Information about the Residential Tenancies Act

The Residential Tenancies Act governs the relation between most tenants and landlords in New Brunswick.

It covers most rented houses, apartments, rooms, and rented mobile homes, but does not cover vacation accomodations or business premises.

Even some apartments, rooms, etc. are not covered in special cases such as:

• Bathroom or kitchen shared with the landlord
• Living accomodations in institutions such as hospitals, religious institutions, emergency shelters, etc.
• Some living accommodations provided by a person's employer at the place of work.

See "premises" in section 1(1) of the act for a detailed list of what kinds of accomodations are and are not covered by the act.

Imporant features of the Act

Security Deposits

• The maximum that a landlord can require as a security deposit is: in the case of a week-to-week tenancy, one week's rent; in all other cases, one month's rent. [Section 8(3).]
• The landlord must give the security deposit to the provincial Rentalsman within 15 days of receiving it. That is, the Rentalsman, not the landlord is supposed to hold the security deposit. (The fact is, however, that landlords frequently do not do this and the Rentalsman is very lax about enforcing it.)
• At the end of the tenancy, if the landlord wants to receive all or part of the security deposit (for example as compensation for unpaid rent or damages), the landlord must in most cases make a claim to the Rentalsman within seven days of the end of the tenancy. There are exceptions to this laid out in, e.g., sections 8(12.021) and 8(12.03) of the Act; however, generally, if the landlord doesn't submit a claim within 7 days you get your deposit back.

Lease

The Standard Form of Lease applies to all tenancies covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. The landlord is supposed to provide two copies of this lease, one for herself and one for the tenant, at the beginning of the tenancy. Even if the landlord does not do this, and even if no lease is signed, the Standard Form of Lease is deemed to apply to the tenancy [section 9(5)]. No alterations to the Standard Form of Lease are allowed; but additions to it are allowed as long as they are agreed to by the tenant and the landlord, and as long as the additions do not contradict any part of the Act or the Standard Form of Lease.

Ending a Tenancy

The Standard Form of Lease contains checkboxes which determine the term of the lease. It may be for a fixed term; or it may automatically renew weekly, monthly, or yearly. If it is an automatically renewing lease, to stop the lease from renewing you must give the landlord written notice. Similarly, if the landlord wants to stop the lease from renewing, the landlord must give you written notice. For a week-to-week tenancy, the written notice must be given at least a week before date that the lease would automatically renew. For a month-to-month tenancy, the written notice must be given at least a month before the date that the lease would automatically renew. And for a yearly tenancy, the written notice must be given at least three months before the date that the lease would automatically renew. These provisions are laid out in section 24 of the Act. The Rentalsman FAQs section on "Ending a Lease" also describes these rules. Note that you have to be especially careful about a year-to-year lease as if you fail to give the required three months' notice, you could be stuck paying rent for the premises for a full year after you had desired to move out. A landlord's assurance that she or he won't require the full written notice is not to be trusted, especially if the landlord happens to be Killam Properties. Similarly, an assurance from a building superintendant or other employee of the landlord, however sincere, won't help you much if the landlord decides to insist on the letter of the law regarding notice of termination.

Neither the tenant nor the landlord has to give a reason when they end a tenancy in the above manner. There are other provisions in the Act for ending a tenancy sooner if either the tenant or the landlord have misbehaved ("failed to live up to their obligations").

Text of the Residential Tenancies Act