What to do if a tenant damages property?

Yes. Every province covered here lets a landlord end a tenancy for serious damage, or for damage the tenant will not repair. Examples are Ontario's N5 (20 days) and N7 for wilful damage (10 days), British Columbia's One Month Notice for Cause, and Alberta's 24-hour notice for significant damage. The tenant can usually dispute the notice, and in the sources we reviewed a tenant who stays can be removed only under an order. See how to evict a tenant.

Claim against the deposit first, within your province's deadline, then apply to the tenancy office for the rest. In Ontario, use form L2 while the tenant still lives in the unit or L10 within 1 year after they leave. Alberta landlords file with the RTDRS or the Alberta Court of Justice. Bring your inspection reports, photos and invoices. The forums, limits and deadlines are on can a landlord sue a tenant for damages.

Get an order, then enforce it. Tenancy offices decide the claim but do not chase the money: the Landlord and Tenant Board and Newfoundland and Labrador's office say they do not collect, and British Columbia's RTB does not enforce its orders. The order is filed with a court, such as the Court of King's Bench in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan or Small Claims Court in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and enforced there. The usual tools include garnishing wages or a bank account and seizing property.

The tenant is responsible for the cost of damage they or their guests cause beyond normal wear and tear. The landlord can claim it from the deposit (except in Ontario, where there is no deposit for damage) and from the tenancy office for the rest, and serious or unrepaired damage is a ground for a notice to end the tenancy. In British Columbia, damaging the property intentionally, recklessly or negligently is also an offence with a fine of up to $5,000.

Use the faster route for serious damage: 24 hours' notice in Alberta, 5 days in Manitoba, an N7 (10 days) in Ontario, an early end application in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and PEI, an application to the Director in Nova Scotia, a notice to quit served by the officer in New Brunswick, or immediate notice in Newfoundland and Labrador if the unit is uninhabitable. Record everything, make urgent repairs to protect the building, and keep the receipts for your claim. Reporting damage to the police is a separate step from the tenancy process.

Yes, for damage beyond normal wear and tear. The test varies a little: in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador the damage must be wilful or negligent; in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and PEI it covers damage from the tenant's actions or neglect; Alberta tenants must not do or permit significant damage and are liable for damage by family, guests and pets; and Manitoba tenants must repair or pay for damage they or their guests cause. None of the rules we reviewed makes a tenant pay for normal wear and tear.

Only if you or someone you let in caused it, deliberately or through carelessness. Water damage from the building itself, such as a failed pipe or roof, is generally the landlord's to fix under the landlord's duty to keep the property in repair. As practical advice, report a leak to your landlord in writing as soon as you see it. Insurance is a separate question; see is tenant insurance mandatory.

Generally not. Alberta's government, for example, says a tenant cannot withhold rent because the landlord is not meeting their obligations, and stopping your rent on your own can lead to an unpaid rent notice. Ask the landlord in writing to fix the problem, keep paying, and apply to your tenancy office; what it can order depends on the province. See can I withhold rent from my landlord.

If the landlord did not repair a problem they were responsible for and you lost belongings or the use of your home, you may be able to apply to your tenancy office for compensation. Keep photos, receipts and your written repair requests. In SQRFT's view, tenant insurance is often the faster route for damaged belongings. See when can a tenant sue a landlord and what to do if a landlord refuses repairs.

Start with a thorough move-in inspection report, because it is your proof of the unit's condition: Alberta landlords cannot deduct damage from the deposit without both reports, and PEI makes the landlord's condition report (Form 5) mandatory for tenancies from April 8, 2023. When damage happens, record it, ask in writing for the repair, and follow the notice and claim steps above. Stay within the process: do not change the locks or hold belongings, and let the tenancy office decide what is owed.

A landlord can claim the proven cost of damage the tenant caused, not a flat fee. In Ontario the Board can order the reasonable cost of repairing damaged property or, where repair is not reasonable, replacing it, up to $50,000, and it says normal wear and tear cannot be claimed. In Manitoba you must be able to prove the loss, that it happened during the tenancy, that the tenant is responsible and the amount. In Newfoundland and Labrador a landlord's own labour can be claimed at the provincial minimum wage plus $8.00 an hour.

The size of claim each forum can hear differs: up to $100,000 at the RTDRS or the Alberta Court of Justice, $35,000 at British Columbia's Residential Tenancy Branch and $30,000 at Saskatchewan's Office of Residential Tenancies, where a landlord must also do whatever is reasonable to keep the loss down. For Manitoba, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador we found no cap. Keep your invoices and move-in report, and see can a landlord sue a tenant for damages.

Not keeping a place tidy is different from damaging it. In Ontario a tenant must keep the unit to ordinary cleanliness, and an untidy unit alone is not a reason to evict, though a unit so unclean that it interferes with others' reasonable enjoyment or damages the unit can be. In each province covered here we found a duty on the tenant to repair damage caused by their own actions or neglect or that of their guests. In British Columbia, Saskatchewan and PEI, serious damage or failing to repair it within a reasonable time is a ground for a notice, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick list extraordinary or extensive damage.

As a first step, give the entry notice your province requires and record the condition with dated photos (see are landlords allowed to inspect your apartment), then ask the tenant in writing to repair it. Manitoba requires a written warning before most notices for cause, and in Newfoundland and Labrador a tenant who does not repair within 3 days or a reasonable time of a written request can be given a notice ending the tenancy not less than 5 days after it is served. In British Columbia, not repairing damage within a reasonable time is a ground for a One Month Notice for Cause.

A window the tenant or their guests broke is damage beyond normal wear and tear, and tenants are responsible for that in every province covered here. SQRFT advice, not a legal rule: photograph it with dates, compare it with the move-in report, have it repaired or secured quickly, keep every invoice, and ask the tenant in writing to repair it or pay for it.

If they do not, claim the cost against the deposit within your province's deadline, then ask your tenancy office or tribunal whether it can hear a claim for the rest. In New Brunswick the officer's money power over damage is the deposit itself, and anything above it is recovered in court. Ontario landlords can take only a last month's rent deposit and a refundable key deposit, and the rent deposit cannot be used for damage, so they claim on an L2 while the tenant lives there or an L10 within one year after they leave. In Alberta, a landlord cannot deduct damage from the deposit unless the inspection report rules were met. See can a landlord sue a tenant for damages.

Start by separating damage from ordinary wear. Damage beyond normal wear and tear is the tenant's to repair or pay for, but normal wear is not claimable; see what is considered normal wear and tear in a rental and can a landlord charge for cleaning.

Photograph everything with dates before you clean, compare it with the move-in report, and keep quotes and invoices. Deposit deadlines are short, as little as 7 days after the tenancy ends in New Brunswick and 7 business days in Saskatchewan, and Ontario landlords cannot use the last month's rent deposit for damage. Several provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, for example) bar a landlord from holding a tenant's belongings to cover a debt, so check your province's rules before holding or getting rid of anything left behind; see what to do if a tenant has abandoned property.