In a place like Squamish where renters often complain that they are in a vulnerable position, this may be welcome news for some tenants.
The province will be contemplating measures that are believed to help protect people from ‘renovictions.’
If approved by the legislature, changes introduced today to the Residential Tenancy Act are anticipated to offer support to tenants facing eviction as the result of renovation or demolition.
“Tenants need stronger protections when a landlord is choosing to renovate or sell their property,” said Housing Minister Selina Robinson in a news release on Thursday.
The province says these would give tenants more time to find alternate housing if a landlord ends a tenancy in order to demolish or renovate a unit. A four-month notice period for eviction would replace the current two-month time period.
Tenants would also have more 30 days — up from 15 — to dispute a notice to end tenancy for demolition, conversion or renovation.
Landlords would also have to give former tenants a bigger payout if they end a tenancy for those reasons but don’t follow through. This would also apply if landlord used a vacate clause because they had plans to move back in, but then re-rented the unit to someone else.
If amendments are passed, 12 months’ rent worth of rent would be the new compensation for so-called “bad faith" evictions as opposed to two months.
There would also be a right of first refusal for tenants in multi-unit buildings who are kicked out because of renovation or repair. That means that after renovations or repairs are done, landlords would first have to offer the unit — at market price — to the tenant who was forced out before shopping around for other takers.
There is currently no right of first refusal regulation in effect for that circumstance.
