Tenant And Landlord Act- How Much Does A Private Landlord Need To Know?

The Tenant and Landlord Act defines the principles that govern the interactions between private landlords and tenants of a residential property

. The goal is to make transaction and communication between the tenant and the landlord as fair as possible.

The Tenant and Landlord Act addresses both the landlord's and the tenant's obligations, lays down the framework for finding solutions to tenant landlord disputes and places restriction on retaliatory conduct. In order to conduct their business in the comfort that they are within the law, private landlords must familiarize themselves with the key points of the Act some of which are discussed below.

Rental Agreement

First, every private landlord needs to know what the Act defines as a rental agreement, the legal requirements for giving notices and the responsibility for adhering to good faith on both parties.

These are critical things to know as they can be potential grounds for drawn out and costly lawsuits. The rental agreement is often a term used to define any pact between the two parties. The terms and conditions of the rental agreement, can be as simple as highlighting the monthly or weekly rental fee, acceptable methods of payment, date that the agreement takes effect, standards of cleanliness etc. The rental agreement may be verbal or written.

Simply put, it can include anything that the private landlord and tenant agree upon. A lease contract is a good example of a rental agreement. The rental agreement holds until the expiry date defined on the agreement or with the tenant's consent. The private landlord ought to know his or her obligations to the tenant. The terms and conditions of the rental agreement will often list the key responsibilities such as prompt repairs and routine maintenance.

Failure To Compy With The Rental Agreement

The private landlord should know what redress, remedies or action he or she can take in the event that the tenant fails to abide by the rental agreement. Examples of failure to comply that may be a breach of the agreement would include non-payment or late payment of rent, or giving misleading information about the number of people in the property.

If this happens, the Tenant and Landlord Act empowers the landlord to provide a written notice to the tenant specifying the terms they have breached and advising them of the termination of the rental agreement by a certain date if the tenant does not comply with the agreement. The rental agreement need not be terminated if compliance takes place before the specified date. However, if the breach is serious such as conducting illegal activity including selling drugs or the illegal trade of firearms within the property, then the landlord may immediately terminate the agreement.

Tenant's Rights

But the private landlord must always be aware of the tenant's protection from retaliation as stated in the Tenant and Landlord Act. Even when the tenant breaches the rental agreement, the Tenant and Landlord Act prohibits the landlord from retaliatory conduct such as sabotaging the tenant (e.g. cutting off the heat supply), increasing the rent without tenant's consent, taking or threatening to take possession of the tenant's property. In the event that the matter ends up in court, the landlord may be required to pay damages that exceed twice the monthly rent or even more depending on how severe the judge considers the damage to the tenant to have been.

Adequate Notice To enter The Property

Note that the Tenant and Landlord Act requires that the private landlord must give adequate notice to the tenant before entering the property. As a private landlord you may own the property but it is now your tenant's home. Therefore, in the event of any breach of the terms, landlords must follow the correct avenues for redress to prevent future legal disputes.

by: Steve Barker

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