Tenant Not Paying Rent in Saskatchewan

The day rent is due is the day your written lease says it is due. The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 lets a landlord end a tenancy immediately by serving a notice if rent has been unpaid for 15 days or more after it was due. The Standard Conditions in the Regulations, which are part of every tenancy agreement, say more than 15 days. The wording differs, so waiting until the unpaid period is clearly past 15 days avoids an argument about the count.

Before that point the Act gives you no notice route for a single late payment. That is the time to contact the tenant, ask for the payment in writing and keep a dated record. If a tenant is late again and again, that is a separate ground. See the section on repeated late payment below.

For the short version, see what to do if a tenant doesn't pay rent.

A nonpayment notice can fail on points that have nothing to do with the arrears.

• Did you give the tenant a copy of the lease? A tenant's obligation to pay rent is suspended if you did not give a copy of the signed written agreement within 20 days. For an oral agreement, the same applies if you did not give the required written information, such as your address for service and phone number.
• Is the unpaid amount something the tenant may deduct? A notice has no effect if the unpaid amount is one the Act allows the tenant to deduct from rent. One example is an overpaid security deposit. A deposit above one month's rent is not allowed.
• Is the unpaid amount really rent? Unpaid utility charges can be treated as rent, but only if the lease makes the tenant pay utilities to you or the utility provider, and the charges stay unpaid for 15 days or more after you give a written demand.

A repair dispute is not a defence for the tenant. A tenant must pay rent when it is due whether or not the landlord follows the Act. The tenant's lawful routes are an ORT application, or an order that rent be paid to the ORT director and used to fix the problem.

1. Confirm the amount and the date. Check the lease for the due date and count the days from it.
2. For utilities, send a written demand first. The 15-day count for utility charges starts after the tenant is given the demand.
3. Serve the notice on the approved form. A landlord's notice must be on the approved form. It must be in writing, dated, state that it is from you, give the address of the unit, state the effective date and state the grounds. A wrong date is corrected to the earliest date that complies.
4. If the tenant does not leave, apply to the ORT. You apply for an order of possession. The fee is $50 and is non-refundable. There is no written dispute step for this notice. The tenant answers at the hearing.
5. Claim the arrears at the same hearing. The ORT says a landlord may claim outstanding rent or utility arrears, along with the filing fee, at a possession hearing for arrears.
6. Use the writ. If the hearing officer orders possession, the order can include a writ directed to the sheriff, and only the sheriff enforces it.

The whole eviction route is in our how to evict a tenant in Saskatchewan guide, and what to do if the tenant ignores the order is in tenant won't leave after notice.

Taking money after a notice does not cancel the notice by itself. Unless you and the tenant agree otherwise in writing, accepting arrears, or payment for the use of the unit, after a notice of termination does not waive the notice, reinstate the tenancy or create a new tenancy. The person who claims a waiver must prove it.

The Act and the regulations do not give a tenant a right to cancel a nonpayment notice by paying. That leaves the decision with you. If you want to keep the tenancy going, record that in a signed written agreement that names the notice and the amount. If you want the tenant gone, you can still go to the ORT and ask for possession. A tenant who appeals a rent-based writ must first deposit one month's rent with the director.

There are three main ways to collect, and you can use more than one.

• The deposit. You may claim cleaning costs, damage and unpaid rent or utilities against the security deposit. Within seven business days after the tenant moves out you must either return the whole deposit with any interest, or return the part you are not claiming and serve a notice of claim in the approved form through the ORT portal, holding the claimed part in trust for 30 days. A tenant can dispute the claim within 60 days after the tenancy ends.
• A monetary application. File the ORT monetary claim (Form 9c) during the tenancy or up to one year after the act or omission. The fee is $50. The ORT limit is $30,000, and you can give up the part above it to stay at the ORT. You must also do what is reasonable to keep your loss down.
• Enforcing the order. Once the 30-day appeal period has passed with no appeal, a certified copy of the ORT order can be filed in the Court of King's Bench and enforced like a court judgment. The Court's enforcement page says to register the judgment in the Judgment Registry and to use a sheriff under The Enforcement of Money Judgments Act, with the Form G and Form H and a deposit for sheriff fees. Collecting is not the court's job.

The tenant-side view of the deposit rules is in our Saskatchewan security deposit guide. The question of suing is covered in can a landlord sue for unpaid rent.

• Cut services. You may not end or restrict a service or facility, such as heat or utilities that come with the rent, without the tenant's agreement or an ORT order. The Act has no exception for unpaid rent.
• Change the locks. Only with the tenant's agreement and new keys for the tenant, or by order.
• Seize belongings. Not without a court or ORT order, or under the abandoned property rules.
• Take possession on your own. Only after the tenant has vacated or abandoned the unit, or after an order and a writ.
• Collect future rent in advance. You may not demand money to be used to pay rent that falls due in the future.

These are offences. A corporation can be fined up to $1,000, and an individual up to $500, up to six months in jail, or both. A hearing officer can also award punitive damages for a lockout without justification.

If rent is paid, but late again and again, the 15-day notice does not apply. Repeatedly late rent is a cause ground. You serve a cause notice that takes effect not earlier than one month after the tenant receives it. Where the problem can be fixed, you must first give the tenant a reasonable period to fix it. The tenant has 15 days to dispute the notice in writing. If the tenant disputes, you must apply to the ORT and show you are entitled to end the tenancy. If the tenant does not dispute in time, the tenant is treated as accepting the end date and must leave by it.

This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.