Know your rights as a BC renter: repairs, privacy and entry, rent increases, notices, deposits and how to raise a problem with the RTB.
The pillar guide: read it first and the rest of the hub falls into place.
Pillar guideA BC landlord may enter a rental unit only in six situations, most often with 24 hours' written notice. Here is what the notice must say, how to time it, and what each side can do when rules are broken.
+2 more chapters in the guide
Tenant resourcesIf your BC landlord will not fix a problem, you do not have to withhold rent or do it yourself. Here is the path from a written request to an RTB order for repairs, a rent reduction and compensation.
Provincial complianceRenting a room in your own home, or sharing a kitchen with the owner? Section 4(c) of BC's Residential Tenancy Act may take the arrangement outside the Act. Here is how the exclusion reads and what applies instead.
Tenant resourcesEntry without notice, guest fees, lockouts, cut-off services and other things a BC landlord cannot do under the Residential Tenancy Act, and what you can do about them.
Provincial complianceSection 32 of BC's Residential Tenancy Act puts most repairs on the landlord. Here is what the duty covers, the tenant's share, how requests should work, and what the RTB can order.
Maintenance repairsIn BC, smoke alarms are mandatory in every rental unit and the landlord installs, tests and maintains them, while the tenant must not disable them and must report problems. Carbon monoxide alarms are recommended rather than required. Here is who does what.
Landlord guidesMost fire and flood damage in a BC rental does not end the tenancy. Here is who repairs, what happens to rent while the work is done, whose insurance covers what, and when to go to the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Tenant resourcesEvery BC tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment under section 28 of the Residential Tenancy Act. What it covers, when noise, entry or renovations become a breach, and how to claim compensation or a rent reduction.
Tenant resourcesA BC landlord cannot stop you having guests, restrict them or charge a guest fee; only reasonable rules for common areas are allowed. What changes when a guest moves in and becomes an occupant.
Tenant resourcesWho can change the locks in a BC rental, who pays to rekey for a new tenant, what happens when a lock breaks, and why a lockout never ends a tenancy, from RTA sections 25, 31, 33 and 70.
Provincial complianceWhen a BC landlord can remove or restrict parking, storage, laundry or another service, how the RTB-24 notice and rent reduction work, and what tenants can do, from RTA section 27 and RTB Policy Guideline 22.
New rules, decisions and bylaws, and what to do about them.
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