Not for now. Thank you. I have a complete different question to ask. About tenancy law in BC. Should I tell you the

Hi and thank you for using Just Answer.  My name is***** will be assisting you with your question.

Just a general disclaimer that this conversation is for informational purposes only. I am a licensed Canadian lawyer; however, you would need to retain a lawyer to take any legal action and/or preserve any of your legal rights. I may be away from my desk from time to time, but rest assured I will always return back as soon as possible.

Before we get started, did you want to continue with Joey?  If no, please ask your specific question. I may not be able to get back to you until after 6:00, is that okay?

I know tenancy law in BC.  I may not be able to answer until after 6:00 and I was asking if that would be okay?

Great thank you. You can post the balance of your question in the meantime.

To be clear the management company ceased to be in the picture when you starting "managing" the property yourself three years ago?  You are the owner of the real estate.  You are the landlord.  The property management company may have had interactions with the tenants, set the rents, signed leases etc., but you own the house and that makes you the landlord.

Accordingly, you are entitled to all the material you have been denied.  The lease that each of the tenants has must have your name on it as the landlord.

Neither one of us know what the lease says about guests and when they become occupants.  The standard form lease will consider 14 days in a six-month period or 7 consecutive nights in the property as grounds to maintain that the guest has become an occupant/tenant and must be added to the lease.  It would appear in your situation that the new occupant would be considered a tenant if the standard lease terms were used when the lease was originally created.

I am at a loss to understand why the former property management company is refusing you access to material you are legally entitled to have given that you and your sister paid them to manage the property.

I recommend you hire a lawyer and have them draft a letter demanding the material.  Letters should be sent to each tenant informing them that you are the landlord and you wish to conduct an inspection of the rental units.  That way you can catalogue any damage you may see and determine if there are grounds for eviction.  If, however, they still have a valid lease and have not run down the property, and continue to pay the rent, evicting them will be difficult.

If you need assistance finding a lawyer you should visit the Law Society of BC website and use their find a lawyer service.

I hope that helps.  I am available for follow-up questions.

Good evening.  How can I help?

That term is in accordance with standard lease provisions.  Out of interest, does it say anything about 7 consecutive overnight stays? If so, that converts a guest into an occupant as well.  In either case, you don't have to warn them.  However, if you do you can only ask that the guest move out or sign the lease.  That's a double-edged sword.  If they ignore you and the guest doesn't sign the lease you will add not heeding the written warning from the landlord as grounds for the eviction.  If the guest signs the lease you're stuck with them as tenants.  You will have to decide wheter to provide the warning.  In either case, you will serve them with the 30-day notice for having too many occupants living in your rental unit and/or breaching a “material term” of your tenancy agreement namely not having the "guest" on the lease.  The tenant will have 10 days to make an application for a hearing at the RTB and if they exercise that right, you will be into a hearing process that may be drawn out with the delays caused by the pandemic.

I hope this helps.  I remain here for additional questions.

You're more than welcome. I am glad I could help and thank you for choosing Just Answer to assist you with this matter.  Please return to the site at any time to continue the discussion or begin a new one.  You can ask for me specifically simply by stating, "this is for Thom".  Have a lovely long weekend.

Thanks.  Take care.