Kelowna woman says her family just wants to find a rental property where they can stay long-term – Kelowna News
Photo: Contributed
Do you know your rights as a renter, when the house you live in is put up for sale?
A woman contacted Castanet recently after she and her family had to move three times in the past few years because the homes they were renting were either sold or the owner indicated they planned to move in, but then didn’t.
Mandy, who doesn’t want to use her full name for fear she won’t be able to find another rental, said she owned a home in West Kelowna when her children were younger but it was too small, so they sold it and rented a larger home. The plan was to eventually buy, but since then skyrocketing prices have put homeownership out of reach for the family.
“When we were kids in Kelowna, people used to buy houses as investments and viewed the return on investment as the rent itself, which was more than their mortgage. Now people buy houses as investments and view the return as the increase in sale price. This change has now made it really hard for renters because landlords are constantly selling the rentals once they are worth more money,” said Mandy.
Having to move twice last year meant her family’s rent rose by $700 a month.
Mandy has gone through the arbitration process twice with the owners of her rentals, and just wants to find someplace they can live long-term.
So, what is the process if you rent and the home is put up for sale?
Property Manager Kevin Cheale with Remax Realty Solutions said he’s never seen a market like this one in his 22 years in the industry.
“Homes are being listed and sold the same day for above assessment values and in the case of the rental market, more and more tenants are being served notice to vacate at an alarming rate,” Cheale said. “The number 1 inquiry we are getting from the public is ‘my landlord wants to list my place, what do you have available.'”
He notes there are several things renters need to know in order to protect their family’s or their own ability to continue living in their rentals.
- If a landlord tells you that they are selling the house and asks you to leave the rental, insist on being served a two-month notice.
- The landlord and or the realtor must list the home, and get an unconditional accepted offer before they can serve the renter with a two-month notice.
- When served a two-month notice, it must be attached to the door three days prior to the end of the month, or be handed to the tenant no later than the last day of the month.
- The landlord must compensate the tenant for one month’s rent, usually the last month, when serving a two or four-month notice. This can either be paid by the tenant and returned upon move out, but generally, rent will not be charged for the last month of tenancy.
- The two-month notice must include the buyer’s names and contact information. If the new buyers intend on renting the home out, the current tenant’s lease comes with the purchase of the home. The tenant does not have to go anywhere.
- There are significant penalties/protections for tenants under the act should a landlord issue a notice to end tenancy not in good faith. Meaning that they do not intend to occupy the home themselves, or anything else that isn’t indicated on the notice. I have seen landlords penalized one full year’s rent for not honoring the requirements of a notice.
- If a landlord receives an accepted unconditional offer and properly serves a two-month notice prior to the end of the month in accordance with the rules of service set out by the Residential Tenancy Act, the tenant can respond to that notice with a 10-day notice – if I serve a tenant a two-month notice on February 25th by posting it on the door, the tenant emails me a 10-day notice later on the 25th, tenant would pay rent for March, they would perform the move out inspection on the 7th of March. In this case, the tenant should get 24 days of rent back for March, and the Landlord would have to cut the tenant a check for the month of April.
You can find all the details in the BC Rental Tenancy Act.
Cheale also takes issue with how the Rental Tenancy Board has been dealing with dispute resolution hearings and appeals lately. He is in contact with his local MLA in an effort to get changes to various points in the legislation, including how disputes are conducted and the recording of hearings.