Evicting a tenant feels like it can be a daunting experience, however the actual eviction process in Alberta isn’t that difficult. It takes some of your time, but the process can help rid you of problem tenants within two or three weeks or in special cases even less.
This site has plenty of information to get you started with the process and I’ve also have a detailed guide explaining the eviction process in Alberta using the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or RTDRS. If you are in the process and find it confusing, you will want to grab this guide by clicking the link below.
A Guide To The Alberta Eviction Process
If you want to do some research and tackle this on your own, I recommend you click below and I have a quick start guide for the site which will help get you started.
Also be sure to check out the comments on many of the posts. I answer many questions other landlords and tenants have asked in them.
I had a flood in my rental basement – the basement was torn up and cleaned. The tenant missed a day of work and spent some time cleaning which i compensated her for. The reuild needs to be done and she won’t work with me to let the crews in and out of the house. I’ve decided to put the rebuild off and give her a few month get out – when she is gone i’ll get them in to do the rebuild. I’d like to see the eviction process mentioned above. Thanks! If there is anything I need to know please drop me anote if yuo have time. 403-991-5103 Jason Todd
Hi Jason,
Sorry to hear about the flood. Any specific reason the tenant will provide for not allowing workers in? If you can possibly address their concerns it may make all the difference. Sometimes it’s just a miscommunication or a concern they have to be there to allow people in and out. Then again, sometimes they are just difficult, but you never know until you ask!
If you are leasing on a fixed term basis (which I highly recommend versus month to month!) and she doesn’t mind the basement not being rebuilt you may want to consider leaving it as is until the lease is up and simply not renew. Then you can go in, complete the renovations and possibly even increase the rent a bit if this doesn’t occur until spring or later of 2011. Expectations are for demand to increase by then with the lower unemployment and the increased need for labour on many of the upcoming projects.
If you are evicting under the grounds of major renovations being required, you are supposed to provide one full years notice anyway, unless it falls under a health risk type situation and then the rules can vary case by case. This is why having six month or year long terms can work out much better for a landlord when things do not work and then simply renewing them for another term if things work well.
You can get a your own copy of the eviction process by just filling in the form off to the right of this page! Hopefully it helps you clarify some options.
As I understand the residential tenancies act in Alberta, she doesn’t have a choice. You tell her when you are coming in to make the repairs and, so long as it is in the prescribed times by the act, you can enter as you have notified her. Other than you, perhaps, having to be there as well, I can’t see an issue here.
Hi Angella,
By the book, you are correct, but if the tenants aren’t cooperative it can make the process even tougher. You can provide them with 24 hour notice of repairs and unless there are extenuating circumstances they should be allowing you in.
Just be sure to document everything and take photos of the work before it gets started so you have evidence in case they come back later and try to say the work was unnecessary and you disrupted their situation.
Bill
Who can i email with questions!! I am having a hell of a time!
Hi Dexton,
You can ask questions away right here.
Bill
hi there,
i have a few questions and concerns. my boyfriend and i moved in to our basement suite approx May 5-6 2011. when we first viewed the suite, our landlord told us there was no working stove, although a hotplate and convection microwave, and that she would have an electrician come to look at getting the stove to work and also some lighting problems. since then nothing has been done. about two weeks ago, my boyfriend was moving our bedroom around. picking up the bed, he noticed a fairly large amount of water underneath it (our bed just sits on the floor). in our computer room next to our room, i noticed water aswell. when i notified her she came down and took a look then rudely replied ” well where is your tenants insurance? ” in which i had signed up for just days earlier. while she was looking at the water she told us that her father was coming to stay with her and that he would take a look at everything and fix the lighting. since then, this has not been done.
