Tenancy, rentals, looking for new home

Dear HTMF community, I have a unique situation that I would appreciate feedback on…
First: Recently, our landlord decided to arbitrarily change our rental agreement when they heard that we were operating a small home based business. The original agreement did not have any conditions regarding such, and the business is not harmful, disruptive, destructive to their property, or dangerous. They “just didn’t feel comfortable with it in their house”. They threatened us with eviction if we did not cease and sign a new rental agreement forbidding this activity, we respected their wishes and we signed the agreement. Is this legal for them to do?

Secondly: after a month of research into tenancy laws, I decided to contact them for an explanation on their reasons, and explained how we feel bullied and the forbidding has brought major financial and emotional hardship upon us. My wife has had to find other work because of this. They replied with no explanation and a 2 month eviction notice under the pretense of “repairs that will require the house to be vacant.” But the tenancy act mentions that this reason for eviction requires that the landlord HAS all of the permits to accomplish the work that will be done. Considering that they replied fairly quickly with the eviction, I doubt that they have the permits. Also, we live in a beautifully renovated home that needs some exterior repair, but the interior is NOT unsafe or a health risk. My thoughts are they are trying to sweep their conduct under the rug and get rid of us.

So, Because the rental market is the way it is, it is unlikely that a young couple with 2 cats and 2 dogs will be able too find a place, especially unlikely in two months.

First, we would live to hear your thoughts on the situation,
Second, WE NEED YOUR HELP!

PLEASE, please please! LET US KNOW OF ANYTHING that comes up!
MUST allow 2 cats and 2 dogs. Non-destructive animals, we are clean people and care about what we live in and how its kept.
In Prince Rupert
Preferably 2 BDRM+ house
Preferably some sort of yard, but not 100% necessary.
Preferably a home that actually looks clean when it’s been cleaned (you know what I mean)

A bit about us:
We are a young couple. We have lived in Rupert for almost 3 years now. I am a professional full time designer at Stuck On Designs, and my wife works 20-30 hrs /week now painting for Technicon construction. Needless to say we have established a life and friends here and it would be a complete disaster if we couldn’t find a new place in Rupert.

Thoughts, suggestions and help greatly appreciated!

Sounds a bit like you are trying to hide something when you give no indication of what kind of business you are running out of the basement, just saying.

Sorry about your situation, but you should have been upfront with your landlord about running a small home-based business. I am a former landlord myself and I would have liked to have been informed a businesses was being run out of one of my properties as well.

What tenants need to remember is you are RENTING some other person’s property…this is not your property…they paid the hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, you did not. They have a right to know what is happening on that property.

I am sure your business is legit and legal…but you should have informed your landlord about this first or as soon as it started…perhaps if you had you would not be in the situation you are in. Its just common courtesy and fosters a more open and honest relationship between landlord/tenant.

I would contact Tinker Realty for other rental inquiries, I believe they have some listings.

^^^ +1

It is unfortunate that you did not call the Residential Tenancy Branch right away and discuss the situation with them. If you go to Service BC they will connect you at no charge to talk to an Information Officer.

Tenancy agreements are governed by standard terms, prescribed by the Residential Tenancy Act, that apply whether they are included in the tenancy agreement or not. The landlord and tenant can agree to additional terms, but not ones that conflict with the standard terms.

There is no standard term that says that you cannot do anything that the landlord feels “uncomfortable with”. Nor would that stand as an additional term because it is too vague to be enforceable. As for expectations that the landlord is entitled to “courtesies”, the breach of which can result in the tenancy being terminated, that is absurd. The relationship is contractual, not social.

Lots of people run small businesses out of rental accommodation. The issue is whether the property is being primarily used for residential purposes or commercial purposes. If it primarily used for commercial purposes then it is not a residential tenancy. See this policy circular for guidance: rto.gov.bc.ca/documents/GL14.pdf

An arbitrator would consider issues like “relative square footage of the business use compared to the residential use, employee and client presence at the premises, and visible evidence of the business use being carried on at the premise.”

The fact that the landlord presented you with a new agreement suggests that the landlord knew they were in a weak position legally.

You really should not have signed it, but doing would not necessary be fatal to your case if you file a complaint for breach of the tenancy agreement on those grounds. You could argue duress in that you were threatened with eviction or that the term was “unconscionable” (see section 3 of the Regulation for the definition). Contracts are entered into freely and willingly.

Here are the provisions of the Residential Tenancy Act that govern how a landlord can end a tenancy: housing.gov.bc.ca/rtb/bc_law … _division1

You are right about the landlord needing to have permits in place if the reason for the eviction is to carry out repairs that cannot be done unless the unit is vacant:

“48 (6) A landlord may end a tenancy in respect of a rental unit if the landlord has all the necessary permits and approvals required by law, and intends in good faith, to do any of the following: … (b) renovate or repair the rental unit in a manner that requires the rental unit to be vacant;”

You can go along with that, but please note section 51, which provides that if those are the grounds for ending the tenancy the landlord owes you one month’s rent.

