No more pet; now what?

You agreed to rent to a couple with a dog and you collected a half month’s rent as a pet damage deposit, as permitted by the Residential Tenancy Act. Yesterday, your renters told you their dog died; they aren’t going to have any more pets, therefore they want their pet damage deposit returned. You can agree to return it, but you are permitted to keep it until the end of the tenancy along with the security deposit. The latter makes sense because it is only when the unit is empty that you will know for sure whether Fluffy did any damage to the carpet or walls.

-- LandlordMentor

Deposit for rent?

Q. A few weeks ago my renters gave written notice they are leaving the end of this month. Yesterday they came with a cheque for half this month’s rent, saying I could keep the security deposit against the other half. This doesn’t seem right; now I have no security against anything they might owe me once they move out. Should I have taken the half month’s rent?

A. Yes, you should have taken the half month’s rent, however that’s not all of the answer... The Residential Tenancy Act specifically prohibits a renter from applying the security deposit to the last month’s rent, unless the landlord agrees. So let your renters know that fact; hopefully the rest of the rent will quickly be paid. If they don’t pay it you can issue a 10 day Notice to End Tenancy for Non Payment of Rent, and even apply for an Order of Possession. However, at best that Order would be effective close to the end of the month, so you wouldn’t gain much. Unfortunately, there’s no "quicker" answer to this question.

-- LandlordMentor