Eviction

Given the many calls of late I have been receiving at our advocacy office I thought I would review some very basic landlord tenant stuff ( please note that this is for Nova Scotia)

• Leases are legal documents and both parties that sign are bound by the agreement and to break a lease or change it must be done legally. So your landlord can't add stuff, rules after you sign your lease and say you now must follow these new rules.
• This holds even if your building is sold - the new landlord must honor your old lease agreement. If they want to change your lease you must be given notice - 4 mos before your anniversary date to decide if you agree - if you don't agree then your landlord will need to go to the tenancy board to change it and if you have been there under 5 years can evict you although you can respond if you think that the rules are unfair. If you have been there longer than 5 years they must go to the tenancy board and you are not at risk of losing your housing if you do not agree to the changes.
• Rental increases only can happen once a year and you must be given 4 months notice before your anniversary date. Unfortunately in NS we have no rent control so the landlord can put your rent up as much as they want.
• However if the landlord puts your rent up and no others in the building you can challenge it as unfair at the tenancy board and the landlord will need to justify why your rent was increased when no others were.
• If the landlord reduces the services included in your rent - like if they turn off heat or remove Internet - or even pull out the washer and dryer (coin operated or not) then this is considered an illegal increase in your rent as you are now paying for less services. You can get a rental rebate/reduction to compensate you for the lose in services.
• Police will not enforce an eviction unless it is legally given - eviction must go through the tenancy board - regardless of the issue
• a 5 day notice to quit can only be issued for a significant issue and must be issued and enforced by a tenancy hearing
• Your landlord must store your things for 60days before getting rid of them - they can charge you a storage fee
• Your landlord cannot take your damage deposit without a tenancy hearing - they must get the ok to use it against damages and must prove the damage with documentation

Well there is plenty more however these have been some of the ones we have been dealing with as of late. Remember stand up for your rights - it may seem like all the rules are in the landlord favor however if you never stand up for your rights we then give them all the power.