Vancouver Real Estate

At Downtown Suites we manage all End of Tenancy Notice in an atmosphere of trust, tact and timeliness. Today, I’d like to share more with you on the fine points of the BC Residential Tenancy Act.

When a rental unit requires extensive renovations or repairs, so extensive that the place would have to be vacant, the landlord may give notice to the tenant. In this situation, the requirement is not one but two months’ notice. These renovations would also need all the legally relevant permits and approvals before notice could be given. As well, the Residential Tenancy Act says that the landlord needs to intend these repairs “in good faith”, to ensure that this is an actual renovation/repair and not simply a ruse to remove the tenant. In addition, the landlord needs to be aware that the tenant could give ten days’ notice after receiving this two month notice, with a potential loss of revenue to the landlord.

There are many reasons why an owner might need to give a resident tenant notice to vacate, and landlords should be familiar with the Residential Tenancy Act to understand which of these require two months’ notice.

Such as: the conversion of the residential property to strata lots, or conversion into a not-for-profit housing coop. Of course, in both of these situations all legal permits must be in place.

Or: if a rental unit needs to be made available for a residential building’s caretaker or manager, two months’ notice can be given to the tenant of that suite, to make room for the caretaker.

Other permitted reasons for notice include the demolition of the rental unit, and the conversion of the rental unit to another non-residential use. In earlier posts, I’ve gone over the situations related to notice for the purposes of sale.

The 10 days’ notice scenario:
A tenant receives two months’ notice. He turns around and gives the landlord 10 days’ written notice for an earlier move-out date. Along with this notice, he pays rent to the landlord, covering the time of notice to the move-out date. However, the landlord has the tenant’s previously paid rent (for a period after that effective date) such as a post-dated cheque for the full month and future months. She must return these funds to the tenant. (Please note that this scenario doesn’t apply to a fixed term tenancy.)

Confusing? As experienced residential property managers, we can help you with the ins and outs of these and other tenant situations. Contact us at Downtown Suites.

(This is an important Evergreen Resource article, revisited from our archives.)

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At Downtown Suites, we always act with compassion and empathy to the tenants when delivering an end of tenancy notice on behalf of an owner. At the same time, we want to ensure everything happens without any loss to the property owners if at all possible. An important factor is making sure we have timely delivery of any End of Tenancy Notice, according to the BC Residential Tenancy Act’s stipulations.

Notice is not always considered “received” on the date is it sent, depending on the way this notice is delivered.

Received on the day of delivery: When a copy of the notice is left directly with the tenant, or left with an adult who apparently lives with the tenant, the notice is deemed to be received on the day it is left.

Received in three days: It is important to know that when a copy is left in a mailbox (or mail slot) where the tenant lives, the notice is not deemed to be received until three days after the day it was left. If the notice is faxed to a number provided by the tenant, it is deemed to be received on the third day after faxing. Similarly, if notice is posted on the door or other noticeable place at the address where the tenant lives, it is deemed as received on the third day after this posting.

Received in five days: When a copy has been sent by regular mail or registered mail to the address where the tenant lives, notice is deemed to be received on the fifth day after mailing.

Many owners following these regulations are surprised to discover that, through no fault of the tenant, the notice was not actually received. Unless the notice is directly handed to the tenant, it is wise to have confirmation of receipt. At Downtown Suites, as soon as we hear from an owner that notice must be given, we send it out by registered mail.

(This is an important Evergreen Resource article, revisited from our archives.)

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Be Aware, Cautious and Prepared

You have just purchased a home in Vancouver and intend to live in it once the deal is completed. In the eyes of the BC Residential Tenancy Act, you become an “owner-occupier” and if this home is currently occupied by a renter you are entitled to end the tenancy. There are some things you should know about the procedure.

When an owner-occupier purchases, she must send a letter to the current landlord, on or before the effective date of the notice. The landlord (or the new owner-occupier) is required to pay the current tenant one month’s rent, plus give 60 days notice, served by the end of month.

In this situation, upon receiving this notice, the tenant, on the other hand, only has to give 10 days notice before ending the tenancy.

Often it becomes a negotiation point at the time of sale, deciding who should pay that one month’s rent – the new owner-occupier, or the seller.

