Deposit Interest Rate to Remain at 0%

Interest on security and pet damage deposits is payable at a rate prescribed by section 4 of the Residential Tenancy Regulation. It states that the rate will be set each January 1st for that calendar year, with the rate being "4.5% below the prime rate of the principal banker to the Province." This means that for interest to be payable, the prime rate must be at least 4.6%. We're confident in predicting that the prime rate will be well below 4.6% next month!

The security deposit interest rate has been 0% since 2009, meaning that for any tenancy ending in 2012 that began later than January 1, 2009, there is no interest payable.

Interest rates for earlier years were 1.5% for each of 2007 and 2008, 0.5% for 2006 and 0% for 2002 to 2005 inclusive.

Security and pet damage deposit interest is compounded, so when a tenancy of many years' duration ends, an appreciable amount of interest might be due to the departing renters. You can calculate the amount of interest owing in literally a few seconds by using the Residential Tenancy Branch Deposit Interest Calculator. Go to rto.gov.bc.ca and click on Deposit Interest Rates & Calculator in the column on the left of the page.

-- Al Kemp