Time for a Tenant to Give Up Possession
The rules for either returning a security deposit or an accounting of the use of the deposit to a tenant, state that it must be done within a certain number of days after you gave up possession of the premises. It is therefore important to determine that particular date.
The circumstances may vary as to when a tenant is considered to have given up possession of the premises. The tenancy agreement might say when a tenant is assumed to have given up possession, for example, at a certain date or when the keys are returned. If the agreement does not mention this, the Residential Tenancies Act provides that if you have paid your rent to the end of the tenancy but still have your keys, you are not considered to have given up possession unless:
- you agree with the landlord that you have given up possession, or
- the circumstances are reasonable for the landlord to believe that you have abandoned the property or no longer want to be bound by the tenancy agreement.
The Act also states that when a tenancy expires or is terminated, it ends at noon on the last day of the tenancy unless you and your landlord agree otherwise. The only exception is if a tenancy is ended on 24 hours notice because a tenant has damaged property or assaulted or threatened to assault the landlord or another tenant.
It is very important that you continue to pay rent to the end of the tenancy. Do not assume that your landlord can use the security deposit as the rent money. If you do not pay your rent, you risk eviction on 14 days notice for non-payment of rent, a civil enforcement proceedings for distress for rent, or having to defend a court application for possession of the premises.
May 2005