Shared accommodation problems: What can a tenant do?

• Author: Feng, Judy

Here at CPLEA, we have been getting more questions lately about shared accommodation problems. There are two living arrangements that typically fall under the term shared accommodation: roommates living together in a rental property and a landlord and tenant(s) sharing living space (for example, a kitchen, bathroom or living room). We regularly receive questions about the following issues:

* I share a house with my landlord but I can't stand living with him/her anymore! How do I break my lease?

* I'm renting out a room in my home to a tenant and he/she is not paying rent! What can I do?

* My roommate is constantly throwing crazy parties at our place. Can I evict him/her?

Unfortunately, tenants living in a shared accommodation situation fall into a grey area of the law. Let me explain.

In Alberta, the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) applies to most landlords and tenants in Alberta. Under the RTA, landlords and tenants have certain rights and responsibilities (http://www.landlordandtenant.org/responsibilities/). The RTA also outlines the basic rules for things like security deposits, evictions, and ending leases. Under the RTA, landlords and tenants can turn to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) when they have a problem (http://www.landlordandtenant.org/dispute-resolution/).

However, the RTA does not apply to shared accommodation situations where the landlord and tenant are living together. For example, under the RTA, if a landlord serves an eviction order to a tenant for non-payment of rent, the landlord must give the tenant at least 14-day written notice. On the other hand, if a tenant is living with their landlord and did not pay rent, the landlord does not have a legal obligation under the RTA to give 14-day notice. That said, it is good practice for the landlord to provide reasonable written notice to evict a tenant in a shared accommodation situation.

The RTA also does not cover issues that arise between roommates. For example, there is no legislated eviction procedure through which one roommate could evict the other. For some more examples of other problems that may arise in shared accommodation situations, you should check out our "Living with your Landlord" article (http://www.lawnow.org/living-with-your-landlord/).

There is a common impression that the Innkeepers Act applies to a shared accommodation situation. The Innkeepers Act only applies to hotels, motels, and other places that provide lodging to guests...