secondly, my mother and sister have been staying with me since their new place is being cleaned. they came to stay with me on june 17. i notified my landlord of them staying here possibly two weeks and she replied in a written note that it was no problem. maybe two or three days later ( at the time they had not been here over two weeks ) she gave me an eviction notice stating that i had not paid the rent, that my mother and sister were to leave and to pay the utilities in full. as for the untilites, she rents two rooms upstairs which are occupied so they are split 5 ways. myself, my boyfriend, my landlord and the two other tenants. for the month of june we were not given a copy of the bills and were told to each pay 79 dollars. 365.00 for one month. one of the tenants is only here two weeks at a time, and i find that she is also barely home so i was a little confused to see the bills this high. my boyfriend and i also work so we are home in the evenings to eat dinner and go to bed. my mother works days, and my sister is also at school. we are very concious about turning lights of and unplugging things.
to get to the whole point, i am on a six months lease. along with the water, lighting problems and no stove, there is also mold growing under sinks, the toilet etc. my boyfriend are paying $800 for barely nothing. is it possible to break the lease without my landlord taking us to court to pay for the remaining months of the lease? would all the problems my boyfriend and i have encountered in the 3 months of living here be enough to break the lease since she has not done anything to resolve these issues? any other information would be greatly appreciated as well.
thanks,
brandi
Hi Brandi,
There are a few good lessons from this and you covered a lot of ground, so I’ll try to answer as much as possible. I’ll try to start in order as per your comment.
If the lease stated there was to be a working stove, the landlord is responsible for providing such, along with working lighting! You can take the landlord to the RTDRS for this, but from the rest of your message, I don’t think you really want to hang around there anyway. If you did take it to a hearing, you likely wouldn’t receive financial compensation, but you never know.
As a tenant, you should have renter’s insurance, in fact every landlord should recommend this to their tenants when they move in, it’s not very expensive and well worth it if things get damaged. It’s one of the steps we go through when signing the lease. However, this insurance helps protect your items and belongings, but the landlord is directly responsible for making sure the property is safe for the tenants, if the water is left un-managed, it can lead to mould problems and other water issues, so they should have addressed that right away.
Good job of notifying the landlord and getting written approval, this can protect you from issues later. This works both ways for landlords and tenants. Regarding the eviction notice, the big question is, did you pay? If you were holding back the rent due to the work not being done, you cannot do this. A tenant cannot withhold rent for work not being done, again you can go to the RTDRS and get awarded a payment back to you from the landlord. If the 14 day notice hasn’t expired, if you pay it in full the eviction notice is null and void.
If you are past the 14 days (really 16 days as the day you receive it doesn’t count and you have until noon the day after) and haven’t left, the next stage for the landlord is to take you to court or to the RTDRS. From the sounds of it, you might be best served to attend the RTDRS so you can dispute the eviction and dispute the utilities. Now depending on the lease you signed and what it says you are supposed to pay you may not win here, but you may get this discounted for not having full access to the facilities (the stove) that should have been there. Again depending on what your lease states was to be provided.. Also she will have to provide the statements proving that is what is owed.
I don’t think you will have a problem getting the lease nullified as she served you with the eviction notice anyway. I also wouldn’t be concerned with her trying to collect the final three months rent. The RTDRS is a great service and works both ways, it helps landlord evicts problem tenants, but at the same time it can also protect tenants from negligent landlords. You may want to talk to the landlord, suggest she take the eviction to the RTDRS or you also have the option of filing for a hearing yourself to break the lease and to deal with the landlord.
Hope that helps point you in the right direction!
Bill
Personally, I would contact the Health board. This is unsafe and unsanitary and, likely, an illegal unit. The Health board, if they deem it unsafe and/or illegal, can require you to move… at which point you are out of the lease and the landlord is required to pay back all your damage.
Dragging in the Health Board can create a whole new set of issues as well. If it was flooded and it’s not dealt with right away and correctly it cas cause an even larger repair bill. You may want to check with your insurance company as well to see how you are covered.
Bill
Indeed, it can. But this is a tenant looking to get out of a slum basement suite… at least that’s how I read it. In which case, the health board can be quite effective.