“51 (1) A tenant who receives a notice to end a tenancy under section 49 [landlord’s use of property] is entitled to receive from the landlord on or before the effective date of the landlord’s notice an amount that is the equivalent of one month’s rent payable under the tenancy agreement.”

Alternatively, you can ask to see copies of the permits. If the landlord refuses to present them, or acknowledges that he does not have permits, you can file a complaint for breach of the tenancy agreement by following these procedures: < rto.gov.bc.ca/content/howApp … t.aspx#how >

You could also raise the first issue about being told that you could not operate a home based business, particularly since it sounds like you and your wife have experienced losses. Note the following:

“67 Without limiting the general authority in section 62 (3) [director’s authority respecting dispute resolution proceedings], if damage or loss results from a party not complying with this Act, the regulations or a tenancy agreement, the director may determine the amount of, and order that party to pay, compensation to the other party.”

Or you could bypass that issue and just complain about the eviction notice being made on dubious grounds.

Make sure that the landlord uses the notice of termination form required under the Act. See section 12 of the Schedule to the Residential Tenancy Regulation:
“12(4) The landlord may end the tenancy only for the reasons and only in the manner set out in the Residential Tenancy Act and the landlord must use the approved notice to end a tenancy form available from the Residential Tenancy office.”

Finally, I would not give much or in some cases any credibility to advice based on someone having been a landlord because a lot of landlords have no clue about their legal obligations.

That being said, do yourself and your wife a favour and go down to Service BC on Monday morning, pick up the information and forms, and contact the Residential Tenancy Branch either from there or you can call 1-800-665-8779 and talk to an Information Officer.

BTravenn, you always have the answers!

BTravenn buddy, I wish I could kiss you or buy you a beer!

I admit I felt quite discouraged by the original replies basically stating that we must have be doing something greatly evil because I didn’t give every detail about the situation online in front of a huge audience, bearing all and for everyone to see. I did so so as to protect the reputation of not only ourselves, but also our landlord. Even tho I don’t agree with their actions, I’m not going to publicly call them out.

I really, really appreciate someone providing facts in a tough situation. Even if what you said was to the effect of I have no grounds to dispute the eviction and legally my actions were wrong, at least it wouldn’t be just opinion and I would accept it.

Again I really appreciate your research, and I hope it not only helps me but anyone else that MAY be facing a similar situation and had no idea about their rights. I’m finding in life that it’s amazing how there’s so many ordinary individuals out there who seem nice but have no issue enforcing their views and wants upon others. In our case, their decisions will completely change our life, with possible consequences of losing our animals or even forcing us to lose our jobs and move elsewhere. Thinking about what may happen and how its out of our control makes me want to vomit.

Again I really appreciate your research and time it took to write some helpful suggestions, and I hope it helps anyone else that MAY be facing a similar situation and has no idea about their rights or where to go to learn more.

Take care my friends!

[quote=“Oskey”]BTravenn buddy, I wish I could kiss you or buy you a beer!

I admit I felt quite discouraged by the original replies basically stating that we must have be doing something greatly evil because I didn’t give every detail about the situation online in front of a huge audience, bearing all and for everyone to see. I did so so as to protect the reputation of not only ourselves, but also our landlord. Even tho I don’t agree with their actions, I’m not going to publicly call them out.

I really, really appreciate someone providing facts in a tough situation. Even if what you said was to the effect of I have no grounds to dispute the eviction and legally my actions were wrong, at least it wouldn’t be just opinion and I would accept it.

Again I really appreciate your research, and I hope it not only helps me but anyone else that MAY be facing a similar situation and had no idea about their rights. I’m finding in life that it’s amazing how there’s so many ordinary individuals out there who seem nice but have no issue enforcing their views and wants upon others. In our case, their decisions will completely change our life, with possible consequences of losing our animals or even forcing us to lose our jobs and move elsewhere. Thinking about what may happen and how its out of our control makes me want to vomit.

Again I really appreciate your research and time it took to write some helpful suggestions, and I hope it helps anyone else that MAY be facing a similar situation and has no idea about their rights or where to go to learn more.

Take care my friends![/quote]

Hey, I’ve been in your position with the difficulty in finding rental property that accepts pets. When I was forced to move before finding a home that would accept my pets, I put them in board. Sunset Kennels in Terrace is an awesome place where they could stay if your move out date arrives before you find a new home. Pets are for life … and with that is the responsibility of finding a residence that will accept them. It may take a bit of time, but they are out there. Landlords want and need good tenants. You just need to dig for them. Perhaps put an ad in the paper with your request and let the landlords contact you. It worked for me very well and I found several amazing places to live in via that method … and they were fine with the pets.

I wish you much luck in your search. Don’t lose faith – there are landlords out there who want people like you. We eventually bought a home so we’d not be at a landlords mercy. :smile: