You've entered a tenancy agreement, and you're getting ready to move into your new home. What legal rights and obligations do you and your landlord have at this point? The points that follow, briefly outline the principal obligations of both landlord and tenant according to Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act .

Landlord's Obligations

• The landlord must see that the premises are available on the agreed upon date.

• The landlord must see to it that the premises are habitable, in other words, that they're safe and in a reasonable state of repair. They also have to be reasonably clean.

• The landlord must fill out an inspection report describing the condition of the premises before the tenant moves in. This must be done within a week of the tenant's moving in and again within a week of the tenant's moving out. That way it's possible to be sure what damage, if any, has been done by the tenant while renting the property. The landlord and tenant should fill out the report together and sign it; but if the tenant refuses to do it, the landlord can do it alone.

• If there's a written lease, the landlord must give the tenant a copy within 21 days of the signing. A tenant can hold back rent until receiving it.

• One other obligation of a landlord is worth noting at this point. An Alberta statute called the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act makes it illegal for a landlord to deny anyone accommodation, or to discriminate against anyone as to how that accommodation is provided, based on the person's "race, religious beliefs, colour, sex [gender] , physical characteristics, ancestry, or place of origin." As well, a decision of the Supreme Court has now added sexual orientation to that list.

Tenant's Obligations

• The tenant, along with the landlord, should complete the inspection report and sign it.

• If the tenancy agreement involves a security deposit

   (and they almost all do), a tenant must hand over the amount agreed upon, up to a maximum of one month's rent.