Lesson 2: Renting a Home

Do you live with your parents or a guardian? As a high school student, chances are you do, though you may already have moved out on your own. It's quite likely, though, that before long you'll be living away from your family; if so you'll probably find yourself renting a place to live. You'll be a tenant , and you'll rent your home from the person who owns it (or from a person the owner has hired to manage the property)-your landlord . In everyday speech, the term landlady is often used for a female landlord. In the legal world, however, the term landlord is used for both sexes.

Just as in the case of bailments, the law governing the relations between landlords and tenants can be found in three places:

1. the common law

2. statute law

3. the actual contract-called a tenancy agreement or lease -made between the landlord and tenant

At a practical level, most of the rules that landlords and tenants in Alberta should be aware of are in a provincial statute called the Residential Tenancies Act . Whenever a landlord and a tenant sign a tenancy agreement, they may put into the contract specific points that they both agree upon; and as long as these agreements are legally enforceable in the courts, they'll be binding on both parties. However, the Residential Tenancies Act spells out many rules that apply to all tenancy agreements; so even if no mention is made of them in the lease, they still apply. If you find yourself renting a place to live sometime in the future, this means that you should first get a clear idea of your rights and obligations under this statute.

Different Kinds of Tenancy

There are four different classes of tenancy:

1. Fixed-Term Tenancy
   • agreement to rent for a certain time and for a set amount
   • tenancy ends at the end of the term
   • no notice need be given either lessor or lessee that term is up unless parties agree to this in lease

2. Periodic Tenancy
   • agreement with no set expiry date
   • runs from day to day, week to week, or month to month
   • proper notice (as set out in lease or Residential Tenancies Act ) must be given to end agreement

3. Tenancy at Will
   • agreement whereby landlord lets tenant stay but keeps the right to evict without notice

4. Tenancy at Sufferance
   • situation whereby tenant stays on property against will of landlord or without landlord's permission
   • similar to trespassing
   • landlord can evict and claim past rent

The Residential Tenancies Act establishes most of the law in Alberta governing fixed-term and periodic tenancies.

Check your knowledge by completing Something to Think About 4 on the next page.