{"id":1561,"date":"2020-04-17T21:17:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T21:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reaction-jmm.local\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2020-04-17T21:31:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T21:31:39","slug":"residential-tenancy-law-in-alberta-during-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnstonmingmanning.com\/residential-tenancy-law-in-alberta-during-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Residential Tenancy Law in Alberta During COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>The following is intended as a general summary of Residential Tenancy Law with respect to Alberta during the COVID 19 crisis. This is not a replacement for legal advice tailored to your specific case. Please consult a lawyer if your matter requires professional advice. If you have questions please contact the writer of this article (Kelly le Vann) at Johnston Ming Manning LLP, 403-346-5591. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recent COVID 19 pandemic in Alberta has caused\nsignificant financial impact for both Landlords and Tenants in the Residential\ncontext. The pandemic has also led to a series of Ministerial Orders which have\nchanged the nature of Landlord\/Tenant proceedings (at least for now). This\narticle is organized as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Changes to the Law <\/em><\/li><li><em>Advice for Landlords <\/em><\/li><li><em>Advice for Tenants <\/em><\/li><li><em>Conclusion <\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Changes to the Law <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>No Fees or Penalties for Late Payments <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Landlord is not permitted to charge any fee or late penalty for late or non-payment of rent by tenants between April 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No New or Pre-Existing Rent Increases <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The effect of any new or previously scheduled rent increases\nis suspended beginning on March 17, 2020 and ending on August 14, 2020 or termination\nof the Order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that if the Landlord sent notice of the rental\nincrease before March 17, 2020 for an increase to take place after March 17,\n2020, that rent increase will not take effect until August 15, 2020. For\nclarity this order does not prevent a Landlord from raising rent, but it does\nprevent the increase from taking place until after August 14, 2020. This Order\nalso has no effect on rental increase which took place before the Order\ncommenced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>No Evictions in April 2020 for Non-Payment of Rent <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The authority for a civil enforcement agency to enforce an\neviction order is suspended until <strong><em>April 30, 2020<\/em><\/strong> provided\nthat the eviction is caused solely due to non-payment of rent,\nutilities, or both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This does not prevent a Landlord from terminating a tenancy\nfor non-payment of rent, or even getting an Order for eviction due to\nnon-payment of rent (subject to the explanation found below regarding new\nrequirements before commencing an application). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What this means is that the Bailiff, who is the only agency\nlegally authorized to perform an eviction does not have authority under the <em>Civil\nEnforcement Act<\/em> to evict any person for non-payment of rent or utilities in\nthe residential context during the month of April, 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is limited to non-payment of rent or utilities; therefore,\nthe Bailiff can still enforce an Order for eviction if the reason for\neviction was for damage to the property, criminal activity, or any number of\nbreaches that have nothing to do with non-payment of rent. Therefore, an Order\nevicting a tenant for non-payment of rent and damage to property will\nstill be enforceable during the month of April, 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Duty of Landlord to Enter into Meaningful Payment Plan\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the one most overlooked and likely one of the most\nimportant changes to Alberta Residential Tenancy Law in recent history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alberta\u2019s <em>Residential Tenancies Act <\/em>(specifically ss.\n26 and 29) has temporarily been modified to require the Landlord to enter into\nor make reasonable efforts to attempt to enter into a <em>meaningful <\/em>payment\nplan with the Tenant before terminating the tenancy for substantial breach or\napplying for termination with the Courts (or RTSDS). The onus is on the\nLandlord to prove that he\/she made reasonable efforts to enter into a payment\nplan with the Tenant or that the Landlord entered into a reasonable\npayment plan and the Tenant failed to adhere to that plan <em>before<\/em>\nthe Landlord can begin the process of eviction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Courts have not decided any cases involving this yet, so\nthere is little to no guidance on what constitutes a <em>meaningful <\/em>payment\nplan. It is recommended that the Landlord consider the long-term implications\nof COVID-19 when entering into a payment plan, as a plan which accounts for\nrental arrears in April, but fails to take into account Tenant may still be\nexperiencing similar hardship in May or June could result in dismissal of the\nLandlord\u2019s application or more likely a Conditional Order and payment schedule\nwhich requires breaching before the Landlord can retake possession of the\nPremises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Conditional Orders <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Courts and RTDRS have always had the power to make Conditional\nOrders regarding payment plans or to suspend the enforcement of an Order in the\ninterests of fairness. At present there are no changes to the law regarding Conditional\nOrders, but it is expected that the Courts and RTDRS will be far more likely to\nmake Conditional Orders with payment schedules and will require a breach of the\nOrder proper before the Landlord is given authority to carry out an eviction\nthrough a civil enforcement agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advice for Landlords <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best advice for Landlords is to know the law and be\nfamiliar with the changes (see above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important things to be familiar with are the\nchanges to the <em>Residential Tenancies Act <\/em>which will likely remain in\neffect until August 14, 2020. The Landlord must now prove that they either made\nreasonable efforts to enter into a meaningful payment plan before terminating\nthe tenancy via written notice or applying for an Order to terminate the\ntenancy in Court. As this process may take time on the best of occasions, and\nimproperly evicting a tenant has the potential to require the Landlord to start\nfrom the beginning, it is critical that the Landlord take all reasonable steps\nto enter into a <em>meaningful <\/em>payment plan with the tenant and that\nsuch a plan has either been rejected, ignored, or breached before serving the\nTenant with a notice to terminate the tenancy for substantial breach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What constitutes a meaningful payment plan will differ for\neach case and it is recommended that you speak to a lawyer in deciding how such\na plan should be instituted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advice for Tenants <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With respect to Tenants it is equally important to know the\nLaw (see above changes to law) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best advice for Tenants is to pay your rent or do\neverything you can to pay rent (including utilities). The new legislative changes\nsuspending evictions and eviction orders to allow for payment plans will in no\nway relieve the Tenant of their obligation to pay rent on time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you cannot pay rent or are having trouble paying the\nentire amount due, it is strongly recommended that you speak with your Landlord\nat the earliest opportunity to arrange for a payment plan. The Landlord is\nrequired to enter into or make reasonable attempts to enter into a payment plan\nbefore the Lease can be terminated for non-payment of rent or utilities; this\ndoes not mean that the Landlord is required to take anything less than what is\nowed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Failure to pay at least partial rent in any given month\nduring the COVID pandemic is likely to create more problems for a Tenant as the\nmore that is owed the more difficult it is to enter into a meaningful payment plan\nwhich can be sustained by the Tenant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, failure to respond to a Landlord attempting to\nenter into a payment plan with you as the Tenant is likely to result in\neviction, so do not assume that the changes to the law will protect a Tenant\nwho does not communicate or outrightly refuses to pay rent due to the COVID\nepidemic. Therefore, it is important to communicate with your Landlord and do\neverything possible to enter into a meaningful and sustainable payment plan\nwhich works for both parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recent COVID pandemic has had a severe impact on the law\nand policies surrounding Residential Tenancy in Alberta. Not only have late\nfees, penalties, and rent increases been temporarily suspended, but enforcement\nof evictions solely for non-payment of rent and utilities have been suspended\nuntil April 30, 2020 (pending future orders). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important consideration is that the changes to the <em>Residential\nTenancies Act<\/em> will now require Landlords and Tenants to attempt to enter\ninto meaningful payment plans before the termination\/eviction process can\nbegin. In the event that the payment plan is in default the Landlord will have\nto show the existence of such a plan and that it is in default before he\/she\ncan begin the eviction process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is strongly recommended that both Landlords and Tenants\nengage in conversation at the earliest sign of a problem and attempt to make\nreasonable accommodation which will allow for the Tenant to stay in the\nPremises and pay all rental arrears via a payment plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, failure to take these steps properly may result in\nthe Landlord having to start the process anew and\/or increase the likelihood\nthat the Court will make a conditional order with a payment scheduling rather\nthan an outright eviction. \n\nShould you have any questions regarding the new\nResidential Tenancy process in Alberta and\/or you require professional\nassistance in dealing with a Residential Tenancy matter please contact Kelly le\nVann at 403-346-5591.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following is intended as a general summary of Residential Tenancy Law with respect to Alberta during the COVID 19 crisis. This is not a replacement for legal advice tailored to your specific case. Please consult a lawyer if your matter requires professional advice. If you have questions please contact the writer of this article [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[20,19],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Residential Tenancy Law in Alberta During COVID-19 Pandemic | Johnston Ming Manning LLP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The following is intended as a general summary of Residential Tenancy Law with respect to Alberta during the COVID 19 crisis. 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