Adit Valera – Landlord Basics. Published September 10, 2026.
Somewhere out there is a landlord who did everything right. Fixed the leaky tap the same day; never raised the rent above the cap; sent birthday cards. The part that no one tells you about being a landlord is that you can be completely, obviously, morally in the right and still be wrong in the eyes of the Residential Tenancy Act (“RTA”). The RTA cares about whether you used the correct form, served it the correct ways and counted the days correctly. Tenancy law under the RTA is like a board game with very strict rules, so let’s go through the rules together.
Rule 1: Not every rental is a tenancy
The RTA covers basically every normal rental in British Columbia. Houses, condos, apartments, basement suites, and even illegal suites. The RTA does not cover occupant/roommate arrangements, co-op member units, some student and employee housing, hotels and vacation rentals, and certain care and transitional housing. The Residential Tenancy Branch is where disputes are brought up.
Mobile home parks have their own nearly identical statute called the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act.
Rule 2: If it is not written, it does not happen
A handshake deal is not enough when it comes to a tenancy agreement. If something happens regarding the terms of the agreement, it’ll be your word against the tenant, with an arbitrator who was not there when the terms were discussed, having the final say. You do not want that.
Section 13 of the RTA requires a written tenancy agreement, and it must include the basics: names, address, start date, whether it’s fixed term or month-to-month, the rent and when it’s due, what’s included, and the deposit amounts. Section 12 then quietly staples the standard terms onto every tenancy whether you typed them or not, and section 14(1) says you cannot amend or delete a standard term. It is common and recommended for people to use the Residential Tenancy Branch’s standard agreement, RTB-1.
Any other information you want to include can be made in a signed addendum. This can include which parking stall to use, storage locker, utilities payments, laundry, smoking etc. Both parties sign each page, and the tenant gets a copy within 21 days.
It is also important to keep writing things down for the entire tenancy. If you agreed to a tenant to paint their room, email confirming it. If you agree to accept late payment as a one time exception, email it. This simple gesture turns a future credibility contest into a document.
Rule 3: The Checklist that saves your life
Allow me to be dramatic here. COMPLETE THE CONDITION INSPECTION REPORTS. Move in and move out, together with the tenants, on the official form (RTB-27), and signed & dated.
Skip these inspection reports and sections 24(2) and 36(2) of the RTA extinguish your right to claim against the deposit for damage. Your tenant could leave the place looking like a documentary about raccoons, and your claim against the deposit would be gone, because you skipped a one hour walkthrough two years earlier. While it is possible to file a monetary claim for the damage itself, you lose your hold on the deposit, and with it, the one pot of money you already had in hand. Chasing a former tenant for a monetary order is much longer and difficult.
Nobody enjoys doing the inspection. Everyone regrets not doing it.
Rule 4: Fifteen days or pay double
You may collect a security deposit of up to half a month’s rent. Plus, a pet damage deposit of up to another half month, if there’s a pet. That’s it. There is no admin fee, or “just a little extra because the market’s crazy.” People try all of these. They lose.
Once a tenancy ends, you have 15 days from the later of the tenancy ending or getting the tenant’s forwarding address in writing to either return the deposit with interest or file an application for dispute resolution. Do neither and section 38(6) of the RTA makes you pay double.
Fifteen days. Put it in your calendar with that aggressive alarm sound everyone hates.
Rule 5: Once a year, 3 month’s notice
Three rules for rent increase:
- Once every 12 months.
- Three full months’ written notice, on the approved form (RTB-7); and
- Look at the RTA for the maximum allowable rent increase per year (ex. 2.3% maximum for 2026; 3% in 2025; 3.5% in 2024). The cap is announced each year and cannot be rounded up, so run the exact number before serving the notice.
Do not improvise a rent increase number.
Rule 6: Every eviction notice has its own clock
What some landlords struggle with the most is that you cannot end a tenancy just because you would like it. You need a reason the RTA recognizes, on the form they prescribed, and with the notice period they set.
For the purposes of this blog, we will outline 4 common eviction notices but be sure to read about the other ones in the RTA:
- The 10 Day Notice for unpaid rent or utilities (s. 46)
This provides the tenant ten days’ notice for eviction, and the tenant has 5 days to either pay in full, which cancels the notice entirely, or applies dispute it.
If the tenant does neither within the 5 days, you can use the RTB’s Direct Request process to seek an Order of Possession in writing, without waiting for a participatory hearing.
