BC government to launch website to curb "bad-faith" evictions

BC government to launch tracking website to prevent "bad-faith" evictions

Vancouver Tenants Union advocacy poster. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Landlords who evict their rental housing tenants in “bad faith” are now being put on notice by the Government of British Columbia.

On July 18, 2024, the provincial government will launch a new online tracking website — the BC Landlord Use Web Portal — that requires landlords to register their Notices to End Tenancy when they carry out evictions for personal occupancy or caretaker use.

This portal will also serve to generate formal notices to tenants for these specific types of evictions, with a unique notice ID when ending a tenancy.

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Landlords will need to provide information about the new tenants moving into the home, which is a measure intended to deter “bad-faith” evictions, such as evictions for renting out the unit again at a significantly higher rent. This portal also provides landlords with information about the amount of compensation required to evict tenants.

BC’s Residential Tenancy Act provides landlords with the ability to evict a tenant if the new replacement tenants are a close family member (parent, spouse, or child), a purchaser of the property, a close family member of the purchaser, or a superintendent for the building.

Also starting on July 18, landlords will need to give tenants four months’ notice instead of two months when evicting for personal or caretaker use, which will provide displaced tenants with more time to find a new home. As well, tenants will have 30 days to dispute Notices to End Tenancy instead of the current 15 days.

The eligible persons moving into the home after such evictions must occupy it for a minimum of 12 months — up from the existing landlord’s occupancy period of six months.

Landlords who evict in bad faith could be penalized with the requirement of paying the displaced tenant 12 months’ rent.

“With this new tool, we’re taking action to better protect tenants from being evicted under false pretences and ensure that landlords who need to legitimately reclaim their units have a straightforward pathway to do so,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC minister of housing, in a statement.

“The portal will also provide [the] government with a window to better understand when and how often these evictions occur so that we can continue to build on our work to improve services for renters and landlords.”

Other existing eviction policies and procedures are unchanged, such as evictions due to unpaid rent or utilities, disturbances and public safety reasons, property damage, and illegal activities.

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