In this case it was the landlord trying to repair the suite for the tenant who didn’t want people in their space, or at least that’s how I understood it. The health board can work wonders for tenants living in poor conditions, but can also be a nightmare for landlords if the tenants are just using the system.
Bill
Hey I’m trying to find a way to get rid of a rude obnoxious roommate how can I do it legally?
Hi Tristan,
This can be tough without knowing the details of any contracts the two of you agreed upon or what the landlord’s lease contains. If the roommate is subletting from you or is listed on the lease can also be a difference maker. So, if the roommate is not on the lease and it’s only you, they may be in breach of the lease and you can ask them to leave, but the landlord may be required to submit a notice to vacate to them.
Next best route is to buy the out. Basically pay them to leave if you really want to stay in the property.
Finally, if you are both on the lease and they are so obnoxious you would rather move than stay contact your landlord and let them know you need to terminate the lease. there may be some penalties involved, but it will allow you to end the problem.
Regards,
Bill
Hi
I am trying to get rid of my tenants. They have not paid the rent and I had provided then 1 month and 14 day notice respectively. There are also damages to the property. I would like to contact the RDRS to get the eviction process initiated and how can i recoup the damages. Can you provide details and contact info?
Appreciate your response.
Hi Kishore,
It definitely sounds like you want to have these tenants move on, depending on how serious the damage is you may be able to use a 24 hour eviction notice, although if you are currently applying at the RTDRS you are already on the right track.
I’m not sure what kind of details and info you are looking for, are you looking for a detailed plan on how to fill everything out and go through the RTDRS? If so I have the guide that is available on this site that will help you, it can be found here, Landlords Guide to Evictions in Alberta. It goes into the details about what you need to fill out, what you should be including and what you can expect to happen along the way.
Let me know if that was what you needed,
Thanks,
Bill
Hello Bill.
You seem to be a great resource and very knowledgeable with dealing with tenant and Thank you for taking time and talking to me.
Kind Regards
Kishore
Thanks Kishore,
It was good talking with you and I am looking forward to hearing how everything works out for you.
Regards,
Bill
I have a tenant who is in substantial breach of his lease agreement in my basement suite. He has multiple late rents (documented with receipts), smoked marijuana in a non-smoking house, numerous noise complaints, and always has his smoke detector unplugged when I’ve entered the premises. I now have a police file started to document the disturbances that arise from smoking marijuana (the police have actually arrested him). There are a few more points, but I will stop there! In the lease agreement I have a clause that states “3 or more late rent payments will result in a 7 day eviction notice”. I am fairly certain that if I issue the notice he will leave. Can I legally enforce that clause? In the off-chance that he would refuse to vacate, I would turn to the RTDRS, and would obviously need to ensure that I’ve conducted everything properly.
Thank you so much for your time and response!
Hi Rochelle,
You definitely have grounds for evicting, although the 7 day notice in your lease isn’t actually applicable as the Residential Tenancy Act’s 14 days’s takes precedence, unless you go directly to the RTDRS. I know a bit confusing. Bottom line, the 7 day notice won;t be enforceable.
If you think he will leave with the notice, then you can try bluffing with the seven day notice. If he calls your bluff and tells you that a 14 day notice is required, I would then go directly to the RTDRS and file and you should get a hearing within a week or two. Since the 7 day notice isn’t actually valid, it only puts you back 7 days versus the 14 (actually 16) if you go with the valid notice. Make sense?
Bill
Thank you so much Bill. I will be filing with RDTRS tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we have a verbal agreement consenting the tenant may store things in the detached garage. This is a joint storage space and I am very concerned for the other property inside the garage. Can I revoke storage privelages? If so, do I have the right to change the locks? (On the garage only- not the dwelling.) If so, how much notice must I give for this to take place?
Again, thank you so much for your time and response!
Do have one question… any idea how many late pays comprise “cumulative effect” in Alberta to permit you to not be required to retract eviction if it is paid? I know in BC it’s three, but there is nowhere I can find an actual number in Alberta.
