{"id":24785,"date":"2024-01-08T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T17:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=24785"},"modified":"2023-12-18T11:33:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T19:33:37","slug":"open-space-students-need-to-know-rental-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/01\/08\/open-space-students-need-to-know-rental-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Students need to know rental rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard the frightening housing statistics, the idea of one day owning a house being nothing more than a fantasy. That\u2019s why, like me, many students shell out most of their money every month for a crummy rental with no storage, no backyard, no amenities, no pets, and no hope of ever escaping.<\/p>\n

Renting is an inescapable pit where all dreams go to die. You\u2019re completely at the mercy of your landlord, and they hold the proverbial carrot in front of you, taunting you and keeping you hooked. They\u2019re the warden, and you, their prisoner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you already know just how bleak the rental climate is. British Columbia had a 10%-10.5% eviction rate between 2016 and 2021, significantly more than the national rate of 5.9%. This is all the more troubling when you learn that 85% of evictions are no fault of the tenants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This story originally appeared in our January 8, 2024 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, how can a landlord evict you without proper cause? And what can you do to protect yourself against it? Well, I\u2019m glad you asked, because I\u2019ve been the victim of two illegal evictions in the last year\u2014both of which I successfully disputed and won.<\/p>\n

The first thing that every tenant should do is research the Residential Tenancy Act<\/i> and associated laws and know them by heart. Many landlords are either too lazy to do the same or are banking on you not knowing your rights. They will take advantage of your naivety if you let them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many tenants don\u2019t know that they may be entitled to 12 months worth of rent if their landlord wrongfully evicts them under the guise of a close family member moving into the unit. It\u2019s also important to know that renovictions are nearly impossible to legitimately do now, too.<\/p>\n

Get everything in writing. If your landlord is doing an inspection, they need to provide written notice at least 24 hours beforehand. Text messages are not considered a sufficient form of notice; many landlords try to avoid paper trails by doing things over text.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And speaking of paper trails, your landlord is also required to give you receipts every month when you pay rent. Don\u2019t slack on getting those. You also want to have a digital trail of evidence too, because you never know when it will come in handy. Even if you aren\u2019t already on the outs with your landlord, I\u2019d strongly recommend audio recording all interactions. If I hadn\u2019t had the foresight to do this, I wouldn\u2019t have won my most recent court hearing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I know, \u201cnot all landlords are bad.\u201d While that may be true, exploiting people\u2019s basic needs in order to profit from them is always going to have me giving side eye. Being a landlord is a choice\u2014being a renter and needing shelter is not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Landlords will boast and say, \u201cWell, if I don\u2019t rent out my second home, who\u2019s going to provide housing? The government? Ha!\u201d Okay, I agree: the government should absolutely be putting more money into building housing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Residential Tenancy Branch tightens its restrictions on landlords, more and more of them are vocally displeased that they can\u2019t run their schemes in private. It\u2019s almost as if being a landlord isn\u2019t just a hobby, but actually a business\u2014and should be regulated as such.<\/p>\n

So, remember, folks: research the laws, get everything in writing, document every interaction, and, most importantly, be your own advocate. Stand up for yourself and don\u2019t back down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard the frightening housing statistics, the idea of one day owning a house being nothing more than a fantasy. That\u2019s why, like me, many students shell out most of their money every month for a crummy rental with no storage, no backyard, no amenities, no pets, and no hope of ever escaping. Renting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,302],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-january-8-2024"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24786,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24785\/revisions\/24786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}