Order to Recover - Regaining Possession - Disputes - Laws for Tenants in Alberta

An Order to Recover Possession When the Tenant has Abandoned the Tenancy, and Someone Else has Moved in

If the person who is living in the premises after a tenant has abandoned the place does not move out in accordance with the Notice to Vacate, a landlord can apply to formally end the tenancy and ask for an order for possession of the premises. The landlord can apply to the Provincial Court or to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service.

When applying to court for an order for possession, the landlord must file an affidavit that sets out:

the date the tenancy ended or was abandoned by the tenant;
a copy of the notice to vacate, with details of the time, date and how it was served; and
the reason the person has not left the property, if known.

Before the court grants an order, it must be sure that the person living in the property is not legally a tenant. If the person living in the property is a tenant, then a short period of notice such as 14 days would not be appropriate to end the tenancy. The court would ascertain whether the person was legally a tenant by making inquiries of the landlord when the order for possession is requested.

A court can grant different kinds of orders of possession. Usually, if the landlord is making an application to recover possession from a non-tenant, the court/RTDRS will make an unconditional order. This kind of order will state that the non-tenant must give up possession of the premises on a certain date, or within a certain amount of time after the order is served on them. If the non-tenant does not leave the property as ordered, then the landlord can contact a Civil Enforcement Agency to immediately evict all occupants.

October 2011