When a tenant rents residential premises, he/she enters into a tenancy agreement with their landlord. This tenancy agreement constitutes a contract (lease) between the landlord and the tenant; this lease can have been contracted verbally or in writing. In both cases, tenants and landlords have rights and must meet obligations which are legislated in The Residential Tenancies Act.
The Residential Tenancies Tribunal is a government service who assists landlords and tenants with their tenancy agreement.
The Residential Tenancies Tribunal offers the following services:
• Provision of residential tenancy information. Their web site offers a great deal of information surrounding residential tenancies.
• Management of security deposits, in trust, for residential tenancies where a security deposit was requested, and
• Assistance with residential tenancy dispute resolution outside the Court’s system. This alternative dispute resolution program will assist landlords and tenants to solve their dispute through mediation; however, the Residential Tenancies Tribunal may also provide a decision when mediation is not successful.
Eligibility
All landlords or tenants who have entered into a residential tenancy agreement (verbal or written) can request assistance from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. Assistance on residential issues is available even when no security deposit has been paid. This assistance service is free.
You may be in a residential tenancy if you are renting a room in a rooming or boarding house, an apartment, a condominium, a house, a mobile home or mobile home site.
Residential tenancy information is also available to the general public and any residential tenancy stakeholders.
This service does not cover commercial tenancies.
Description
The Residential Tenancies Tribunal will assist landlords and tenants with any issue surrounding residential tenancies. The most common issues relate to:
• Security deposit issues
• Failure to pay rent
• Repairs, maintenance and cleanliness issues
• Conduct : Nuisance and disturbance issues
• Health, safety, housing and building standards issues surrounding the premises
• Revision of notices a tenant or a landlord would have received from the other party to the tenancy
• Offenses under the Act possibly committed by the landlord or the tenant
• Eviction of a tenant
• Abandoned chattels: personal belongings left behind by the tenant