As of August 17, 2020, landlords are now permitted to serve tenants a Notice to End Tenancy for unpaid rent or utilities if:
- the tenant failed to pay rent that was due before March 18, 2020; or
- the tenant fails to pay full rent due after August 17, 2020 (for most renters that would be September 1,2020)
However, a landlord must not issue a Notice to End Tenancy for unpaid rent or utilities due for the following period: March 18, 2020 to August 17, 2020 (“Covid State of Emergency”). The only exception to this rule is if the tenant fails to pay under the repayment plan.
The repayment plan is a payment schedule that the landlord is required to issue to a tenant for how any unpaid rents during the Covid State of Emergency is to be repaid to the landlord. Click here for a repayment plan form from BC Housing.
In conclusion, all tenants are required to pay full rent as of August 17, 2020. This means that tenants can be evicted if they fail to pay their regular monthly rent starting August 17, 2020. However, tenants cannot be evicted for paying the rent in arrears for the Covid State of Emergency period unless they miss a payment under their repayment plan. This implies that a repayment plan exists. So, for you landlords out there, you need to get a repayment plan in place and serve it on the tenant. If no repayment plan exists, you won’t be able to evict a tenant for failing to meet their obligations under the repayment plan.
Contact us with your questions.
Written by Susan Y. Kim.