Family-occupancy eviction disputes rise in BC as rents and mortgages skyrocket

Daily Hive

BC’s Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) is seeing a rise in family-occupancy eviction disputes as ballooning rents and mortgage rate hikes put pressure on Metro Vancouver’s already strained housing market.

The provincial government doesn’t track data on evictions — no government submission is required for a landlord to issue a notice to end tenancy. However, the government does keep tabs on the number of tenants who dispute an eviction notice with the RTB.

Since 2021, the number of evictions for landlord use or family occupancy of a property has been on the rise. According to the province, there were 1,528 dispute applications in 2021, rising to 1,918 in 2022, and passing 2,200 in the first 11 months of 2023.

Daily Hive

Anecdotally, we’re hearing many instances of tenants being served eviction notices for family occupancy — especially long-term tenants with below-market rent. While it’s impossible to know concrete numbers about the number of family-occupancy evictions in total, the province is certainly seeing more disputes related to this type of eviction.

BC only has a limited number of ways a landlord can get a tenant to leave a unit, and kicking a tenant out for the landlord or their immediate family member to use the space is one of them.

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The landlord or their family must live in the space for at least six months after an eviction before renting the space again. Tenants who catch their landlords in a lie are eligible for 12 months’ rent as compensation for their hardship.

But tenancy advocates say the rules need to be strengthened. With rents rising so quickly, it may still be cheaper for a landlord to evict a tenant and pay the 12 months’ rent penalty to get a higher-paying tenant in the unit. What’s more, there’s no onus for the landlord to prove they or their family member use the space — it’s up to former tenants to scour marketplace listings.

“People’s right to live in their community and have safe, secure, and affordable housing has to trump the ability to make money on an investment,” Robert Patterson, a lawyer with BC’s Tenant Resource Advisory Centre, told Daily Hive in October. “Because it’s ultimately transferring more money from those who have less to those who have more.”

Filing a dispute with the RTB pushes back the date of eviction until a hearing can occur, often weeks or months later. But if the RTB sides with the landlord to uphold the eviction notice, then the tenant only has 48 hours to vacate the property — making it a risky gamble for some.

BC’s housing ministry told Daily Hive it’s exploring additional options to cut down on bad faith evictions in BC, and working to improve wait times at the RTB.