B.C. government to launch online portal to combat ‘bad faith’ evictions

The B.C. government says a new online portal launching this month will combat bad-faith evictions made by landlords who falsely claim to be putting a property to “personal use,” only to increase rent on the unit.

The Ministry of Housing says the Landlord Use Web Portal will go live on July 18, and will require landlords to generate eviction notices under the Residential Tenancy Act’s provision allowing tenants to be evicted from a unit if a family member or caretaker intends to move in.

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says the website will allow the government to gauge how often evictions occur under the personal-use provisions, which some landlords use under “false pretenses.”

Robert Patterson, a lawyer and tenant advocate with the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, says the tool will help British Columbians get a better scope of what he calls the number one threat to tenant security of tenure.

“One of the things that’s been very challenging for tenants is that they’re kept often in the dark in these situations,” said Patterson. 

“They get a two-month notice; it says the landlord’s close family members are going to move in. The current form, prior to this website, only requires a landlord to list [which family member] by simply checking a box, but that’s it… they don’t get any other information, which people really need to know to be able to figure out, ‘Okay, does this sound like a reasonable story, or is the landlord claiming that their child who lives overseas is… going to move back and take over my rundown apartment?'”

Patterson says he hopes the new website will help tenants keep track of their landlords’ claims. 

He says, legally speaking, the current system is a “gap in the armour” for tenants. 

“So something needs to be done to plug it. We’ll see if this is enough,” said Patterson.

The ministry says the portal will generate eviction notices for personal occupancy or caretaker use, and require landlords to provide information about the people taking over a unit.

On the day the website goes live, the province says the amount of time tenants will have to dispute evictions increases from 15 days to 30, while landlords will have to provide four months’ notice to tenants before a personal-use eviction, up from the previous two months.

The ministry says the new portal will allow the Residential Tenancy Branch to conduct “post-eviction compliance audits” and track the frequency of personal-use evictions.

—With files from Michael Williams.