September 15th 2020
MONEY MACHINE
Whenever you purchase a property, you are essentially buying the land and improvements. That includes any trees or landscaping. It includes, of course, the bricks and mortar. But it also includes an intangible element. Something we call the “bundle of rights”. The right to occupy. The right to quiet enjoyment. And subject to the laws of the land, zoning etc, the right to remodel, to expand the footprint or demolish it for that matter.
When you rent your property out, or a part in the case of a multi-family building, what you are doing in effect is giving over a portion of those bundle of rights to the tenant in exchange for rent. Now you don’t give over all the rights. The tenant does not have the right to remodel or demolish for example.although sometimes they seem to think that they do. But two important rights that you surrender are the right to occupy and the right to quiet enjoyment. Once rent has been paid and the keys have been handed over, you no longer have the right to occupy the leased premise. Nor do you have the right to enter at will. The tenant is paying for and entitled to quiet enjoyment. Or, as the Residential Tenancies Act puts it:
“A landlord shall not at any time during a tenant’s occupancy of a rental unit… substantially interfere with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit or the residential complex to which it is located for all usual purposes by a tenant or members of his or her household.”
There are certain exceptions however where a landlord is permitted to enter the rental unit. Today I’d like to take a look at some of these circumstances and any notices required.
I. When the property is for sale
One of the bundle of rights that you retained was the right to encumber or dispose of the property. Whether the property is rented under a fixed term lease or a month-to-month, the owner has the right to put the property up for sale. And in order to sell the property it must be available to be shown to potential purchasers. The Act provides for this, with certain restrictions. The tenant is entitled to written notice of at least 24 hours, before it is shown to a prospective buyer by either the landlord or his real estate Agent. Now, and especially in the case of a single family dwelling where the new buyer may want the property for his own home, the tenant isn’t going to be thrilled by the prospect of a sale, and they may be uncooperative, but they can’t prevent the property from being shown. The landlord can use a key to give access if necessary. In most cases, if the landlord and tenant have developed a good relationship over time, the tenant will be amenable. It’s always best to work amicably if possible.
II. Where the property is becoming vacant
When it has been established that the dwelling is becoming vacant, either by mutual consent, or even in the event of an eviction, the landlord has the right to show the property. Here written notice is not required nor is 24 hours advance notice. The Act states: “A landlord may enter the rental unit without written notice to show the unit to prospective tenants if before entering, the landlord informs or makes a reasonable effort to inform the tenant of the intention to do so.” I have found that tenants are generally pretty good about accommodating showings, especially if the landlord and tenant have had a good working relationship during the tenancy. If the tenant has given the prescribed 60 day notice but would like to move earlier if possible, he/she will work very hard to accommodate showings if it might mean an earlier departure date. As a landlord you need to keep in mind that your tenant still has a life to live and you should do your best to work with them by “batching” showings or restricting showings to certain times only. If the tenant is being evicted, I would probably suggest you wait until they are out before you begin the new tenant selection process.
III. UPON EMERGENCIES
I got a call recently from a main floor tenant of a triplex I own. Water was pouring down through the ceiling of his bathroom. I called the top floor tenant, a cab driver, to discover he was more than an hour away. I told him the problem we were having and that I would be using a key to access his unit. He was perfectly OK with this, but even if he wasn’t, this situation called for immediate actions. I met a plumber there. It turned out the pipe to his toilet tank had snapped. We shut the water off. Replaced the broken hose and limited the damage. But imagine if we had to wait an hour for him to get home before we could shut the water off. Fortunately in those situations you don’t.
IV. TO MAKE REPAIRS
In the situation we just reviewed, I was able to have the water shut off and repairs done at the one time. This isn’t always the case. Generally I try to do repairs between tenants. But this isn’t always possible. Occasionally, especially in the case of long term tenants, situations arise and repairs need to be done. The Act allows for this, and generally tenants are happy to co-operate. But they are entitled to written notice of at least 24 hours.
V. PERIODIC INSPECTIONS
The Act also allows the landlord to enter the premise with 24 hours advance notice to inspect the overall condition of 
the unit to see that it is being kept up and fit for continued habitation. This is also a time that the landlord would want to check such things as smoke and CO detectors, fire extinguishers and other safety features. The Act doesn’t specify how often these inspections can be done, but here too a landlord needs to be reasonable.
There are other provisions in the Act, like access for mortgage appraisal or insurance purposes. We won’t take the time to look at them all. Sufficient to know your rights and obligations under the Act and operate within them. I have always found that being a responsible landlord, developing and maintaining a good relationship with your tenants, and keeping in mind that they are paying for “quiet enjoyment” will allow you to gain access where necessary and without incident.
There are, in all things, the rare exception. The one in 100 problem tenant that you have to work with and work around. For these incidents it’s good to know your rights.
Wayne Quirk, Author, “THE MONEY MACHINE”, wayneq@remax-gc.com