How to kick out the tenant "nicely"

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I suppose trashing the place is a risk, but I would give 90 days notice. I think it better to make it clear that you do not intend to renew, and you can also tell him that if he finds a place early, you will agree to terminate the lease early. That will give him motivation to look early and if he can lock something in, he knows he won't be penalized by holding 2 leases.

I mean, if he doesn't like you either, he might be happy to cut bait and leave.

This is a good idea. Give as much notice as possible that you will not be renewing the lease - if the tenant is a dick and is going to damage your place they can do that in 30 days or 90 days.

You could agree to an early termination if they find a new place, but I would dangle that carrot with a caveat that the premises be returned in good condition without damage beyond regular wear and tear.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Maybe a lie will work to your advantage? Something along the lines of your mom/dad/aunt/uncle/whatever has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer and you're going to be moving them into the apartment when the lease is up. So sorry...you've been a great tenant and I had hoped we could renew.

This happened to some people I know: "Our son died and as part of the grieving process we immediately must put your rental house on the market, we've already contacted our lawyers to begin the process, you have 30 days. Thank you for being so understanding."

[photon]

Yeah I think the 30 vs 90 day thing is kind of irrelevant with respect to them trashing the place or doing something to cause you a headache. They'll do it either way if they're going to do it.

And as said the 90 day has the advantage of giving more time for them to find an alternative place and give more time to cool off.

If it were me I'd give them 90 days and spin it a bit.. say that if they find a place earlier and they move out earlier you're ok with agreeing to terminate the fixed term lease early. Then hopefully they'll feel like they're at least getting some flexibility.

The risk of saying nothing I think would be that either the wording in the lease isn't explicit, or the tenant didn't read it and understand the implications. And in either case if it came to court or the remediation service they'd probably win.

In my leases I have explicit wording saying at the end of the fixed term agreement the agreement ENDS unless otherwise agreed upon by both the landlord and the tenant. And I make sure and point that out when doing the final signing saying we should talk a few months before the end of the lease to do an amendment if we both agree.

That said if the end goes by and I keep accepting rent I recall being told that that counts as a defacto amendment and a court would say the lease is now a month by month lease.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Did not know that leases automatically roll over to month-to-month unless I explicitly ends it after the term.

Yes, there are only 4 months left, I will just serve them a 30-day notice with one month left in the lease and tell them to leave.

That isn't true unless your lease specifically says that. A fixed term lease ends on the day it ends, and no notice is required to end it. That said, providing zero notice would make you the #######, so I wouldn't do that. I've never non-renewed someone but would do slightly more than 30 days notice. Ie around the 25th of the month prior to their last let them know I wasn't going to be able to renew. I wouldn't tell a complicated (or any) lie, in fact I wouldn't give a reason at all

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

That isn't true unless your lease specifically says that. A fixed term lease ends on the day it ends, and no notice is required to end it. That said, providing zero notice would make you the #######, so I wouldn't do that. I've never non-renewed someone but would do slightly more than 30 days notice. Ie around the 25th of the month prior to their last let them know I wasn't going to be able to renew. I wouldn't tell a complicated (or any) lie, in fact I wouldn't give a reason at all

Do you run the risk of them not paying that last month rent then?

[BrolyTheUnholy]

I work in property management and assuming it works the same for private landlords as it does for us, you're under no obligation to renew their lease at the end of their lease term. That's why leases exist. If you're hoping to avoid any messiness, you can tell them that you're planning on selling and need the space to prepare it for sale, and that's why he has to be out and can't stay until you sell.

If he does make a big stink and purposefully causes damage to your property before he moves, that's a breach of his lease agreement and you can pursue eviction and collection of monies owed for damages if the amount done goes above and beyond what he paid for a security deposit. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Typically, 30 days' notice is all you need to provide, but in this market, giving as much notice as possible is the decent thing to do as affordable rentals are hard to come by. Protect yourself with a good excuse, even though you're not required to give one.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

That isn't true unless your lease specifically says that. A fixed term lease ends on the day it ends, and no notice is required to end it. That said, providing zero notice would make you the #######, so I wouldn't do that. I've never non-renewed someone but would do slightly more than 30 days notice. Ie around the 25th of the month prior to their last let them know I wasn't going to be able to renew. I wouldn't tell a complicated (or any) lie, in fact I wouldn't give a reason at all

Sort of. The rules on the end of fixed term leases in Alberta are stupid and murky.

