Tenancy Agreements (19:IV): Difference between revisions

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==== b) Express, Implied and Statutory Terms ====
==== b) Express, Implied and Statutory Terms ====
Valid '''express''' terms or conditions override any '''implied''' terms or “usual terms” that might otherwise apply at common law. For residential tenancies, the RTA deems some express terms to be unenforceable (see Section III.C.d: Reasonable Terms below). The RTA  also  establishes  statutory  terms,  deemed  to  be  terms  in every  agreement,  that  override  any  express  or  implied  term  to  the  contrary.  For tenancies not governed by the RTA, a court will find implied obligations and insert the usual terms, if the parties have failed to expressly agree to certain matters. c)Express Terms and Obligations Parties may write their own tenancy agreement with their own terms, or may use a standard  form  tenancy  agreement  to  which  they  can  add  their  own  extra  terms. Parties may also adopt a lease in conformity with the Land Transfer Form Act, RSBC 1996, c 252, p 2. The RTA requires that all tenancy agreements include standard terms outlining key statutory  rights  and  responsibilities  of  the  tenant  and landlord  (see  RTA  s  12,  and the Schedule to the Regulation). The standard terms cover repairs, payment of rent, rent  increases,  security  deposits,  assignment  or  sub-let,  occupants  and  invited guests, entry of the residential premises by the landlord, locks, ending the tenancy, and  the  application  of  the  RTA.  To  assist  landlords  and  tenants,  the  Ministry created    a    standard    Residential    Tenancy    Agreement,    available    online (http://bit.ly/1eiaQNL).  This  Agreement  incorporates  suggestions  put  forward  by landlord  and  tenant  stakeholders,  and  includes  the  prescribed  terms  found  in  the Schedule of the Regulation. For residential tenancies, the following express terms are void and unenforceable: a  term  purporting  to  hold  that  the  RTA  does  not  apply  to  the  agreement  (s 5(1)); that  the  rent  remaining  for  the  term  of  the  agreement  becomes  due  and payable if a tenant fails to comply with a term of the tenancy agreement (s 22) (i.e. “accelerated rent terms” are not permitted); or that  the  landlord  can  seize  the  tenant’ s  personal  property  for  rent  owing  (s 26(3)(a)).            Some included requirements of the RTA state that the tenant: must    maintain    reasonable    health,    cleanliness,    and    sanitary    standards throughout the rental unit and other areas of the property to which the tenant has access; shall  not  assign  or  sublet  without  the  landlord’ s  written  consent,  where  the agreement is for a period of six months or more; and shall not pay more than one-half of one month’ s rent for each of the security deposit and/or pet damage deposit. Similarly,  terms  in  a  short  form  lease  that  are  inconsistent  with  the  RTA  are unenforceable. The parties may however enter into a separate collateral agreement, under  which  a  clause  requiring  the  tenant  to  perform  repairs  is  binding  on  the tenant, so long as there is separate consideration.

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