Can you rent without a contract?

A written agreement is not required. The Residential Tenancies Act covers written, oral and implied agreements, and there is no mandatory government lease form. The Handbook says you can use any form that suits you and points to forms sold by two private associations. If the agreement is written, it must contain a statement in larger print that the Act governs the tenancy and prevails over the agreement.

The landlord must serve you a copy of the written agreement, signed by the landlord, within 21 days after you return it. If that does not happen, you may withhold rent until you are served, and all the withheld rent is then due. The landlord must also give a notice of landlord within 7 days after you take possession. Terms cannot be changed unless both sides agree, except where the law allows, such as a rent increase with proper notice. At the end of a fixed term the parties can negotiate a new agreement; we found no rule that lets a landlord force a new lease on a periodic tenant.

The landlord must prepare every tenancy agreement in writing, and failing to do so is an offence. The government page says both sides should sign and date it. Oral agreements are still covered, and the standard terms apply whether or not the agreement is written. No particular form is mandatory, but the agreement must contain all the standard terms. The government's own Residential Tenancy Agreement, Form RTB-1, includes them.

The landlord must give you a copy within 21 days. If not, you can apply for dispute resolution and the director can order the landlord to comply; breaking the rule is also an offence with a fine up to $5,000. Standard terms cannot be changed, and other terms can change only if both sides agree, in writing and initialled by both. At renewal, the landlord cannot require a new lease. If a fixed term has no valid vacate clause, it continues month to month on the same terms, and the government page says a landlord cannot make a tenant who wants to go month to month sign another fixed-term agreement.

Oral, written and implied agreements are all valid. A written agreement is required only when the landlord requires a guarantor or the tenancy includes tenant services. A written agreement must be in the prescribed form (Form 1 for most tenancies, Form 1.1 where tenant services are included) and signed by both sides. If the form is not used, the tenancy is deemed to include the form's provisions, and anything inconsistent with the form or the Act is void.

The landlord must give you a copy signed by both sides within 21 days after you sign and give it to the landlord. The Act names no specific penalty. The Residential Tenancies Branch guidance says to ask in writing and then ask the Branch for help; the Branch can order delivery by a date, define the terms or impose conditions. For a written fixed term, the landlord must give you a new agreement at least 3 months before the end date, for the same term and the same benefits and obligations, subject to a lawful rent increase. If you do not sign and return it at least 2 months before the end date, the tenancy ends on that date. Both parties can agree to a different term or different obligations.

Oral and implied agreements are tenancy agreements under the Act. A written agreement is required only to create a fixed term of three months or longer, and a written agreement with no end date is deemed a monthly periodic tenancy. No particular lease form is mandatory; the government calls its documents sample leases. The standard conditions in the Regulations are part of every agreement, written or not, and a written agreement must also contain items such as the names, the address, the rent and due day, and the landlord's address for service and phone.

The landlord must give you a copy of the signed written agreement within 20 days. For an oral agreement, the landlord must give you the landlord's address for service and phone number in writing within 20 days. If the landlord does not, your duty to pay rent is suspended. The landlord can ask the Office of Residential Tenancies for an order that rent is not suspended if the written agreement substantially complies and you are not prejudiced. For a fixed term, the landlord must serve written notice at least 2 months before the end saying whether a new agreement is offered and on what terms; if you do not accept in writing within one month, you must leave at the end of the term. For a periodic tenancy we found no rule letting a landlord require a new or different lease, and terms other than the standard conditions change only if both sides agree.

The Residential Tenancies Act covers written, oral and implied agreements. For most private tenancies entered into on or after April 30, 2018, the agreement must be on the standard lease, "Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease)", form 2229E, and agreements entered into on or after March 1, 2021 must use the version dated 2020/12. It must be signed by both sides on or before the day you are entitled to move in. A tenancy that does not use the form is still valid. The standard lease does not apply to care homes, mobile home and land lease sites, most social and supportive housing, co-operative housing and certain other special tenancies.