Hi Angella,
There is no hard and fast rule, but three would be indicative of a problem. If instead they paid 14 days late two months in a row, you would likely also have a very strong case, probably stronger than one day late for three months. It’s bets to send a follow up letter after each instance that you can then use as further evidence that you warned them and they still breached, so obviously they didn’t take the lease seriously.
Regards,
Bill
Bill
That’s about what I thought… thanks. Yup… I can prove a definite pattern. Rent has not been on time once (she moved in Oct. 1)… unfortunately she usually has it in hand when I show up with the eviction… along with a lame excuse (Grandma in the hospital, sick and didn’t know what day it was) all after the simple first plan of avoidance. Not sure if I expect her to overhold, just move, or do the passive aggressive thing and pay on the 17th. I committed the cardinal rule of trying to help somebody, but will not do so to my detriment. I’m only nice til you push me.
Just make sure to document all of this to make the pattern very apparent. It seems whenever we break our “rules” and either try and help someone or try and be nice, as landlords it often comes back and bites us. I’ve had it work out a few times, but more often than not it becomes an expensive lesson.
Bill
Hello,
I have a few questions. I was very busy and forgot to deposit a cheque last month. Tenants didn’t pay me yet for this month as well. On Jan 2-nd they gave me a notice that they will be moving out on Feb 1-st. So now I don’t have payments for 2 month.
Should I give them an eviction notice and/or go to RTDRS?
Dose the RTDRS helps to recover money if tenants will move out without paying me?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Sergey,
Big lesson here, checks need to go in right away! If you have the check(s) get the in right away. Do not let them try and apply the security deposit as the month’s rent. This will be a gut call for you, if you think they will pay you, you can try the eviction notice, if you think there is a chance they won’t, then proceed directly to the RTDRS.
The RTDRS can give you a judgment, but that won’t necessarily let you collect. From there you can proceed with garnishing their wages if you know where they work. Also, the judgment will show on their credit history, so sometimes years down the road they may need to improve their credit and discover that requires paying you off first.
Regards,
Bill
Thank you for your answers and suggestion Bill. I am going to do the unit inspection today and probably will go to RTDRS on Monday. I am considering buying your Eviction Guide if I will decide to go to RTDRS. Do you have an explanation in your guide about damage (what is a serious damage and what is not) so I may give them 24hrs notice? For non-payment I can give only 14 days notice, is it correct?
Hi Sergey,
I don’t break down what serious damage is in the guide, I just explain the entire process of going through the RTDRS and what best practices are to ensure you win. Serious damage can vary in the mind of whoever is the hearing officer, holes in the wall may not be enough, but all the windows being broken would. Of course you would need evidence of this and if it wasn’t serious enough for the hearing officer it could be detrimental for the case and seriously impact how they deal with the eviction.
For a single non-payment you are probably best off giving a 14 day eviction notice, if it is a trend and repeated offense, skip the eviction notice and go directly to the RTDRS. Then you would file for continuous breach of the lease. If it is a single non-payment, and if I remember in your case, and they seem to not be planning to pay you at all, then definitely also file at the RTDRS so you at least can get soem type of judgment if you want to try and get the money later.
If the tenants move out, and you try and get a judgment later it can be much harder as you often do not know where they have moved.
Regards,
Bill
Bill, you said: “For a single non-payment you are probably best off giving a 14 day eviction notice…” and you also said: ”If the tenants move out, and you try and get a judgment later it can be much harder…”
Is it OK for a single non-payment (but for 2 month) to go directly to the RTDRS without eviction notice? In my case tenants already give me a notice that they will move out at the end of the month. It seems like they just want to move out without paying for the last 2 month. I want to have RTDRS hearing before they will move out. And also to evict them earlier so I can prepare unit for the next tenants.
Hi Sergey,
Yes you can go directly to the RTDRS, but filing costs you $75, this is minimal considering what you lose if you miss a month’s rent, but if you think they will pay, then a 14 day eviction notice may be the pressure you need to get paid. If you think the notice just gives them more time to not pay and they have no intent to pay, then skip the 14 day notice and file immediately.