- The One Month Notice for Cause (s. 47)
The term “cause” is broad. This notice meant to allow landlord’s to evict a tenant for a variety of reasons, including repeated late rent, significant damage, illegal activity or a breach of material terms of the tenancy. One month’s notice, and the tenant has 10 days to dispute.
- The landlord’s or purchaser’s use notice (s. 49)
This is the notice you serve when there are no issues with the tenants, but you need the unit because you, a close family member, or a purchaser who has bought the place intends to move in. “Close family member” is defined narrowly as: your parent, spouse, or child, or the parent or child of your spouse. A sibling, cousin, or grandchild does not qualify.
For notices served on or after June 18, 2025, you must provide three months’ notice and 1 month’s rent in compensation, payable on or before the effective date, or you may simply credit the last month’s rent on the tenant’s agreement.
This is the most contested notice of eviction because whoever you named to occupy the unit must actually move in, and must live there for atleast 12 months, and not a day less. If they do not move in, move in late, or move out early, section 51(2) of the RTA entitles the tenant to twelve months’ rent. And tenants check. Former tenants check listing posts, drive past your house, ask neighbors.
If this happens, the burden is on you to justify what happened, and it is generally only excused for a genuine extenuating circumstance. It is worth nothing that a change of plans or a renovation you chose to do before moving in are generally not extenuating circumstances.
Rule 6.5: Serving it right
Service of the eviction notice is crucial and something that often gets overlooked. A perfect valid notice, served incorrectly, is worth nothing. The RTA sets out different service methods. The three most common ones include:
- Registered mail through Canada post to the rental unit or forwarding address as provided;
- By hand, given directly to the tenant; and
- Posting it on the door or another conspicuous place at the unit.
This next point is the single most common way an otherwise valid notice fails: notices are deemed received on different days depending on the method of service, and the notice period runs from the deemed received date, not the day you sent it or delivered. A mailed notice is deemed received on the 5th day after mailing, and one posted on the door on the 3rd day, regardless of when the tenant actually picked it up.
It is also worth noting you cannot send the notice by email unless the tenant has given you an email address as an address for service. It is usually written in the tenancy agreement. However, when in doubt, serve one of the 3 ways listed above.
For all methods of service, it is important to fill out the Proof of Service (RTB-34). For service by hand or posting on the door, it is important to bring a witness so they can photograph the service and complete and sign their section of the proof of service form.
If you cannot find the tenant, you can apply for a substituted service so you may service the notice by another method.
Rule 7: The proof wins
If you need to file a dispute against your tenant with the Residential Tenancy Branch, whether to keep part of the deposit, to recover unpaid rent, or to enforce an eviction notice they’ve disputed, you can file online with a Basic BCeID. It costs $100, and you have two years from the end of the tenancy to bring your claim. Win, and you can ask the arbitrator to order the fee repaid.
After filing, you have three days from when the RTB makes the hearing package available to you to send the dispute package to the tenant by registered mail, or serve them personally (s. 89). If you miss this, your application may be treated as withdrawn, meaning you have to file and pay again.
If you brought the application, you are known as the Applicant, which means your full evidence package must reach both the Residential Tenancy Branch and the tenant 14 days before the hearing. The tenant, as Respondent, has 7 days before the hearing to provide theirs.
Evidence served afterward has more flexibility under s. 88, including email if the tenant has provided an email address for service. Either way, deemed receipt is what counts. Mail is deemed received on the fifth day after mailing, a document attached to the door on the 3rd day. Your 14-day evidence deadline is measured from the deemed receipt date, not the day you sent it, so build in a buffer. Give yourself extra days in between to ensure compliance. This matters more than it sounds, because the first thing the arbitrator will confirm is whether the notice, the proceeding package and evidence were served properly. Only after that will they ask you to explain what actually happened.
Everything that we have written about above lands here. An arbitrator wants proof of what you are claiming. This could include the signed condition inspection reports, dated photos, the rent ledger, receipts, and the text messages you almost deleted. Give them a clear timeline of what happened and when and fill in the Monetary Order Worksheet if you’re claiming money.
Rule 8: Winning is not the end
Winning the hearing is not always the end. If the arbitrator grants an Order of Possession and the tenant still refuses to leave, you cannot remove them yourself. You must enforce the order through the Supreme Court by obtaining a Writ of Possession and hiring a court-appointed bailiff. Look out for our future posts on this.
Disclaimer – By contacting Portside Law Corporation through email, phone or direct message does not establish an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship is formed once both parties agree in writing to such a relationship. The information found in this document is of general nature and is not intended to be legal advice. Please contact our office to speak further about any particular legal question you may have.