Outrageous rent

[Queen K]

Met yet another person who said she's looking for some where to rent. Unbelievable, you'd think renting a place out would be like falling off a log.

[forum]

It usually takes about 15 days to lock in a rental.

[Farmmaa]

It usually takes about 15 days to lock in a rental.

You really should join all of the FB rental pages and offer your services to the hundreds of people that have been trying to find a place to live for months.

[Pat-Taporter]

Sorry to break in with a question, but today we got a New Year’s treat right off the bat. Kind of a gobsmack even though we were expecting something . . ..

Our landlord called us early this afternoon. He’s engaged a property manager and a Realtor® who will be contacting us for an appointment to inspect and appraise our place. All I replied was, “Okay.” What else could I say?

But now I wonder, if a landlord gets to the point where they feel like they’re ‘subsidising’ a tenant, and feels that an allowable increase in rent, as outlined in the BC Residential Tenancy Act, won’t help, why don’t they approach the tenant and at least try to negotiate a sensible increase to cover their costs as well as a reasonable profit? Why just outright decide to sell?

(Part 4, 43, 1, c) http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/rtb/bc_law ... #section43

I hate to post and run but I’m heading off to bed . . ..

I think we've been great long-term tenants.

[forum]

It usually takes about 15 days to lock in a rental.

You really should join all of the FB rental pages and offer your services to the hundreds of people that have been trying to find a place to live for months.

I'm not on Facebook. And I would not go there to look for a rental. It's lazy.

[Farmmaa]

Sorry to break in with a question, but today we got a New Year’s treat right off the bat. Kind of a gobsmack even though we were expecting something . . ..

Our landlord called us early this afternoon. He’s engaged a property manager and a Realtor® who will be contacting us for an appointment to inspect and appraise our place. All I replied was, “Okay.” What else could I say?

But now I wonder, if a landlord gets to the point where they feel like they’re ‘subsidising’ a tenant, and feels that an allowable increase in rent, as outlined in the BC Residential Tenancy Act, won’t help, why don’t they approach the tenant and at least try to negotiate a sensible increase to cover their costs as well as a reasonable profit? Why just outright decide to sell?

(Part 4, 43, 1, c) http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/rtb/bc_law ... #section43

I hate to post and run but I’m heading off to bed . . ..

I think we've been great long-term tenants.

Crap...sorry Pat!

Could you try to talk with him and make some sort of proposition ?
Assuming you want to stay ?

[forum]

Why would you stay? Move on. There's better out there.

[67CougarLover]

I've been following the posts on this topic and am now also in the same situation. We have been in the same rental for 7 years and have just been given 3 months notice to vacate.
So we are also looking for a rental. The prices that I'm seeing in the classifieds are definitely higher than they have ever been here in the Okanagan.
I'm curious if some owners are "selling" because they will only get the allowable amount allowed if they raise the rent.And once the rental is vacated the owner can set the rental amount per month at whatever they want.
From info in this forum looks like we are #3 so far that need to find a new rental. Im interested if this might be a new trend and how many will experience this same situation.

[Piecemaker]

What is the reason you are being given notice?

While this may not apply in your case, a landlord can't give you notice because s/he wants to sell the property.
The landlord cannot give you notice for no reason and then move someone else in (to raise the rent).
It can actually be the pits being a landlord and wanting to have your tenant move out. Been there, done that. Never again.

[67CougarLover]

The reason we recieved 3 months notice is because the owners of the house are putting it up for sale.Weve known for the past couple of years that this day could come. So we have kept an eye on the available rentals. But have really enjoyed our 7 yrs. where we are ,so we have stayed. And we have had a good rapport with our landlord for the 7 years.
So for us it's not a big surprise. Its the difference in the cost of rent for a comparable house that is rough.

[Pat-Taporter]

Hi 67CougarLover, Farmmaa, and forum.

As I mentioned above, I believe landlords can negotiate with tenants to raise the rent above the allowable increase upon the tenant's agreement and three months notice. http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/rtb/bc_law ... #section43

We knew our situation was coming quite a while ago, too, and we started to financially prepare ourselves for a move. Back then we felt a bit of pressure to buy the property, but we knew we couldn’t afford to do that. The owner wants to take advantage of the ‘boom’ and we think his mentioned price was overblown for value anyway.

As for us going to him to negotiate rent at this juncture, we believe we have a kind of ace in the hole. So far we’ve been paying about half our income to him monthly because we feel his property is the best place we could find for ourselves to live in here, and we’ve never missed a payment over our long term, but we checked and we could qualify for a SAFER subsidy, and now wonder if we might be able to apply it to a negotiated increase. https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assis ... ly-renters

On another note, we believe he has engaged a Property Manager (could be the Realtor®--I was in a bit of a tizzy) to put himself at arms length now. The price of at least one comparable property has been dropped 20,000 over his initial suggestion to us. We think this might be a 'winter' decrease (still out of our sensible reach).

But anybody have any advice on the SAFER tactic?

[Farmmaa]

The reason we recieved 3 months notice is because the owners of the house are putting it up for sale.Weve known for the past couple of years that this day could come. So we have kept an eye on the available rentals. But have really enjoyed our 7 yrs. where we are ,so we have stayed. And we have had a good rapport with our landlord for the 7 years.
So for us it's not a big surprise. Its the difference in the cost of rent for a comparable house that is rough.

Simply listing their property is not legal cause for eviction.
In order to be evicted the property must have already been sold and then the new owner must give you a two month eviction notice.
Otherwise, the terms of your current tenancy remain unchanged.

Of course, it depends if you want to stay when the place is listed - which can be a royal pain in the butt.

[w84u2]

They probably want to renovate to get a better selling price come Spring. 3 months to get the tenant out + 1 month to renovate = a May/June ready for the Spring market.

[Bpeep]

I'm not on Facebook. And I would not go there to look for a rental. It's lazy.

If you're not on facebook, you would know this how?

[GrooveTunes]

Simply listing their property is not legal cause for eviction.
In order to be evicted the property must have already been sold and then the new owner must give you a two month eviction notice.
Otherwise, the terms of your current tenancy remain unchanged.

Of course, it depends if you want to stay when the place is listed - which can be a royal pain in the butt.

My understanding is if you have a "fixed term lease" the owner can offer the property for sale with closing date of your end of lease date. Check your lease to see if the "have to vacate" box is check marked. If it is you have to move out even if the place doesn't sell.