There can be a downside to all this for landlords. If you are counting on the rent, and, say, the deal closes August 1, you will need to request in writing to the current owner to serve notice. However, if the tenant immediately after receiving this notice, gives 10 days notice and leaves after the 10th day of the month, the result to you would be a loss of revenue, in addition to the one month rent penalty.

In the light of this potential loss of revenue, landlords need to be aware, cautious, and prepared.

At Downtown Suites, we assist owners in understanding and preparing for all situations related to their property and the BC Residential Tenancy Act.

(This is an important Evergreen Resource article, revisited from our archives.)

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Many owners of investment property may be unaware of the ins and outs of the new BC Residential Tenancy Act, which has been recently updated. If your suite is currently rented to a tenant, this information should help you understand the tenant rights written into the current legislation.

The new rules for residential tenancy apply to the many suites here in Vancouver that are held as investments and currently occupied by tenants. When owners wish to sell the suite, they find that tenants are not simply expendable, to be evicted upon sale of the suite.

Here in BC, tenants have many rights, upheld by law. It may come as a surprise to owners to discover that when tenants are in a lease situation, that lease takes precendence over the sale. Unlike other countries, an owner here cannot evict a tenant for the purposes of selling. In fact, it is only if the new owner wishes to live in the suite that a tenant may be evicted. This new owner is referred to as an “owner-occupier”.

This is important legislation. At Downtown Suites, we help the owners understand the ramifications of this legislation when they decide to sell their investment property.

(This is an important Evergreen Resource article, revisited from our archives.)

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We help you rent your property. At Downtown Suites we are always looking for new inventory, as seen in this video with Nicholas Meyer.

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At Downtown Suites we are participating in Blog Action Day Oct 15 2009, focused on Climate Change. In all our listings we include the walkscore for each suite, indicating the walkability of the area where our suites are located – and by walkability we don’t mean simply recreational walking, but walking for the stuff of life – grocery shopping, doctor’s offices, hardware stores, and so on.

We fully support cycling as main transportation, and are happy to see the Vancouver Cycle Route planner that is now available through UBC, and look forward to the “Google Maps Bike There” cycle planning rumoured to be coming on all Google Maps (or so they indicated just recently). We make sure the Vancouver cycle route planners are included in each of our listings, to encourage everyone to leave the car behind and cycle wherever possible. In this beautiful city of Vancouver we can cycle nearly year-round.

There are many new buildings in Vancouver which are LEED certified and considered “green buildings”, something we fully support and encourage, while in older buildings we encourage energy-saving approaches for maintenance and upkeep, recommending energy efficiency.

We’re excited to be working with bloggers worldwide, to help make Blog Action Day 2009 the largest ever social change event on the web.

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Nic sitting in the conversation area of his Downtown Suites office.

Nic at his desk at Downtown Suites in Vancouver BC

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We would appreciate any referrals you may have in regards to your clients who have purchased for investment and who may be looking for a property manager and potential tenants.  It could also be a value-added service from you, to be able to recommend the property management services of a reputable company such as Downtown Suites Ltd.

As you may already know, Downtown Suites Ltd. is a firm of proven, professional, caring and conscientious people; the kind of people you can depend on. I have personally been in the industry since 1978 and I started Downtown Suites back in 1994.  We own our own offices, clear title, at Conference Plaza and  have five fully qualified licensed property managers on staff and two in house accountants to ensure that everything is well organized.  In addition, all funds are held in trust for the client and our books are audited annually by the Real Estate Council. Our aims in managing our client’s property are high, and our fees are very fair and reasonable. (8% for ongoing 24/7 management – no up charging and 1/2 a months rent to secure tenants)  We continually strive to offer the finest condominium property management service in downtown Vancouver.  We pride ourselves on service, and we will do whatever necessary to make you look good.  Please review our web site for further information on our company:  www.downtownsuites.com

Your clients are always your clients, your name is on the file and is always referred back to the client should they advise they wish to make any real estate transaction.  In addition we are happy to send a fine dining certificate to Top Table Restaurants (Cin Cin, Blue Water Café etc) to you to show our appreciation.

Thank you once again for considering us, we appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

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Property Manager Tanja Milosevic and Leasing Agent Lisa Taylor are seen here at their desks in the busy Downtown Suites office.

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