What to do if your landlord won't respond?

We found no rule in the tenancy laws covered here that sets a deadline for answering calls, texts or emails. For repairs, Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador speak of a reasonable time after you ask, and New Brunswick gives the landlord 7 days for non-urgent problems after a written notice of complaint. Emergencies move faster: Manitoba says emergency repairs must be done immediately and New Brunswick says without delay, and in BC and PEI you can arrange an emergency repair yourself if the landlord's emergency contact does not act within a reasonable time.

There can be many reasons, such as a busy or absent owner or a change of property manager, but the reason does not change your rights. A landlord's duties to repair and maintain apply whether or not it answers you. Build a paper trail: put each request in writing, date it, and keep copies, photos and any replies, so a tenancy office can see what happened if you need to apply.

Send a dated written request that says what you need and by when, and keep a copy. If the landlord still ignores you, apply to your province's tenancy office: the RTDRS in Alberta, the Residential Tenancy Branch in BC, the Residential Tenancies Branch in Manitoba, the Office of Residential Tenancies in Saskatchewan, the Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario, a residential tenancies officer in New Brunswick, the Director of Residential Tenancies in Nova Scotia, the Rental Office in PEI or the Residential Tenancies Office in Newfoundland and Labrador. For health or safety problems, public health or municipal inspectors may also help.

First make sure you are contacting the right person: use the landlord or manager contact details in your lease or rental agreement. BC and PEI landlords must give or post an emergency contact, and Saskatchewan written agreements must include an emergency phone number. Send your request in writing and keep proof that you sent it. If the landlord still does not act, your province's tenancy office can order compensation or a rent reduction and, in most provinces covered here, order the repairs.

Put the request in writing, describe the problem and give a reasonable date; Ontario's Board considers whether you told the landlord first, and Newfoundland and Labrador will not accept a repair application without a written request. Then use your province's repair route: dispute resolution in BC, a Tenant's Request for Repairs in Manitoba, an ORT application in Saskatchewan, Form T6 in Ontario, a written complaint to a residential tenancies officer in New Brunswick, Form J in Nova Scotia, Form 2(A) in PEI, or an Application for Dispute Resolution in Newfoundland and Labrador. In Alberta, contact Environmental Public Health or apply to the RTDRS for compensation. See what to do if your landlord refuses repairs for more.

Switch to a written letter or email you can prove you sent, and use the address the landlord gave you for notices. For an emergency, call the emergency contact: BC landlords must give or post one, PEI landlords must post one in a common area, and Saskatchewan written agreements must include an emergency phone number. In BC you can arrange an emergency repair after at least two calls to that contact and a reasonable wait, and in PEI after reasonable attempts to reach them; keep the receipts so the landlord can pay you back.

The tenancy laws covered here let a tenant end a periodic tenancy by giving proper written notice, and we found no rule that makes the landlord's reply a condition of that notice. What matters is that your notice is in writing, served properly and long enough: for a monthly tenancy, for example, at least 60 days in Ontario and at least one month in Newfoundland and Labrador. Check your own province's notice period. Keep proof of how and when you served it. If you have a fixed-term lease, check your province's rules first; Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, requires at least 2 months' notice before the term ends.

First check the notice: each province covered here sets how much notice a landlord must give and how often rent can go up, and some also limit the amount. If the increase follows the rules, you can accept it or give proper notice to move out. If you think it breaks the rules, raise it with the landlord in writing and contact your tenancy office. See can a tenant refuse a rent increase and how much can a landlord increase rent.

Not on your own. Alberta's government says repair costs cannot be taken off the rent without the landlord's agreement or an order, Nova Scotia's guide says rent cannot be withheld, and in PEI a tenant who withholds rent can be served an eviction notice. Owing rent can also stall your own case: Manitoba's Branch usually will not proceed while rent is owing, and Newfoundland and Labrador will not accept a repair application if rent is in arrears. Ask your tenancy office instead, since several can have rent paid to them or into trust until the work is done. See can I withhold rent from my landlord.

Some provinces have one. Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador use a Tenant's Request for Repairs, and in New Brunswick you serve a written, signed notice of complaint that gives the landlord 7 days. Elsewhere, a dated letter or email that describes the problem, when it started and when you want it fixed does the job; keep a copy. The tribunal forms, such as Ontario's T6, Nova Scotia's Form J and PEI's Form 2(A), come next if the landlord still does not act.

Several provinces protect you. Alberta bars a landlord from ending a tenancy or taking other retaliatory action only because you applied, complained or gave evidence under the tenancy or public health laws, and Saskatchewan can give relief from an eviction notice given because of a good-faith health or safety complaint. In BC and PEI it is an offence to coerce, threaten, intimidate or harass a tenant to stop them applying under the Act or to punish them for seeking a remedy, Newfoundland and Labrador bars retaliation of the same kind, and Ontario bans landlord harassment, coercion and threats outright. If you get a notice soon after complaining, contact your tenancy office quickly.

We found no rule in the tenancy laws covered here that makes it an offence for a landlord simply not to answer a call, text or email. What can break the law is what the silence covers. A landlord who ignores a request to fix something it is responsible for may be breaching its duty to keep the unit in good repair, and in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador a landlord must give a rent receipt when the tenant asks. If the silence is about one of these, put the request in writing and go to your province's tenancy office. See what to do if your landlord refuses repairs.

Start with the contact details your landlord had to give you, since that is where a written request or notice should go. Alberta requires a notice of landlord within 7 days after you take possession, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador require written notice of an address for documents, and Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Ontario require an address for service or for notices in the agreement or lease (see what to do if your landlord isn't registered). For an urgent problem, use the emergency contact that BC and PEI landlords must give or post, or the emergency phone number in a Saskatchewan written agreement.

If there is still no answer, apply to your province's tenancy office, and keep paying your rent in full while you wait, because holding it back without an order can put your tenancy at risk (SQRFT advice).

We found no rule in the tenancy laws covered here that makes a notice depend on the landlord acknowledging it. Many notices must be in writing and delivered in a set way, so keep a copy and proof of how and when you sent it. For repairs, the written notice is also the first step: in New Brunswick the landlord has 7 days for non-urgent problems after a written complaint. If the landlord stays silent, take your copy and proof to your province's tenancy office, and see what to do if your landlord refuses repairs.