Whether you rent out the basement suite in your home, act as a Property Manager for hundreds of rental units, own or manage a manufactured home community - or anything in between - with over 25 years' experience serving residential landlords and BC's housing market, A. G. Kemp & Associates is here to help you succeed as a landlord.
If you have a clause in your tenancy agreement requiring liquidated damages to be paid if a tenant ends a fixed term tenancy agreement (lease) early, you need to know that is not a lease breaking fee or penalty. Liquidated damages are a pre-estimate of the cost to find new tenants, as you must spend that money unexpectedly. Never use a month or half month's rent as the liquidated damages amount. They must represent your cost including the value of your time to find new tenants. Currently that is between $500 and $900, depending on the local market.
This phrase is frequently used in our industry by landlords, tenants, and arbitrators. The Residential Tenancy Act states both landlords and tenants are entitled to quiet enjoyment. That is not restricted to no loud noise. Cooking smells, second hand smoke, harassment, interference, or any form of serious disturbance is a violation of the other party's right to quiet enjoyment. While there are law books and court cases about these two words, my favourite definition is: Quiet Enjoyment is not the absence of noise; it is the presence of peace.
Q. My tenants broke their lease and moved out early. What are my options?
A. What most refer to as a lease is a fixed term tenancy agreement. (The word, lease, doesn't appear in the Residential Tenancy Act.) Both parties agree to a tenancy that will last for several months. The landlord guarantees occupancy; the tenant promises to stay for the full term. If either party breaks that agreement, compensation is owed. This landlord can file a claim for all lost rent to when new tenants begin paying rent or the end of the fixed term, whichever happens first.
Melissa has a low credit rating resulting from a divorce. Her sister, Dawn, is prepared to be a guarantor for rent payments so Melissa can move into a new suite. Larry Landlord writes on the tenancy agreement that Dawn is a guarantor.
Is this acceptable under the Residential Tenancy Act? No! The Act and arbitrators do not recognize guarantors. However, Dawn could agree to be a co-tenant. A tenant doesn't have to reside in the unit to be a tenant. This situation often happens when a child leaves home to go to university in another city. The child is the tenant and so is the parent.