In October 2023, the B.C. Government passed new legislation aimed at better managing short-term accommodation operations across the province, and improving British Columbians’ access to long-term rental housing stock. The aptly named Short-term Rental Accommodations Act is set to break new ground on the following key areas over the next two years: Increasing fines and enforcement tools for local governments; Converting short-term accommodations into long-term housing; Developing a provincial registry and reporting requirements for short-term accommodation operations; and Creating new provinci ..read more

Congratulations on your favourable RTB decision! Unfortunately, the RTB cannot help you collect on the Monetary Order you just received. Instead, the Residential Tenancy Act allows an order for financial compensation up to $35,000.00 or the return of personal property to be filed in British Columbia Provincial Court’s Small Claims division (“Small Claims Court”). The Monetary Order can then be enforced like a judgment of that court. WHAT IS SMALL CLAIMS COURT? Small Claims Court is a division of the Provincial Court of British Columbia with a monetary jurisdiction of claims up to $35,000.00, p ..read more

While part one of my blog post discussed the British Columbia Residential Tenancy Branch’s (“RTB”) internal review process for its decisions, part two of this post will walk through the Judicial Review process that may be pursued if you are a landlord or tenant who has received an RTB decision that you feel made a significant error in law, fact, or hearing procedure. What is a Judicial Review? A Judicial Review is a Petition to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to review an RTB arbitrator’s decision and/or hearing procedures. A Judicial Review is not an appeal. It is not another chance for ..read more

Norent Estates is a small self-managed residential strata corporation in North Saanich, British Columbia. For years, Norent Estates has had a rental restriction bylaw limiting the total amount of permitted rentals to four strata lots. At its last Annual General Meeting, the community also passed a bylaw prohibiting owners from using and advertising their strata lots as a vacation accommodation. Recently, one of the Council members read a newspaper article about Bill 44 and wondered what impact, if any, its amendments had on their community’s bylaws. Could Council continue to enforce its r ..read more

Lewis v. 3414493 Canada Inc., 2022 ONSC 2769 Justice Perell, in the case of Lewis v. 3414493 Canada Inc., 2022 ONSC 2769, considered the effect of a liability exculpatory clause in a residential tenancy agreement in a slip and fall action. The decision of the Court was released on May 9, 2022. The plaintiff, Terry Lewis (the “Plaintiff”) alleged that on February 20, 2019, she fell in the parking lot of her apartment residence, causing injury. It was alleged that the fall occurred due to an accumulation of ice that was concealed by snow. As a result, she commenced an action seeking damages. Nam ..read more

On Thursday, July 21, 2022, the British Columbia Provincial Government released details on its latest real estate consumer protection initiative – the Homebuyer Protection Period. Effective January 1, 2023, purchasers of residential properties in British Columbia will be provided with a mandatory 3 business day ‘Homebuyer Protection Period’. During this protection period, buyers may choose to walk away from an accepted offer to purchase a residential real estate property for any reason. A similar protection period has already existed for some time in the context of pre-sale condominium pu ..read more

Have you received a Residential Tenancy Branch (“RTB”) decision that is not in your favour and want to know what to do next? Maybe you served your tenant with a one-month notice to end tenancy for breach of a material term of the tenancy agreement and the RTB found that, though there may have been a breach, it was not of a material term, therefore the notice to end tenancy was dismissed. Maybe your landlord did not properly serve you with a 10-day notice for unpaid rent or utilities, yet the RTB provided them with an order of possession? What are your options now? Can I Get a Road Map Please ..read more

On July 10, 2021, the Order enabling landlords to keep their recreational facilities closed to prevent COVID-19 transmission was repealed. Under those prior protections found in Ministerial Order M195, landlords could restrict or prohibit access to common amenities of a rental property without any corresponding rent reduction owing to a tenant if the restriction was necessary to: protect the health, safety or welfare of the landlord, the tenant, an occupant or guest of the rental property due to the COVID-19 pandemic; comply with an order of a federal, British Columbia, regional or municipal ..read more

As of July 1, 2021, landlords are now permitted to apply to the BC Residential Tenancy Branch for an additional rent increase to offset a “capital expenditure”. Given that landlords have been extremely restricted in their rent increase opportunities over the last several years (and entirely banned from increasing the rent between March 30, 2020 and January 1, 2022), the opportunity to offset significant building expenses comes as welcome news. The additional rent increase opportunity originates from early recommendations from the BC Rental Housing Task Force. Its goal was a simple one: to buil ..read more

Summary: When it comes to serving documents under the Residential Tenancy Act, the legislation has deployed the same standard service methods for years: in-person delivery; leaving the document with an adult who ordinarily resides in the rental unit; sending the document via regular or registered mail; posting the document on or near the rental unit door; leaving the document in the mailbox; sending the document via facsimile; and carrier pigeon (*kidding). Although it was open to a landlord or tenant to apply to the Residential Tenancy Branch for permission to serve a document in a differen ..read more