Does that clarify it a bit more?
Bill
Another, much cheaper, method you can use is to deposit the cheques. If they bounce you can then send them to your bank and, for a fee, they will check daily to see if the money is there. As soon as it is, they scoop it. I’ve used this method successfully in the past (I work in accounting).
Thank you for suggestion Angella. I went to the tenant’s bank yesterday and tried to certify these cheques. Unfortunately bank refuses to do this. Bank didn’t tell me exact reason but it seems like tenant’s account has been locked. Do you think I can still use your method and deposit these cheques in my bank? May I use your method together with opening a case in RTDRS? And what if tenants simply close that bank account?
I went to my bank and they said that they cannot check bounced back cheques, especially if it is 2 different banks. They don’t have such a service. Unfortunately the only option is to certify these cheques first, before deposition.
You might want to try calling the bank and see if they call it something else, as Angella mentioned the banks used to do this, but perhaps they have cut back on this service due to their declining profits (yes that was dripping sarcasm). they didn’t check bounced back cheques so much as resubmit them again (for a fee) to see if they would go through at a later date.
Bill
There is nothing that precludes you from opening an RTDRS case while still attempting to collect your money in this manner. The bank cannot tell you why the cheques are not certifiable. My guess is there is no money there. Check with your bank first to make sure the cheques have to bounce first. If not, you can simply give them to the bank. I’ve never tried on a not bounced cheque.
Angella is likely quite correct. If there isn’t enough money in the account you cannot get it certified. You’ll need to deposit it, wait for the xxx amount of days to get it back and then see if you can get any funds out of there. Another suggestion is to try and get it certified first thing on the 15th/16th, or 30th/31st/1st of the month. Often these are paydays for many people and if you can slip in and get the money before it gets spent elsewhere they will certify it at the tenants bank.
Some companies pay at midnight on the Thursday as well, so you could try a Friday morning..
Regards,
Bill
The 5-7th 20-22 are also good days as some companies pay hourly, cut off on the mid/end of month and pay 5-7 days later.
I have evicted my tenants using the rtdrs and am wondering how i can go about getting all my money owed,they trashed the place and are behind by 2 months.I was told i could go to queen bench and file a writ if they dont pay so does that mean i can garnish their wages or there is another way to get my money.They took all their furniture so cant hold anything.Thank you
Hi Ruth,
Collecting after the fact can be quite an ordeal. If you used the RTDRs and received a judgment for the money owed you, this judgment shows up on their credit history and may provide an opportunity to collect from them later when they go to try and get credit. Your other option, if you know where they work, is to go to the courthouse and take your current judgment with you to get their wages garnisheed.
If you don’t know where they work, or if their jobs are disposable, you may only collect a couple hundred dollars or less before they quit and move onto a new job. My personal guideline is that if it’s less than around $2,500 it’s not worth my time to try and collect. On the other hand, if I let them run up outstanding debts to me, it’s my fault and I consider it a learning lesson that I won’t repeat!
Regards,
Bill
I have a very similar situation as Ruth and have some questions. Tenants owed $2400 according to the RTDRs judgment. I still have their cheques and I think I know where they work (unless they changed job already).
1. Should I keep trying to certify their cheques or try to get their wages garnisheed? Or can I do both at the same time?
2. How complicated is the process for getting their wages garnisheed?
3. How much time after RTDRs judgment I have to get their wages garnisheed?
Thank you.
Hi Sergey,
I would try both if you are serious about getting the money and have the time. There are a few other comments on the site about getting checks certified and explain some of the tactics you can use.
The process for garnishing isn’t that hard, although like anything court related there are specific steps.The issue is that it’s only valid for the job they have right now, if they change jobs you have to go through the process again, more time and more energy involved.
If it looks like they are not going to pay, you could go after them right away. The longer you wait, the more time they have to switch jobs or potentially disappear.
Bill