Q:
Hello,
I had written to you earlier regarding the situation where my landlord and I agreed to end the tenancy one month early, but I had written September 1 on the form RTB-8 instead of writing August 31. The tenancy was originally due to end on September 30.
Following your advice, I tried to get the form amended but my landlord refused to answer my calls or my knocking on her door. I was not surprised because there was a lot of conflict in our relationship, for reasons I will not go into. I had gotten her to agree to end the tenancy early with great difficulty because she was sick of my calling her to get a particular problem fixed. So I was unable to amend the form. However, I moved out of the place on August 31st. I have receipts from the moving company to prove this as well as photographs. I did not encounter my landlord while moving out- she did not do a move-out inspection. When I called her to tell her the place was vacated (she finally answered the phone) she just asked me to leave the keys in the apartment. I did so, along with a letter with my new address.
I was not surprised that I did not receive my security deposit within the 15 day period. My landlord seems completely unaware of the rules and regulations even though my letter made very clear that she was required to return the deposit within 15 days and that she could not file to keep any of the deposit since she had not done a move-in inspection when I initially rented the place. I now intend to file for arbitration to recover my deposit. I have two questions:
1. Will the August 31/September 1 date confusion hurt my case? As I said, I have proof that I vacated the apartment on August 31. I also know that she did not show the apartment to prospective tenants while I lived there and I am certain that new tenants did not move in for at least the first week after I left (I drove by the house and checked). So she cannot claim that the September 1 confusion prevented her from renting the apartment for the month of September. Moreover I have proof that she only placed an ad to re-rent the place on August 31 (I saw the ad online).
2. When we originally signed the lease, the field for landlord's address was left blank- she was moving to a new place at the time and said she did not remember the address. I have that address, which she gave me later, but it is not on the lease. Does that invalidate the lease in any way?
Thanks for your help and advice. I appreciate your reading such a long message. |
| A:
Where no written agreement to rent exists or one cannot be produced, an agreement consistent with RTO form 1 is recognized. Your documentation about ending the tenancy and other documents you can make available will very likely establish to an dispute resolution officer's satisfaction what the real situation is, should it need go that far. If your landlord re-rented within a short period of time he/she will have little chance of pursuing you for lost rent, and if there was no move out condition report done the landlord isn't going to be very successful in pursuing you for damages either. So, as a practical matter, your question comes down to how you might get your security deposit back. If your landlord hasn't been forthcoming with answering your calls and queries up until now, it is likely you'll have to file with the RTO to have your deposit returned. The landlord will be in for a jolt when you refer to section 38 of the legislation, which is the bit which speaks of the landlord having to pony up double the deposit if'n he/she hasn't played by the rules. Some people only learn the hard way; they discover that choosing to play outside the rules is expensive, time consuming and exasperating. Section 38 of the Residential Tenancy Act of British Columbia says that the landlord must return the security deposit within 15 days of the end date of the tenancy unless the tenant has agreed in writing that the landlord can keep any or all of it, or the landlord has applied to retain the security deposit in accordance with the Act, or unless an Arbitrator (dispute resolution officer) has ordered that any or all of the security deposit can be withheld.
Section 38(6) says: “If a landlord does not comply with subsection (1), the landlord (a) may not make a claim against the security deposit or any pet damage deposit, and (b) must pay the tenant double the amount of the security deposit, pet damage deposit, or both, as applicable.” It will take a march through the process to get your check from the landlord, and it might be written in tears and blood, but it will still cash. And the $20 you paid for this answer, here is an e-mail I recently received from the African Charities people - "Hi and a big thanks for continuing to support our charity. This is so amazing what you did and are still doing for the charity. I don't know if I told you this before, but last year we started feeding the kids breakfast and lunch. We have a 155 kids that go to the preschool and it's now been a year that they have been getting fed. The kids looks so much more alert, it's fantastic! Your donations go directly to the food program and I just can't thank you enough."
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