Legal Actions

A tenant can apply to court for a remedy against a landlord for any breach of the tenancy agreement or if the landlord does something that contravenes the Residential Tenancies Act. In order to be successful however, it is necessary to prove a degree of loss or that the breach of the agreement is significant.

The remedy will be different depending upon whether you are taking action because the premises were not ready to move into, or whether you are taking action for any other breach of the agreement or the law.

Keep paying the rent! It is very important to continue paying rent even when you believe that a landlord is in breach of the tenancy agreement or the Residential Tenancies Act. If the rent is not paid, a landlord can issue a 14-day notice to terminate the tenancy for non-payment of rent.

The court has the power to allow you to use the rent to pay for work the landlord should be doing, but you must wait for the court to make that order.

When a court hears an application by a tenant to recover compensation from the landlord, it can order that the tenant pay some or all of the rent for the premises to the court instead of to the landlord. The court then decides whether the rent can be paid back to the tenant as compensation, or to the landlord, tenant, or a third party for reasonable costs incurred in carrying out the landlord’s obligations. The balance of any money remaining is paid to the landlord.

Service Alberta's Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) offers landlords and tenants an alternative means of resolving serious disputes outside of court. The RTDRS is designed to be faster, more informal and less expensive than the courts. A tenant or a landlord who has concerns related to an eviction, unpaid rent/utilities, security deposit, damages, repairs or other common disagreements may use the service. Both landlords and tenants may file an application with the RTDRS for different remedies.The matter will be heard before a Tenancy Dispute Officer who is authorized to make binding decisions on claims up to $25,000. The decision of the Tenancy Dispute Officer is binding on all parties.

January 2011