Receiving an eviction notice

Last updated on September 27, 2024

If a tenant receives an eviction notice, they may have the right to dispute the notice according to the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA).

Check that the landlord is following the proper process

Make sure the eviction notice is valid and has been served correctly, and the cause for eviction is legitimate. Landlords must:

Serve tenants with the correct form
Evict with the right cause
Use the proper process of serving the tenant

An eviction notice must be served in person, by mail, by email, or by attaching to the door of the home address. Eviction notices cannot be served by text message. A landlord can only serve an eviction notice by email if they have your written permission to do so, or if you have already provided an email address for the landlord to serve documents to.

The notice is considered received on the fifth day after it is mailed, on the third day after it is emailed, or on the third day after a copy is left in a mailbox, mail slot or other conspicuous place, or attached to the door.

Disputing an eviction notice

If you want to dispute the eviction notice, you must do so within the disputing deadlines set by the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB).

Learn more about disputing eviction notices

Compensation for eviction

Paying compensation to the tenant

A tenant who receives a three or four month notice to end a tenancy for landlord or purchaser use is entitled to one month's rent as compensation from their landlord to help with the financial burden of moving. The landlord must either pay the tenant this money or not charge them for the last month's rent.

Landlords and purchasers must also act in good faith and follow through with the reason for eviction. If the rental unit is not used for the stated purpose within a reasonable period of time, a landlord may owe an evicted tenant compensation.

If a tenant is being evicted because they no longer qualify for their subsidized rental unit, the tenant is not entitled to any compensation.

Situations when the landlord may owe the tenant compensation include:

If the landlord does not move into the unit after a tenant complied with a vacate clause in a fixed-term tenancy agreement
If the landlord or close family member does not move into the rental unit after they evicted their tenant with a Four Month Notice to End Tenancy
If the landlord does not complete renovations after being granted an order to end a tenancy for renovations or repairs
When the tenant exercises a right of first refusal but the landlord does not give the tenant an opportunity to return the rental unit

See RTA: Section 51 for more information and how to pay the tenant.

Paying compensation to the landlord

In some cases, the tenant will have to pay compensation to the landlord. According to Residential Tenancy Branch Policy Guideline 16, this compensation is intended to put the person who suffered the damage or loss in the same position as if the damage or loss had not occurred.

Bad faith evictions

Your landlord must follow through with the reason for your eviction. If your rental unit is not used for the stated purpose within a reasonable period after the eviction, your landlord may owe you compensation.

Landlords must act in good faith to follow through with the reason for the eviction. This means they must have an honest intention to use the rental unit for the purpose stated on the eviction notice. If you feel your landlord is evicting you in bad faith, you may qualify for compensation. For example, if your landlord claims they will move into your unit, but instead re-rents it to a new tenant at a higher rent, you have the right to seek compensation according to RTA: Section 51.

If the rental unit is not used for the purpose stated on the eviction notice (within a reasonable period after the notice is issued), the landlord may have to pay the tenant 12 months' worth of rent. See RTB Policy Guideline 50 – Compensation for Ending a Tenancy (PDF, 990KB).

To confirm your landlord's actions during an eviction, you can do a land title search. If the landlord owns multiple properties, the possibility of them moving into your rental unit is potentially low, and it could be worth looking into further.

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