If you’re about to become a landlord in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton region, it’s important to get your ducks in a row. Under the law, landlords and tenants both have certain rights that must be respected and certain responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. Not knowing or understanding the laws that affect you as a landlord can bring legal problems down the road. It doesn’t matter if you own Spruce Grove real estate, Stony Plain real estate, or Edmonton acreages—knowing your rights and responsibilities as a landlord is vital. Here’s what you need to know about the laws that influence landlord-tenant relationships.

Landlords’ Obligations Toward Tenants: Privacy, Prompt Repairs, and Eviction Notices

If you are the landlord of a rental unit in the province of Alberta, you have certain obligations toward your tenants that you must fulfill. Though you own the rental unit, you must give your tenants their privacy. You may enter your rental unit uninvited if you give your tenants 24 hours notice, and if you have a valid reason for being in the rental unit. Valid reasons include inspection, repairs, and showing the unit to potential new tenants if your current tenants are moving out. You may enter the unit between 8 AM and 8 PM, but not on holidays or on a day the tenant considers a religious day of worship.

You must also keep the rental unit in good condition. As a landlord, it is your responsibility to repair anything that breaks as a result of normal use or wear and tear. You are also responsible for any plumbing and heating repairs that are needed during a tenancy. You must make sure that your rental unit’s heater can keep the unit at a minimum of 22 degrees Celsius at all times.

If you decide to evict your tenant, you must give your tenant early notice. Notices of eviction or rent increases must be given to tenants in writing. When you serve an eviction notice, you must serve it either in person, by certified or registered mail, or (if the tenant is avoiding you) by posting the notice somewhere the tenant is highly likely to see it.

Landlords’ Rights in Tenancy Agreements: Timely Rent Payments, Respectful Tenants, and the Right of Eviction

As a landlord, you have several rights in dealing with tenants. You have the right to receive rent payments on time. You also have the right to rent your suite to tenants who act respectfully toward you, who do not cause damage, and who do not create noise issues. If your tenants fall behind on the rent, you can evict them with a 14-day notice; there is no required grace period for late rent. You can also use a 14-day notice to evict tenants who are causing noise problems. If your tenant has caused significant damage to the rental unit or has attacked you, you may evict them with a 24-hour notice. You are allowed to evict tenants during the winter months.

Consequences for Failing to Meet Expectations

If you fail to meet your expectations under the law, your tenant may take you to provincial court or open a case with the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service. The RTDRS is a faster and less expensive option than filing a lawsuit, and it can award amounts up to $25,000. As the RTDRS is a provincial government branch, any decision that is made in dispute resolution is legally binding. Your tenant may complain to the Alberta Ministry of Health or a government health inspector if you do not take care of bug problems, heat outages, and other health threats once you become aware of them. Your tenant can also complain to Alberta Health Services if they find you are using (or have used) the rental unit for illegal drug production.

If you’re looking to rent Parkland County real estate or a property in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, or Edmonton, it’s important that you know your rights and responsibilities as a landlord. Being informed is the best way to make sure that you follow the law and avoid the problems that come with violation of tenancy rights.

For more expert advice or to list your property, call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

As a realtor in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton region, I help people buy and sell property.  But I also own several revenue properties myself, and that experience has taught me a few things about dealing with people in rental situations.

Being a landlord in Alberta can be rewarding and daunting.  I recently took a 12-hour course from the Edmonton-area Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board.  (Call them at 780-496-5959 or visit their website where you will find lots of good information.  As well, tenancy forms are available for sale including tenancy application, tenancy agreement, inspection report and notices).  I am one of those people who try to focus on the most important points of such a course and keep them in the front of my mind.  No doubt you have heard the saying that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location.  What’s the most important thing to remember as a landlord?   At the end of this course, what I concluded as a landlord was:  Put all tenants on a “fixed-term lease”.

A fixed-term lease has a start date and an end date of the lease.  Unless the lease is extended beyond the end date, the tenant is expected to vacate the property on that date.  No notice is required; the lease IS the notice.  This is beneficial to a landlord in many ways.  It gives you an opportunity to see what a tenant is really like.  A bad tenant can be both financially and emotionally draining.  Initially, I put all my tenants on a 3-month lease.  That is usually enough time to figure out what you have.  If they appear to be good tenants, I may extend the lease period to perhaps 6 months or a year.

There is one technicality that you should remember.  If you have tenants on a fixed-term lease and the lease expires and you take the next month’s rent without signing them onto another fixed-term lease, then the lease converts by default to a month-to-month lease.  Then your hassle factor increases dramatically when you try to evict a bad tenant or sell the property. I advise everyone to put their tenants on fixed-term leases. 

I talked to three people this past week who were trying to get rid of bad tenants: chronically late rent, damage to the home, people living in the house who were not on the lease…. My first question is always:  Are the tenants on a fixed-term lease?  Guess what the answer was in all 3 instances?  Now the landlords have to go through a daunting process requiring them to give various notices in a proper and timely fashion (if not given properly, they are null and void), perhaps bringing their problems to a judge and maybe or maybe not getting an order to vacate, and so on.

My best advice to landlords?  Put your tenants on FIXED-TERM LEASES.

Comments or questions about this article?  Please call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.