If the landlord accepts rent on the 1st of the month after the lease ends (assuming it ends at noon on last day of previous month), then they are now periodic.

And yet no notice is required from either party to vacate.

It seems to me the only way to be safe is to give tenat notice in writing to vacate well in advance. If they stay and pay rent on the 1st, I’m not sure what would constitute acceptance of rent, especially when via etransfer. You could find yourself stuck if you aren’t on top of things.

This seems to imply that if the landlord doesn’t give notice in writing, even though it isn’t legally required, then the law sides with the tenant. Like I said, murky.

If the parties do not notify each other of their intention to continue the tenancy or to end the tenancy, difficulties may arise. For example, the landlord may be expecting the tenant to leave at the end of the fixed term and may have plans for the premises.

The RTA says that if, at the end of the fixed term tenancy, the tenant doesn’t move out and the landlord accepts the tenant staying on and continuing to pay rent, then, unless there are agreements or facts in the arrangement that indicate otherwise, the tenancy switches to a periodic tenancy.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by BrolyTheUnholy

I work in property management and assuming it works the same for private landlords as it does for us, you're under no obligation to renew their lease at the end of their lease term. That's why leases exist. If you're hoping to avoid any messiness, you can tell them that you're planning on selling and need the space to prepare it for sale, and that's why he has to be out and can't stay until you sell.

If he does make a big stink and purposefully causes damage to your property before he moves, that's a breach of his lease agreement and you can pursue eviction and collection of monies owed for damages if the amount done goes above and beyond what he paid for a security deposit. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Typically, 30 days' notice is all you need to provide, but in this market, giving as much notice as possible is the decent thing to do as affordable rentals are hard to come by. Protect yourself with a good excuse, even though you're not required to give one.

This seems like bad advice.
If this did go to court, or whatever legal mechanism is in place for disputes, you've really sunk yourself.

Judge (or whatever): You told the tenant you planed to move in, sell, or whatever. Was that your actual intent, and did you follow through on that?

Lazypucker: Well no, I just didn't like the guy and didn't want him to wreck the place.

At best you've now lost any sympathy/credibility because you lied to the tenant. At worst you've possibly broken the law by lying to them.

Either way, seems like instead of covering your ass, you're actually pulling your own pants down and hanging that baby out the window.

[BrolyTheUnholy]

^ You could say you changed your mind if it got that serious. Again, the OP is under no requirement to provide an excuse, but if he's worried about his tenant trashing the place, are you saying you think it would be better for him to tell the tenant he's not renewing because he doesn't like them? That would go over better?
If the tenant doesn't ask, no harm no foul. But there's a 95% chance they will, and if the OP wants to avoid a hassle, they're protecting themselves. If the tenant is at the end of their fixed lease and the landlord doesn't renew, the tenant wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court. The landlord wouldn't even need to explain. Again, the landlord has no obligation whatsoever to renew at the end of a fixed-term lease.

[lazypucker]

Originally Posted by BrolyTheUnholy

If the tenant is at the end of their fixed lease and the landlord doesn't renew, the tenant wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court. The landlord wouldn't even need to explain. Again, the landlord has no obligation whatsoever to renew at the end of a fixed-term lease.

That's exactly what I want to do. Get the guy to leave quietly at the end of the fixed term with no more drama. I am already renting it out under market value, I don't want to guy to stay beyond our signed fixed term. I am just looking for an eloquent way to let my intentions known.

Thanks for all your suggestions

[Makarov]

Its quite incredible how landlord-friendly the residential tenancy legislation in Alberta is relative to other provinces (in particular, BC, Ontario and Quebec).

[monkeyman]

It might be a good idea to gain access before giving notice and take detailed photos or videos of the condition of the unit if you hadn’t done so prior to leasing it out. But I’d say, after that give them a couple of months notice knowing you might have to pursue them for damages/rent if things go bad.
That and take detailed notes and/or use text/email to chronicle everything.

[getbak]

If the lease clearly defines it as a fixed-term, you don't really need to jump through any hoops or make up stories to end it.

The danger of saying you have a family member moving in is that you have to take it off the market for a time, otherwise, they could easily catch you in the lie if a week after you give them a sob story about your nephew needing a place to live, the unit shows up on RentFaster.



