Going to Court

Once you have decided what you will ask a court to do, you will need to know what steps to take to go to court.

Unless you are asking for the remedy of specific performance, which is only available from Court of Queen's Bench, you will likely be seeking your remedy from Provincial Court Civil Division. Provincial Court deals with all cases up to $25,000 in value. You must pay a fee to file a claim in Provincial Court. You must also file details of the claim in an affidavit. Forms for making the application and for filling out an affidavit are available at a Provincial Court building and also online at Alberta Courts - Civil - Civil Forms.

What does the affidavit have to state?

An affidavit is a statement made under oath. The details required in the affidavit will be different according to the remedy that you are seeking.

A claim for the recovery of damages must include:

details of the breach of the agreement or contravention of the Residential Tenancies Act, and
the amount of damages claimed.

A claim for reduction in rent must include details of :

the rent to be paid under the tenancy agreement ,
the breach of the agreement or contravention of the Act ,
the benefit you are losing as a result of the breach or contravention, and
the amount of rent reduction claimed.

A claim for compensation for carrying out obligations that should have been performed by the landlord, must include details of :

rent to be paid under the tenancy agreement,
breach of the tenancy agreement or Act,
obligations that were carried out by the tenant instead of the landlord, and
amount of compensation claimed.

A claim to terminate the tenancy agreement must include details of the breach of the agreement or of the Act by the landlord, and the suggested termination date.

May 2005