IANAL, but I haven't heard anything quite like this, the situations I've been told is where some towns the utilities require the landlord to be on the hook for the utilities.. the tenant still pays the utilities and they're in the tenant's name, but if the tenant doesn't pay ultimately the landlord is on the hook. I haven't personally experienced this though, and I probably wouldn't buy a property in such a place.
It is illegal to charge any kid of additional deposit above and beyond a security deposit to a tenant.. I can't even charge a refundable pet deposit, I have to charge a one time "pet fee" that I can't refund
Non-payment of utilities would have to come out of the security deposit. Or easier would be to just increase the rent and include the utilities.
http://www.servicealberta.ca/consume...sit#Definition
Quote:
Security Deposit Information A landlord can collect a security deposit at the beginning of the tenancy. A security deposit can be money, or an item other than money that is agreed to by the landlord and the tenant. The value of the item should be equal in value to the amount of the security deposit. This agreement should be in writing.
The purpose of a security deposit is:
- To cover the landlord's costs of repairing or replacing physical damage to premises.
- To cover the costs of cleaning because of extraordinary or abnormal use. This does not include cleaning associated with normal wear and tear.
- To cover any arrears of rental payments.
- To cover other costs agreed to by the tenant in the residential tenancy agreement, such as legal fees, utilities, late fees, etc.
Amount of security deposit
A security deposit cannot exceed the monthly amount of rent for the first month of the residential tenancy agreement. It cannot be increased at any time during the tenancy, even if the monthly rent is increased later. (See the next section "Increase of security deposits"). If a residential tenancy agreement contains a clause that requires a security deposit in excess of one month's rent, that clause is illegal and unenforceable. The tenancy agreement cannot take away the protection provided by the RTA.
A landlord should give a tenant a receipt for the security deposit and any other payments that are received from the tenant.
A refundable fee or charge is part of the security deposit. A landlord cannot charge additional refundable fees, i.e. for an extra parking stall, if the total of the security deposit and the additional refundable fees to be paid by the tenant exceeds one month's rent. {See Additional Fees and Charges module}
A non-refundable fee or charge that is agreed to in the residential tenancy agreement is not subject to the security deposit restrictions. Non-refundable fees cannot be deposited into the security deposit trust account. For example, if a landlord charges $100 per pet as a non-refundable fee for the privilege of having a pet in the premises, this fee will not be held by the landlord as security, and will not be returned to the tenant. It is not a security deposit as defined by the RTA.
Some residential tenancy agreements include a "late rent charge". If the tenant does not pay the late rent charge and if the charge is reasonable, the landlord is entitled to deduct the charge from the tenant's security deposit at the end of the tenancy 7</span> .
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http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca/documents/Acts/R17P1.cfm