The Tenant and Landlord Act lays out the principles that govern the interactions between private landlords and tenants of a residential property.
The goal is to make transaction and communication as fair as possible between the landlord and the tenant.
The 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 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 remains in force 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 Comply 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.
Such failure may be breach of agreement such as not paying rent on time or at all 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.
If compliance takes place before the specified date, the rental agreement need not be terminated.
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.
Tenants versus Landlord Protection When it comes to the law you will probably feel there is more protection for your tenants than there is for you so it is really important that you understand your tenants rights as well as your own.