I receive a considerable amount of emails and searches on our blog regarding evictions every week and quite often, it is the same or very similar questions. Here is a list of my top five eviction questions to help you out.
1) Alberta Eviction Question One – Can a tenant be evicted in the winter in Alberta?
- a. It’s cold outside, the weather can be frightful, but yes if a tenant doesn’t pay their rent or causes a serious breach of the rental agreement they can be evicted. The tenant and the landlord have a contract that both sides have to uphold and is regulated under the Residential Tenancies Act of Alberta.
2) Alberta Eviction Question Two – Can a landlord cut-off utilities to make a tenant leave?
- a. Absolutely not, if the landlord shuts off heat, water or any other utility that he is responsible for paying they can be fined and find themselves in a very bad spot. The secondary question that comes with this is no, you cannot take the front door away for repair either, nor can you change the locks on the tenant without going through the proper procedures.
3) Alberta Eviction Question Three – How expensive is it to evict a tenant?
- a. If you go through the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) there is a $75 filing fee to have a hearing. If the hearing officer decides in your favour, the tenant is responsible for paying you the $75. Unfortunately collecting the outstanding $75 can be much harder than winning the hearing. If you win the hearing and the tenant still does not vacate it can cost you another $400 to hire a bailiff and have the tenant removed.
- b. There are also full service eviction companies that will charge you from $600 to $1,000 and up for the service and depending on how much additional work is required the fee will continue to increase.
4) Alberta Eviction Question Four – Do I need a bailiff to evict a tenant?
- a. For most evictions, you can complete the entire process yourself through the RTDRS and may not require a bailiff. The only time during the eviction process that you absolutely require the bailiff is if the tenants receive an order from eviction and do not vacate the premises. At this point, you require a bailiff to serve the tenant(s) with the writ of possession which gives you your property back and allow you to legally change the locks and allow the police to charge the tenants with trespassing if they return.
5) Alberta Eviction Question Five – What is the fastest way to evict a tenant?
- a. Each circumstance is different, but generally, the quickest method is to file immediately with the RTDRS and get a hearing date. This will be the quickest sure fire method to evict a tenant. You can provide a 14 day eviction notice to a tenant, and then if it appears they will not be vacating you can file at RTDRS, but it will add an additional week or more to the process.
- b. In the case of a tenant causing serious damage to the property or threatening the landlord or other tenants, you can provide them with a 24 hour eviction notice. Once again, if they do not vacate you still have to file with the RTDRS and go through the process.
Hopefully these provide you with some answers that help you move forward, either as a landlord or as a tenant. As a bonus, here is one additional eviction question.
Alberta Eviction Bonus Question – How long does an eviction take?
- If you follow the systems we recommend (including properly screening tenants), a landlord can have their property back and the tenants evicted in approximately 15 days. Depending on the circumstances, the hearing officer may allow the tenant to stay on and make additional payments to catch up outstanding rent on a set schedule. If they miss any of the payments on this set schedule, you can take your property back within a few days.
If you are a landlord and found this site while you were searching for eviction help please take a minute to register so you can receive any further updates we have regarding evictions, landlording, and what is happening in the Alberta economy and Real Estate market. Click here to Register to receive updates.
I’ve recently completed a new site that includes many helpful hints and suggestions for landlords looking to evict tenants, or for tenants trying to understand the process. You can find the site at http://www.albertaeviction.com or click on the button below!
Finally if you have some eviction stories, insights or questions to leave me a comment and I will answer back as quickly as possible! Here is some more additional eviction information for you;
The Eviction Process – an Extended Walkthrough of an Eviction
Police Tactical Visiting is a Great Reason To Evict!
Landlord Tips – Filling Vacancies and Saving Headaches!
Watch the following video to understand how you can feel if you don’t take action!
Hi, I really like you blog and newsletter, they are very interesting and useful. By the way, I can’t find any article written by you explaining how do you implement the “properly screening tenants” as you mention in this article, that would be a good topic. Keep the good work, Daniel.
Hi Daniel,
Some of the links were at the bottom of the articel, but you can also find them here,
Random Landlord Tips
Filling Vacancies – Screening tenants
Thanks for the comments and glad youa re enjoying this!
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If I applying for assistance and the system has made an appointment fir me in 15days and stated to bring my eviction notice with me will the landlord still be able to evict me as I was unfortunately unable to cover my rent and currently waiting fir assistance or a job
So it sounds like you have applied for rental assistance somewhere, but you cannot get in to see them for 15 days, meanwhile you currently have been served an eviction notice? Let me know if I misread this.
If you do not pay before the eviction notice comes due, yes you can be evicted. If you currently have an eviction notice and bring the paperwork in with you to whoever is assisting you, they may be able to rush the payment through the system. Note that you will have to pay the rent in full as well, a partial payment wouldn’t count as a temporary reprieve.
I have a question I have been living in my new home since oct 1 2010
I live in a condo/townhome that is run by a commitee board..
Double parking t.v playing and trying to wake my children up to open the door for me as she slept as I forgot my key. Has turned into me getting a 24hr notice to move?
