The B.C. provincial government is launching a new website later this month they say will protect renters from bad faith evictions and improve the eviction process for landlords.
Starting July 18, landlords must use the new Landlord Use Web Portal to generate Notices to End Tenancy for personal occupancy or caretaker use. Landlords will need to provide information about the persons moving into the home and will be informed of the significant penalties for bad faith evictions.
“With this new tool, we’re taking action to better protect tenants from being evicted under false pretences and ensure that landlords who need to legitimately reclaim their units have a straightforward pathway to do so,” said B.C. Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon.
Enhanced Protections for Tenants
The Province is also increasing the notice period tenants must receive and the time they have to dispute an eviction. Landlords will need to give tenants four months’ notice instead of two months, and tenants will have 30 days to dispute the eviction instead of the current 15 days.
The person moving into the home must occupy it for a minimum of 12 months, and landlords who evict in bad faith could be ordered to pay the displaced tenant 12 months’ rent.
“This new web portal [will] help prevent bad-faith evictions [and] is a positive first step toward housing security for over one million B.C. renters,” said Amanda Burrows, executive director of First United.
LandlordBC CEO David Hutniak added, “Protecting a landlord’s right to reclaim a rental unit for personal use is critical to maintaining a balanced rental housing market.”
Standardized Process and Compliance Audits
The Landlord Use Web Portal will allow the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) to conduct post-eviction compliance audits and provide information about the frequency of these types of evictions.
Changes to the eviction process aim to support both landlords and tenants, creating a standardized process for ending tenancies for personal and caretaker use.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, Premier’s liaison for renters, emphasized, “No one should lose their homes because of bad-faith evictions.”
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