I would be very professional and matter-of-fact in the communication. Send them a letter that summarizes whatever the lease says about it being a fixed term lease that ends on a specific date and as a courtesy, you're providing them the move-out procedures for the unit/building with ample time to prepare.

Tell them what they need to do when moving out, if they need to book the elevator or anything like that. I'd finish it by stating that you'll be on-site to perform the final walkthrough inspection at noon on the final day and to contact you if they'd like to arrange a different date or time for the walkthrough.

You could even extend a carrot by telling them you'll have their damage deposit cheque ready for them at the end of the inspection if there are no issues. I know when I was renting, it was always tough not knowing when you'd get your deposit back from your old landlord when you also had to give one to your new landlord. Most people don't have that much extra money sitting around to have 2 damage deposits tied up for a few weeks.


In the end, I just wouldn't treat it as anything out of the ordinary or make a big deal out of not extending it. They signed a six-month contract and that time is up, so here's what they need to do at the end of the contract.

[Cycling76er]

Originally Posted by Dan02

That being said, you can with 90 days notice jack the rent up so high they leave on their own volition.

Thankfully, this kind of bullsh1t doesn't fly in Manitoba.



While I do live in a different province, I imagine 'some' things are similar between the two. In Manitoba, you have to give 90 days notice before the expiration of a lease, of a rental increase. That increase can't be more than a certain amount (does not apply to Alberta. No rent protection). Also, here, you are required to give the tenant another lease that has no changes of conditions (i.e. removing access to storage closets, revoking laundry access etc.) on it with the same 90 day period. You can't just unilaterally change someone to a month-to-month scenario.

The conditions for terminating the lease at the end of the lease period, I believe, is similar to Alberta; if you or a relative are moving in OR if you are selling the property OR major renovations that require a vacant property.

I do also seem to recall that, in Alberta, if you jack the rent up crazy high to compel a tenant to leave then, you need to prove that the next tenant you do get is paying that price. I could be wrong though.

[GGG]

Be careful with lying about a story.

If you fraudulenty say you are moving in and do it to avoid giving full notices or to end a lease and you don’t move in you can be held liable.

No reason is better then a lie for all parties.

[Gaskal]

Agree with getbak.

I would let them know sooner than later that your intention is to allow his lease to expire and fill the impending vacancy with a new tenant. It helps to have one already signed and ready to move in on the day that the fixed lease expires but I wouldn't resort to trying to lie or BS. He could potentially already be wanting to move out early, in which you can mutually agree to terminate the lease early (win win) but if not then it's courteous to give them as much notice to find a new living situation.

If you're concerned about the tenant potentially getting violent and damaging the premises, you can always ensure you have peace officers on hand for the walkthrough on moving day. A friend did have to resort to this once. But getting the safety deposit back is paramount to all renters that are moving into a new place so I imagine they want to avoid losing it by damaging property.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Maybe a lie will work to your advantage? Something along the lines of your mom/dad/aunt/uncle/whatever has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer and you're going to be moving them into the apartment when the lease is up. So sorry...you've been a great tenant and I had hoped we could renew.

Not sure if Silver is serious or joking here, but this is bad advice. There is no need to give a reason to end the lease unless it's a month-to-month. It's never a good idea to lie unnecessarily, and especially a bad look to fib about something like cancer.

Chances are they find out that you lied and end up more pissed off than they would have been otherwise.

[calumniate]

Tell him you're setting up a chicken on the way in the basement. He'll understand

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Tell him you're setting up a chicken on the way in the basement. He'll understand

That sounds like reason to stay.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Giving him 90 days might give him the chance to find place sooner and want to get out of the lease sooner.

As a lawyer who fields angry calls from people being evicted...the more time the better. Giving someone short notice to find a place is an awful idea, and 30 days is not that much time to find a place. It takes time to look around, and good places get rented within a few days of being on the market, so you want to always start looking before the 30 days, so you can jump on places that become available at or right before the end of a month.

Also, in BC, the standard lease automatically goes month to month, and you cannot simply end it. You can sign fixed terms leases.

Look at your lease agreement. It should say what the rules are or ending the lease. If it automatically goes month to month, you cannot just end it with notice, be it 30 or 90 days.