• It’s not uncommon that a landlord may need the previously rented property for use by themselves or a close family member. Landlords are often surprised at the complexity of the process of evicting a tenant when their circumstances change.
• The process may be onerous, but it makes legal sense. Although the landlord retains ultimate ownership of the property, the law limits the landlord’s rights. The limit is in favour of the tenant in exchange for a rental profit.
• Unless the tenant agrees to move out, it is impossible to evict him or her without due process. The landlord has to go through the process set out in the Residential Tenancies Act (the Act). To this end, she or he needs to receive an eviction order from the Landlord and Tenant Board.
• The Act sets conditions for receiving such an order. Some of them are described below.

Tenant Eviction Notice

The first step is a 60 days eviction notice that the landlord must give to the tenant. This is a quite technical matter, as the landlord must observe the various requirements set for the notice. The most important requirement is the proper date to terminate the tenancy. It must be the last day of the rental period. In addition, the landlord must remember that if there is a rental agreement for a certain term,  the landlord cannot evict the tenant before the agreement expires.

Compensation

The Act also mandates that the landlord must pay the tenant a one-month rent compensation. The Landlord and Tenant Board will not issue an eviction order if the landlord has not done that.

Tenant Eviction Application

•  After the landlord gives the eviction notice, she or he can immediately file an application with the Board to evict the tenant. In other words, the landlord does not have to wait before the eviction notice expires. The Board will hear the application on the first available day.
• An important thing to note here is that the Board’s overall concern with this cause of eviction is the landlord’s good faith.
• The landlord must show that she or he really does need the property, rather than simply using this as an excuse to get the tenant to leave.
• To this end, one of the requirements of the eviction application process is that the landlord must attach an affidavit to the application detailing the exact reasons for eviction.

Tenant Eviction Hearing

• The hearing is the most important part of the entire procedure. The Landlord and Tenant Board does not grant an order to evict a tenant automatically.
• There are certain points, which the landlord must prove, reinforcing the overarching concern of the landlord’s good faith.
• The most important point to prove is that the landlord, the landlord’s children, or parents will move into the rental unit and live there for at least 12 months. As such, the affidavit filed together with the eviction application is not enough to secure an eviction order.
• The landlord should present documentary evidence supporting her or his reason for needing the property.  Witness testimony from the landlord and/or the family member who will be living there must be presented, too.  This is important evidence of the landlord’s good faith.

There is no checklist of accepted reasons why the landlord may justifiably need the property. Here are some examples of situations when the Landlord and Tenant Board does grant an eviction are when the landlord:

• was away and returned to the country;
• moves because of a change of employment;
• decides to sell another property where they lived before.

Selling a tenanted property.

• Another situation where the Landlord and Tenant Board may grant an eviction order is where the landlord needs the tenant to vacate because the landlord sells the rented apartment or house.
• In such cases, the rules for eviction the Act prescribes are very similar to the above.
• The real key difference is that the buyer, not the landlord, must give the affidavit.
• The Board can accept additional evidence such as the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and other documents related to the property sale. Evidence of the buyer’s current living situation may also be useful.

Read more about this type of eviction here.

If circumstances change and you need to evict your tenant because you or a family member requires the rental property, eviction is certainly possible with due process. If you find yourself in such a situation, please contact us today for a free assessment of your case!