Notice to Vacate
There are many different notices to vacate a tenancy that can be used by landlords including a ten day notice, one month notice, two month and four month notice. What is the difference between each notice? Today we will talk about the ten day notice to vacate.
A Ten day notice used for unpaid rent and or utilities. A tenancy agreement should specify the date and time when rent and utilities are due and payable. If rent is due on the 1st of the month a tenant has the entire day of the 1st until 11:59:59pm on the 1st of the month. If rent is not received by the 2nd then the landlord is in the position to send a ten day notice to vacate the premises. The notice must be sent in accordance with section 88 of the Residential Tenancy Act (How to Serve Documents Generally) the requirements for delivering materials to a tenant.
When the tenant receives a ten day notice they have the right to pay the unpaid rent and or utilities within five days of receiving the notice. If a tenant pays the rent within this time the notice ceases to be in effect. The tenant may also file a claim disputing the ten-day notice. When a dispute is filed the tenant has the right to continue to reside at the property until the hearing is held and the dispute settled between the two parties.
When a tenant fails to pay the rent within the five day time frame, the tenant is supposed to move out on the effective date of receiving the notice. If the notice was delivered in person on the 2nd of the month the effective date would be the 12, ten days later. When a tenant fails to vacate on the tenth day the landlord doesn’t automatically have the right to change the locks and move them out. The landlord must file for an order of possession to vacate the tenants from the property. After receiving the order of possession the landlord must serve the notice and if the tenants continue to occupy the rental property, then the Landlord may file a writ in court which will engage a bailiff who has the authority to remove the tenants from the property.
It is important to follow the process of providing notice during an eviction or the tenant may be granted permission by the tenancy branch to continue residing at the property.
Need assistance managing your rental property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Rent Increases
Earlier in 2021 the BC government extended the rent increase freeze until December 31, 2021. At this time the freeze has not been extended beyond this date and the government has announced the allowable rent increase limit for 2022. The allowable limit for 2022 is 1.5%.
This means if you have a tenancy which was started before January 1st 2021 your property is eligible for a rent increase. In BC landlords are allowed to increase the rent once every 12 months. An increase doesn’t have to happen at the same time each year. If you are planning to increase the rent of your investment property it must be in a form approved by the residential tenancy branch. The RTB requires a rent increase notice be served three months in advance of the date the increase takes effect. If you are planning to raise the rent for January 1st you need to ensure notice is served by September 30th, 2021.
The form required is RTB 7, “Notice of Rent Increase”. The notice must be served to the tenant in one of the approved formats for service under section 88 of the Residential Tenancy Act. Common ways to serve the notice are leaving it with the tenant in person, leaving it with an adult who resides at the property, in the mailbox of the unit, sending a copy by regular mail, registered mail, faxing or emailing to a number or address provided for service.
It is important to understand that each form of delivery has a determination of when it is received by the tenant. This is called “deemed received”. When handing a notice to a tenant directly, it is received on that day. When sent by mail, regular or registered, it is received on the fifth day after it is mailed. This means if you send it on the 5th it is not deemed received until the 10th, as you are not counting the 5th. When leaving it at the mailbox, by fax, email or with an adult at the property, it is deemed received three days after it is sent or left at the property. Again you don’t count the day it was sent so an item delivered in these formats on the 5th is deemed received on the 8th. Often these dates are misunderstood and people count the day they sent it as one of the 3 or 5 days.
It is important to ensure that the notice is delivered in a timely manner to meet the deemed received requirements or the tenant may have the option of disputing the notice, which could result in the tenancy branch cancelling the notice, requiring a landlord to send a new notice effective three months later. We always recommend notices be sent in a timely manner and depending on the notice, in a format that allows for acknowledgement of receipt of the notice.
Need assistance managing your rental property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Do you have permission to rent?
Last week I was speaking with a colleague who described an owner in a strata building who had an issue with a flood. The interesting part of the story was the people living in the unit were not the owners, instead they were tenants. This was news to the Strata Corporation as the building has a rental restriction bylaw and this owner had not been approved by strata to rent their unit.
Owners must have permission to rent their strata lot from the council before they rent their unit. Permission can be granted in many forms, depending on who you are renting to. The Strata Property Act allows some Strata Corporations to have a rental restriction bylaw preventing an owner from renting without council permission. The act also has provisions allowing owners exceptions to rent to certain types of people even when the Strata
Corporation has a rental restriction bylaw.