For a written agreement, the landlord must give you a copy signed by both sides within 21 days after you sign and give it to the landlord. For an oral agreement, the landlord must give you written notice of the landlord's legal name and address for notices within 21 days after the tenancy begins. Until the landlord complies, your obligation to pay rent is suspended; afterwards the landlord can require the withheld rent. You do not have to sign a renewal or new lease to stay: when a fixed term ends and nothing new is signed, the tenancy continues month to month on the same terms. We found no termination ground in the Act that is based on refusing to sign a new lease.

The landlord must provide for both sides to sign two duplicate originals of the government's Standard Form of Lease for every tenancy, and each keeps a copy. The form is "Residential Lease (standard form of lease)", Form 6, 12/2021. If the parties do not sign it, they are deemed to have done so, and the Act and the form apply. Where no form was signed, the tenant's possession creates a tenancy whose term is set by the method of rent payment, such as weekly or monthly.

The Act sets no deadline in days for giving you a copy. If you are not given the Standard Form of Lease, you may pay rent owing to a residential tenancies officer, who holds it until the landlord complies. The form cannot be altered or have parts deleted, though the parties can agree to additions that do not change any right or duty. For a tenant who has lived in the premises five consecutive years or more, the landlord may alter provisions other than the rent on at least three months' written notice if the change is reasonable and fair and does not conflict with the Act, and you can ask an officer to review it within 15 days. We found no rule on whether a landlord can insist on a new lease at renewal.

The Director prescribes a standard form of lease that all landlords and tenants must use. It is Form P, "Standard Form of Lease". A landlord's own layout may look different but must contain every item in Form P, and missing items apply anyway. A written lease that does not use the form is treated as if the standard form had been signed, and an oral agreement is treated the same way. The Renting Guide adds that with no written lease, the tenancy defaults to month-to-month.

The landlord must give you a free copy of the Act within 10 days of the earliest of four dates: the start date in the lease, the date you sign, the date you get the keys, or the date you move in. You keep a signed copy of the lease at signing or get one within 10 days. If the landlord does not comply, you may give notice to quit on a day of your choosing up to three months out, at any time before you get the copy or within one month after, or apply to pay rent in trust to the Director until the copies are provided. A periodic lease renews automatically if no notice is given, and a landlord may give a notice to quit only on the grounds in the Act; we found none about refusing to sign a new lease.

For tenancies entered into on or after April 8, 2023, the landlord must prepare a written tenancy agreement containing the items listed in the Residential Tenancy Act, such as names, the address, the start date, the rent and its due day, and the deposit. Oral and implied agreements are still covered. The Rental Office publishes "Form 1 Standard Form of Tenancy Agreement", which attaches the statutory conditions. We found no rule making Form 1 mandatory.

Within 10 days after the agreement is made, the landlord must give you a free copy. If not, you can apply to the Director for an order requiring it, and the Director may impose administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per contravention. We found no rule letting you withhold rent for a missing copy. Terms other than the statutory provisions can be changed only if both sides agree, apart from a lawful rent increase, a permitted service change, or a Director's order. At the end of a fixed term the tenancy is deemed renewed as a monthly tenancy on the same terms.

A rental agreement can be written, oral or implied, and the Residential Tenancies Act applies to all three. An implied agreement can arise from conduct, such as a tenant paying rent or a deposit and the landlord accepting it. The terms must still end up in writing: for an oral or implied agreement the landlord must give you a written notice containing the prescribed information within 10 days. The government's Standard Rental Agreement, form RT-2018-00044, is a form landlords or tenants can use and customize, so the content is required but the exact layout is not.

The landlord must give you a copy of the Act and regulations when the agreement is made, and for a written agreement a copy of the signed agreement within 10 days after it is signed. All of this must be free. If the landlord does not provide the signed copy or the written notice, your duty to pay rent is suspended until the landlord complies, and you must then pay all the withheld rent. We found no rule that lets a landlord change an existing agreement alone, and no rule on whether a landlord can require a new lease at renewal. If a fixed term ends and you stay without a notice, the tenancy continues on the same terms.