Mixing Words

The Residential Tenancy Act is full of terms that have definitions specific to our industry. Because the RTA has its own vocabulary, it can be difficult to follow the right processes if you are not aware of the correct definition. Below is a list of six of the most commonly used and misused terms.

Assignment: A tenant with a fixed term tenancy agreement leaves permanently before the end of the term and transfers the remainder of the tenancy agreement to another person, who then becomes the tenant.

Sublet: A tenant with a fixed term tenancy agreement leaves for a period of time, returning before the end of the term and someone else lives in the rental unit while s/he is away.

Fixed Term Tenancy Agreement: A tenancy agreement that both parties agree is for a defined period of time (often twelve months). It may terminate at the end of the term or may be renewable.

Lease: A fixed term tenancy agreement. The word “lease” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Residential Tenancy Act!    Its legal meaning is a commercial tenancy agreement, however our industry commonly refers to a fixed term residential tenancy agreement as a lease.

Occupant: A person living in a rental unit who has not signed the tenancy agreement as a tenant. An occupant includes a person to whom the unit has been subletted (a “subletee”).

Tenant: A person who has signed a tenancy agreement as a tenant; tenants are legally responsible for the tenancy. 

-- Al Kemp and Hunter Boucher

Landscaping Smaller Properties Attracts Tenants

Reprinted and adapted with kind permission from LPMAnews, news magazine of the London Property Management Association.

Curb appeal isn’t limited to multi-residential complexes. The same principles can be applied to smaller complexes and houses.
 
Ann Pavlic, who owns three rental houses in Old North London, pays extra attention to her landscaping in spring and fall to ensure her properties are in top shape when students are shopping for accommodations in mid- to late-summer. The grass is kept short and bushes are neatly trimmed. Chipped paint, tired porches and windows are also repaired during the summer.
 
“I do it for the business component and curb appeal, but I also do it for my own sense of pride and satisfaction,” she says. “I live in the neighbourhood and I want my properties to mirror the neighbourhood’s level of living. I’ m conscious that there are residents mingling with the rentals and I want to bring that quality up.”
 
When Pavlic bought her houses 10 years ago, she landscaped in a similar way to other homeowners. She planted ground covers that turn colour from spring to fall, as well as ivies that change from green to burgundy.
 
“It looks wonderful. It frames the house beautifully and it kind of puts it in an Old English kind of setting,” she says.
Pavlic advises small landlords to choose low-maintenance plants that require less care. That practice is particularly important in high-traffic areas, such as along walkways.
 
“Choosing carefully, yet attractively is the key. You want to have enough to be appealing, but not too much to have high maintenance and costs,” she adds.