Owner’s are permitted to rent to “family members” as described in the Strata Property Regulations. The regulations define “Family Members “ to include the immediate family of the owners. Immediate family being spouses, parents or children of one of the owners. These regulations exclude siblings, uncles and cousins as they are not “immediate family”. Strata Corporations may also grant permission to rent the unit to an owner who requests a hardship exemption. In January of 2010 the Strata Property Act was amended requiring the developer to identify a specific time on the Form J, “rental disclosure statement” stating when the unit’s rental period expires.
What happens when an owner doesn’t have permission to rent their strata lot and is in violation of a rental restriction bylaw? The Strata Corporation is in a position to identify the owner as being in contravention of the bylaws. If found to be in violation, they may impose fines up to the amount of $500. It could be determined that each day the unit is rented there is a contravention and it could be considered a continuous contravention of the bylaw which allows for a fine every 7 days.
Before you rent your strata lot. Find out if you need permission from the Strata Corporation to rent. Start by reviewing your bylaws to see if there is a rental restriction bylaw, then review the strata property act and regulations, review your form J which would have been provided with your purchase documents. Speak to a professional if you are unsure.
Need assistance managing your rental property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
What is the average rent per square foot?
Is Average rent per square foot a good indicator for what you can rent your investment property for?
I am often asked what the average rent per square foot is for renting these days. My answer is I don’t know. Some people are confused by this reply and I will explain why I answer this way. When you go to buy a car do you ask what is the average price for a car? If you are looking for a small economy car the price will be higher than you expect and you will be disappointed. If you're looking for a luxury car the average price will be less than you anticipated, either way you won’t have an accurate assessment of what the car you want will cost.
If you're an investor looking to buy rental property to rent out, and rely on the average cost of rent in “Vancouver” to buy and rent a property, you may be disappointed with what you are able to rent your investment for. Vancouver is a large city and has many different areas and rents vary significantly from one area to the next. Two properties located in the same area can also have vastly different rent based on location, age of the property, and amenities of the building. Two units in the same building can produce different rental rates based on location within the building alone.
The pandemic has also upended the evaluation of the average cost for rent, as renters were seeking different qualities in a property. Similar to house sales, renters were moving further away from the city or looking for larger spaces, due to working from home. We found this increased suburban prices to be more comparable and created higher interest in two and three bedroom units in the city.
One major difference with renting to buying is the prices may decrease in an area and or due to economic conditions faster than selling prices fluctuate. When the economy slows down many renters look for a better option elsewhere to reduce their rent, increase the quality of the place they are living in or move to a different location in town. These actions create lower rental rates, and when the economy increases sometimes rent increases rapidly.
When we provide a quote to a prospective client, we evaluate the comparable current rents in the area at that time, evaluating what the potential rent could be. For this reason we are not so concerned about the “average rent” for a city or region. We don’t provide you an average for your luxury car and end up renting it for an economy price. We want to ensure you have a clear understanding of what rent you can expect for your property.
Need assistance managing your property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com
Why Cartref Properties?
Cartref Properties is a locally owned and operated rental property management company located in the lower mainland. We are based in Port Coquitlam BC and service areas from North Vancouver to Abbotsford. We specialise in the management of investment properties located within Strata Corporations. Our managing broker Philip Davies has worked in the property management field since 2009, managing rental investment properties, apartment buildings and Strata Corporations.
Cartref Properties provides rental management services only, focusing on providing investment owners with conflict-free management services for their investment properties. Managing rental properties within Strata Corporations requires understanding of not only the residential tenancy act but also the strata property act. Cartref Properties’ background with both, provides us with the experience to provide investors with a positive experience when managing their properties.
Strata Corporations can have many different requirements for renting your property which could lead to a negative experience, including do you have the authority to rent your property? Some Strata Corporations can restrict the number of rentals. Strata Corporations often have restrictions on the minimum length of a tenancy. There are procedures when tenants move in and out of the property which could result in costs to the landlord. What rights does your tenant have when residing in the property?. How do you respond to the Strata Corporation when your tenant receives a notice for violation of the bylaws and rules?
Since we only manage rentals we won’t be in a conflict when an issue arises between the owner and the Strata Corporation.
Need assistance managing your property? contact us for an evaluation of your needs.
Cartref Properties specializes in managing rental units located within Strata Corporations.
www.cartrefproperties.com