Can a landlord suddenly charge for previously free parking

[LANDM]

What worked for me in the past was to provide the landlord with the form the RTB requires and say you will be agreeable to paying if it passes the test of being in compliance with the Act.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/hous ... cies/forms You want RTB-16

The bluff may or may not work.
I suspect that if this is a building-wide issue and, if the little bit of information we have so far from the OP is accurate, I further suspect that the landlord has looked into this previously for precedent.

This approach may likely result in one of two responses....the landlord quietly does nothing and allows the OP to continue to use it as is OR the landlord quietly does nothing and the OP drives up one day and finds the stall blocked or assigned to someone else.
The information provided is not complete but I am beginning to think the landlord *may* be able to pull it off legally.
Keep us updated, OP!

[TylerM4]

EX Landlord myself.

Normally a landlord cannot charge for parking (or even say where you can or cannot park) unless it's added as an addendum to the rental agreement. However, the in the case of the OP, it has been captured in an addendum and signed off on by the OP. "Removed at any time for any reason" is pretty hard to argue with.

The landlord is pushing it by asking for payment for OP to keep. I would advise him to be very careful on his wording. The addendum says "revoke at any time" it doesn't say "can suddenly start charging". It should be worded as "We want the stall back. We want to charge someone to park monthly. We will give you 1st dibs if you want to be the one to rent the stall tho".

People blame "greedy landlords" but this is all part of the game. Residential Tenancy sets max rental increases too low and makes it a PITA for landlords to increase rent to market value. If forces them to find other ways, can't rennovict anymore - guess the next strategy is to charge for "extras". Honestly - this problem is never going to go away if government continues to try to control what a landlord will charge. The only way to get stability here is to allow it to be a free market that follows the rules of supply and demand.

For the OP: I don't think you're going to be able to fight this one. My advice to you is to call your landlord's bluff and give up the spot unless you think he'll actually be successful charging someone else to park there. Make him aware you're not happy. The landlord is relying on you to pay rent, and take care of a significant investment. He's not going to love the idea of *bleep* off his tenants without gaining something out of it. If the spot stays empty after a couple of months - start using it again and see if he says anything. He's not going to be able to evict you for parking in the wrong spot once every couple of months ;)

[alanjh595]

For the OP: I don't think you're going to be able to fight this one. My advice to you is to call your landlord's bluff and give up the spot unless you think he'll actually be successful charging someone else to park there. Make him aware you're not happy. The landlord is relying on you to pay rent, and take care of a significant investment. He's not going to love the idea of *bleep* off his tenants without gaining something out of it. If the spot stays empty after a couple of months - start using it again and see if he says anything. He's not going to be able to evict you for parking in the wrong spot once every couple of months ;)

By even implying the following could be considered a threat to do damages in retaliation.

Make him aware you're not happy. The landlord is relying on you to pay rent, and take care of a significant investment.

By taking that approach of,

If the spot stays empty after a couple of months - start using it again and see if he says anything

Could cause the car to be towed at the owner's expense.
What would anyone else do if they woke up in the morning and found an unauthorized car in their driveway?

He's not going to be able to evict you for parking in the wrong spot once every couple of months

He may not be able to evict you, but he could, if this becomes a violation of the rules. The renter could also find that his car is blocked in by 2 large dump trucks one morning.

The question becomes, "How far does he want to push his luck?".

My suggestion is, "Negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement for the months left on the lease".