My landlord knows the neighbours and has said he has gotten several complaints I have not received any documents but what is the legal process for eviction in alberta? I have also had the police come to my home as a result of my ex husband but my landlord assumes it was not.. help!!!! mother of 3
Hi Kim,
I’m a bit confused, perhaps you can explain more. Double parking, playing your TV and talking to the building manager are the reasons stated on the 24 hour eviction? Or what was the reason in the eviction notice? Normally a 24 hour eviction would require a tenant threatening other tenants or the landlord or the tenants causing damage to the property.
If you are being given a 24 hour notice, they have to serve you with the eviction notice, it has to state the reason why and it has to provide a timeline for when you are supposed to be out. If they haven’t served you a written notice and it is just verbal it isn’t valid. Without more knowledge of the actual situation it is difficult to determine your status.
Can you provide the reasons stated on the eviction?
Hi Bill, I have a eviction question for you, if you have two tenants on a lease and one breaches the lease by moving out, can you evict the other one?
Hi Kristi,
Sorry for the slow reply, I didn’t see he comment for some reason. I haven’t run into this question before. I’ve had couples split up and one of them asking if they can stay, but never felt the need to evict the other one. Is there a reason for wanting to get rid of the remaining tenant? It may come down to that more than the aspect of them breaching in this case for one of them leaving. My concern if you don;t have a valid reason for wanting to evict them the courts would rule in their favour.
You could call the Alberta Landlord and Tenant line, that may help. It would be interesting to hear their response.
Regards,
Bill
I have been renting to tenant for a year now. She has been late on her rent a number of times. She has asked us twice to switch the dates the rent was due still she is late almost every month. I have talked with her a number of times about this. Last month I gave her a written wornning that she will receive a eviction notice if she is late again. She wants do a rental perchase contract but I dont feel safe in getting on that kind of contract with her. What should I do??
Hi Kevin,
Just to clarify, you have changed the date that rent was due and she was till late? If that’s the case she hardly sounds like the type of tenant you want to hold onto and entering into a rental purchase contract would lock you in for a while, sort of. The caveat there would be any sort of rental purchase be it via lease option or rent to own (really they are the same thing) would require a larger deposit up front that is forfeited if they breach the lease or walk away. Since she currently cannot make rent, putting up a sizeable good faith deposit would be a stretch as well.
If you have been tracking and documenting all of the late payments and have email and other correspondence between the tenant as evidence you can evict for continual late payments which is a breach of the lease. Here’s a link explaining what you can do from a sister site I also run, What To Do When Tenants Pay Late All The Time
Let me know how it works out and you can leave a comment on the other site if that was helpful.
Regards,
Bill
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Hi Bill, I have aproblem with tenants in the Fort McMurary. Is there anyone who can kick them out in Fort McMurray. Tell me the phome number please
Hi GTG,
I believe you can talk to Kim at Associated Eviction Services. She is based out of Edmonton, but also does some work in Fort McMurray. You can find her site at http://www.evictionservices.ca or call her at 1-780-455-1101 and let her know I referred you.
Regards,
Bill
Where can I find advice about eviction of an adult child. He is 21 and not going to school or paying rent. He refuses to do anything except sleep and be on-line. We have gone to counselling and was told by the doctor that if he doesn’t want to help himself then there is nothing counselling can do to help. Would we go through these steps to evict him or does this fall elsewhere?
Hi Sylvia,
In this case I think you can simply tell him to leave. He’s not renting from you, he is your child that you are kicking out. Tell him what day you want him out (sooner the better), let him know you are changing the locks and that if he is back on the property without permission you will charge him with trespassing. It’s tough love, but at 21 it’s time for him to grow up.
Bill
P.S. I’m not a lawyer, but when your parents kick you out, you need to leave!!!
I was renting this place at a lower price a month to help a couple of people out while I finish some work in the house for a few months. Worte up a lease for three months. Just wondering. They know that when the three months is up the rent will go up and they are fine with the price I said. (but there is to many people and at the time when I’m done the work I only would like two there. Just saying what if I dont want them in the place in three months. 2nd question – If for some reason they they dont leave can I increase the rent to somthing that they dont like or cant afford. Then find other tenants.
Thanks
If you wrote the lease for a fixed term, you can choose to simply not renew it and then they have to leave. In a situation like that though I would give them 30-45 days notice that you aren’t renewing so they have ample time to find a new place.
If they don’t leave, it’s a fairly simple process to evict them for overholding. You can find more information at http://www.AlbertaEviction.com
Regards,
Bill
Hello, I have a roommate that I don’t want living there anymore. He is not on the lease. How much notice do I have to give him. I need him out! Breaks all the rules set by the landlord. Should I ask the landlord to kick him out and how much notice? Thanks.
Hi Kyle,
Are you subletting to him, or are you both on the lease. Depending on this it can change how you have to deal with it. If you are are both on the lease and he is breaking the rules, you are both responsible for the place and could both be evicted.
If you are subletting to him, and he is paying you, you fall under the Innkeeper’s Act versus the Residential Tenancy Act and can evict him almost immediately.
You can find out more about this over at http://www.AlbertaEviction.com, specifically do a search for Innkeeper’s Act and there are some huge discussions going on over there to help people understand the difference and how it applies ot them.
Bill