed received until Thursday, then 24hrs would equal Friday.
The Residential Tenancy Act does allow for access without notice in the event of emergency to protect life or property, like in the event of a flood. This is why it is important to have a key for access in the event of an emergency. Other reasons for access include the tenant has abandoned the unit, the landlord has an order from the director authorizing entry, or the tenancy agreement provides for access for services provided which could include housekeeping services.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Why only rental management?
Managing a rental property in BC can be a complicated process. Cartref Properties provides Rental Property Management services only, we don’t provide sales or strata management services. We feel this eliminates any potential conflict of interest which could arise when providing strata management or sales services for a client.
In a previous post we identified the need for a Strata Corporation who manages individual units in a strata, there must be a primary client identified. The Strata Corporation will always be the larger client and request the rental owner be identified as the secondary client if a conflict arises. Conflicts may arise when a Strata Corporations interest and the individual owners interests aren’t aligned. Providing only rental management services allows Cartref Properties to ensure we aren’t compromising our ability to manage the owners interests.
What is a conflict of interest? I heard it described the other day as “ if you have to evaluate the situation to determine if there is a conflict, there probably is one”.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Can my strata approve my tenants?
Many Strata Corporations have bylaw restrictions on the owner’s ability to rent their strata lot. The strata property act allows some Strata Corporations to have restrictions on the number of units allowed in their property based on a percentage or number of units, and may limit the time the unit may be rented.
One area the strata is not allowed to restrict is on who you rent your property to. Section 141 of the strata property act outlines the strata corporation is prohibited from establishing screening criteria, requiring the strata to approve potential tenants or asking for specific terms to be inserted into a tenancy agreement you enter into with your tenants.
If your strata corporation is asking for information on who you are renting to or requiring specific terms be included in your tenancy agreement they may be in violation of the Strata Property Act. Owners have the right to make a tenant selection they feel is suitable for their property without strata involvement.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
www.cartrefproperties.com
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/98043_08#section141
What’s going on?
We have talked about there being three stages to a tenancy. Stage two is managing the tenancy while the tenant occupies the unit.
The BC government standard tenancy agreement is six pages long and has 16 different clauses with multiple subclauses. Many landlords report to me, my tenants are good, because they pay rent on time each month. Payment of rent is only one of the terms in a tenancy agreement. How do you as a landlord ensure your tenants are adhering to all the other terms of the agreement.
One way to do this is to inspect the property during the tenancy. What can you determine by performing an inspection of the property. How many people are residing in the unit, is the person on the agreement still living there, how clean is the unit, is anything broken which has not been reported, have the tenants obtained a pet? In order to identify these issues one must physically attend the property.
I have often attended properties finding people with unauthorized pets they have acquired since renting the unit without informing the landlord.
If during an inspection an issue is identified this provides the landlord with the opportunity to make a decision about the tenancy. If a tenant has acquired a pet the landlord has multiple options. One they can choose to do nothing, two they can allow the tenant to keep the animal, three they can request the animal be removed if the tenancy prohibited pets. If a tenant obtains a pet and the landlord elects to allow them to keep the pet, two things should be done. A new condition inspection report should be completed at the time the pet is obtained to determine the condition of the property when the pet arrived. Second the tenant should provide the landlord with a pet deposit equivalent to half a month’s rent.
Tenants will sometimes sublet the unit without notice and when a landlord attends and finds different people residing at the unit. With Short term rentals we have heard stories of people renting units then turning the keys over to other parties who rent it on short term accommodation websites.
Performing regular inspections of your rental property will provide the landlord with the information required to make decisions about the property. Doing your due diligence before, during and at the end of your tenancy is important. We communicate to potential applicants that we will inspect the unit regularly which we feel discourages deceptive people from applying knowing they are going to be inspected regularly. Residential tenancy law in BC allows an owner to visit their property once per month with proper notice.
Caretref Properties inspects all the units it manages twice in a 12 month period to ensure the tenants are adhering to the terms of the tenancy agreement as part of our management agreement. Some insurance policies require more frequent inspections. Cartref can inspect units more frequently for an additional cost if requested by homeowners.
Not sure what is going on in your rental property, call us today and we can assist you with performing an inspection of your rental property.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Three concerns with Landlords
Recently I was speaking with a prospective applicant for a property we had available. After some discussion about our property, they advised they wouldn’t be able to rent our place due to their landlord raising the rent. This surprised me and I inquired about the rent increase. They advised their landlord had informed them that if they didn’t sign a new lease that evening they would need to move out at the end of the month when the “fixed term expired”. As a property manager without knowing more details three things are of concern.
One, due to the pandemic the Province of BC currently has a rent freeze in place restricting Landlords ability to increase rents. A rent increase means the rent paid must not change, requiring tenant’s sign a new lease at a higher rate is a rent increase.
The second issue is more concerning as it disregards the Residential Tenancy Act fixed term lease requirements. In 2017 the BC Government changed laws around fixed term leases, preventing a Landlord from evicting tenants at the end of a fixed term and then renting the unit to another party at a higher rent.
A tenancy agreement can begin with a “fixed term,” it is what happens at the end of the fixed term that was changed in 2017. Landlords are now required to declare their “intention” for the property when the term ends, at the start of the tenancy. If the landlord has no intention of moving back into the property when the fixed term expires, the tenancy agreement must state it becomes a month to month tenancy. If the landlord indicates on the agreement at the beginning of the fixed term they or a close family member will re-occupy the unit, they must move back in for a minimum of six months.
These laws were changed because many landlords choose to vacate tenants and re-rent their properties at higher rates then the allowable rent increase limit determined by the government. If a landlord requires a tenant to vacate at the end of the fixed term and fails to move in, a past tenant could be entitled to compensation equivalent to 12 months rent for bad faith negotiations.
The third item is signing of the new lease. A tenancy agreement is a contract between two parties which requires both parties agreeing to sign. Due to the changes of fixed terms the agreement must state the tenancy becomes month to month when a landlord won’t occupy the unit. This prevents landlords from forcing tenants to sign a new lease in order to continue renting the property.
All of the issues above are why tenants feel poorly treated by landlords, and why legislators change laws that appear to be more favourable to tenants. Being a landlord requires one to ensure they know and understand the laws, regulations and processes of managing a rental property.
Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
www.cartrefproperties.com
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/ending-a-tenancy/landlord-notice/two-month-notice#Use