I was just given one month’s notice by my landlord. I’m not really sure if this is legal or not, or what to do. I am very overwhelmed when it comes to understanding my rights.
All questions we get around tenancy and evictions are referred to our in-house community legal advocate, Ken Carson. As his title suggests, he can help you advocate for yourself and understand your rights when it comes to many issues, including evictions, or residential tenancy situations in general. In some cases Ken’s work includes representing clients at Residential Tenancy Board hearings when agreements cannot be established between landlords and tenants.
Ken’s services are free, and are funded by the Law Foundation of BC.
In terms of the above question, and whether one-month notice is legal, when I asked Ken, he told to me that it really depends on why the landlord is giving the notice. The best is to call him and make an appointment to explain your situation as a whole.
It’s best to contact Ken as soon as you think you may have an issue. If contacting him is left too late, Ken may not be able to work with your deadlines, or may not be able to fit you into his schedule in time to assist you to the best of his abilities. Ken does his best to support as many clients as he can. In this current rental and housing crisis, he is handling eviction situations on a daily basis.
Aside from Residential Tenancy, two of Ken’s other main areas of service at the Resource Centre include supporting clients who need to apply for designation as a “Person with a Disability” with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, and responding to clients who have consumer collections issues, either from the government (Revenue Canada and EI) or the private sector including debt of all sorts.
Contact: Ken Carson, community legal advocate: 604-989-5771, [email protected]
For more details about areas covered by our Legal Advocacy Program visit: resourcecentre.ca/programs/legaladvocacy
Angie Theilmann is an information and referral specialist at the Sunshine Coast Resource Centre, your community information hub. Do you have a question? Just Ask Angie! Email: [email protected]
