How do you deal with landlord and tenant issues?

Tell the landlord in writing what term was broken and what you want done, with a reasonable deadline. If that fails, apply to your province's tenancy tribunal for an order that the landlord comply, pay compensation or reduce the rent. Do not simply stop paying rent or move out without checking the rules: in Alberta, for example, a tenant can end a tenancy on 14 days' notice where a public health order was issued against the landlord and the landlord does not follow it, and for other breaches must apply to the RTDRS or the court.

The tribunal can order the landlord to comply and pay compensation, and in some provinces it can order a rent reduction (Alberta, PEI) or repairs (Manitoba, Nova Scotia). Some breaches are also offences with fines, such as harassment or retaliation in PEI (up to $25,000) and Ontario. In Newfoundland and Labrador, a tenant whose peaceful enjoyment is interfered with can end the tenancy on short notice.

Start with your province's tenancy office, which explains the rules, forms and deadlines for free. For complaints about a landlord's conduct, see how to report a landlord. Tenant groups, community legal clinics and legal aid offices may also help, depending on where you live and your income.

Community legal clinics and legal aid offices may give free or low-cost advice on tenancy problems, depending on your province and income. A lawyer who handles residential tenancy matters can advise you or represent you, especially for an appeal to court or a large claim. Your provincial tenancy office can tell you which services are available nearby.

Usually not. Tenancy tribunals are set up for landlords and tenants to present their own case, and many hearings are by telephone. A lawyer is worth considering when you are appealing to a court, when a lot of money is at stake or when the law is unclear. See when a tenant can sue a landlord.

Write to your landlord first and keep copies. If the problem continues, file a T6 for maintenance problems with the Landlord and Tenant Board within one year of the problem. Applications about harassment or interference also have a one-year limit. The LTB can order up to $50,000. You can request a review of an order within 15 days ($58) or appeal to the Divisional Court on a point of law within 30 days.

In general, no, not without an order. In BC a tenant can deduct rent only where the law gives a right (for example emergency repair costs the landlord did not repay) or under an order, and in PEI a tenant who withholds rent can be served an eviction notice for non-payment. Some tribunals can redirect rent instead: Nova Scotia's Director can order rent paid in trust. See can I withhold rent from my landlord.

It depends on the province and how urgent the case is. In BC the earliest expedited hearing is usually 12 days after the application (6 days in extreme cases), and the decision comes within 30 days after the hearing. Manitoba decisions usually come within 2 working days of the hearing, Nova Scotia orders within 14 days of the hearing, and a PEI order is due within 90 days of the application. We found no published wait time for Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador.

Start with a written warning that names the problem and what must change. If it continues, give the right notice for cause under your province's rules, or apply to the tribunal for compensation or possession. Do not change the locks or remove belongings yourself. See how to evict a tenant and what rights landlords have.

In Alberta you can choose the RTDRS or the Alberta Court of Justice. In most other provinces covered here, the tenancy tribunal is the usual place for disputes under the Act, and courts come in for appeals, enforcement or claims above the tribunal's limit (in Ontario, claims above $50,000 go to court). In Manitoba, the Residential Tenancies Branch has exclusive authority, at first instance, over disputes under the Act, so claims start there rather than in court. See when a tenant can sue a landlord.

Yes, and it varies. Alberta RTDRS claims must be filed within 2 years of when the problem came to your attention, Ontario tenant applications about maintenance (T6), harassment or interference within one year, and Newfoundland and Labrador claim applications within one year after the tenancy ends. Disputing an eviction notice has much shorter deadlines, sometimes 5 to 15 days.

You enforce it through the courts. A move-out order is carried out by a sheriff, court bailiff or (in Alberta) a civil enforcement agency, and a money order is usually filed with a court and collected by garnishment or seizure. In BC, not following an RTB order is an offence, and in New Brunswick failing to follow some officer payment orders is an offence with fines of $240 to $5,200.

Rudeness on its own is not something we found the Acts treat as a breach, but conduct that interferes with your home is. Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador protect a tenant's quiet or peaceful enjoyment, Manitoba bars a landlord from interfering with a tenant's enjoyment of the unit without using that phrase, and Ontario also bars a landlord from harassing, obstructing, coercing, threatening or interfering with a tenant (a tenant can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board within one year of the conduct). New Brunswick has no express quiet enjoyment or anti-harassment section that we found, and Nova Scotia has none either, though its standard conditions bind both sides not to interfere with each other's possession.

Retaliation for using your rights is covered separately: Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador bar it, and in Prince Edward Island harassing a tenant to deter or punish an application is an offence with a fine of up to $25,000. SQRFT advice: keep your messages calm and in writing, keep dated records, and see how to report a landlord if it continues.

Start by separating annoying from rule-breaking. A tenant who complains about real problems is using their rights, and Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador bar a landlord from retaliating, a Nova Scotia landlord's notice to quit can be set aside if it was given in retaliation, and in New Brunswick a notice served within a year after a complaint is not valid if the tenant contests it in writing within 15 days and the landlord cannot show the complaint was not the reason, while real rule-breaking is different: Alberta tenants must not significantly interfere with the landlord or other tenants, Ontario tenants must not harass, obstruct, coerce, threaten or interfere with the landlord, and Manitoba tenants must not unreasonably disturb others. In Manitoba a landlord who gets a complaint must look into it, and breaking the disturbance rule is a ground to end the tenancy after a written warning to fix it and then notice of one rental period (for extraordinary disturbance, notice can be 5 days without the warning). In Ontario the first notice for interference gives 20 days and is void if the conduct stops within 7 days, and in British Columbia a One Month Notice for cause lists unreasonable disturbance among its grounds.

SQRFT advice: keep every notice in writing, never change the locks, cut utilities or remove belongings, and read how to evict a tenant before you act.