Residential Tenancies Act and Law

Question: Discuss about the Residential Tenancies Act and Law. Answer: Introduction In Alberta, the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) governs the tenancy law. The Act sets out the rights and obligations of the landlord and the tenants and governs people who rent their apartment, room, boarding house or a house (Butt, 2013). A lease contract, also known as, rental contracts or residential tenancy, is a contract between a landlord and a tenant. Leases in Alberta may be a fixed term lease and periodic lease. A fixed term lease has a fixed tenancy tenure period whereas a periodic lease is a lease where there is no specific tenure of tenancy (Easthope, 2014). A fixed term tenancy terminates on the date specified in the tenancy agreement but a periodic tenancy terminates when either of the parties gives notice to terminate the tenancy. Both the landlord and the tenant must sign the tenancy agreement after reading all the terms of the agreement and perform their respective statutory obligations. Application of Legal Principles The RTA in Alberta states that the tenants are required to pay a certain amount as damage or security deposit to the landlord before moving into the rental premises. Section 43 of the Act stipulates that the security deposit shall not exceed the rent amount for one month. The landlord is entitled to make deductions from the amount on the following grounds: If the tenant has caused damage to the rental place; If the landlord has finished the inspection reports and the tenants has failed to keep the property clean; or If the tenant has not given the keys; Section 19 of the Act mandates the landlord and the tenant to undertake an investigation of the rental premises before moving in and after moving out of the rental place. The investigation report describes the state of the rental premises and both the parties shall keep copy of the report (Soederberg, 2017). No deduction shall be made from the security deposit if the rental place has not been investigated before or after, the tenant moves into the premises. The RTA and public health laws in Alberta requires the landlord to ensure that the rented premises is safe and hygienic and that the structure of the apartment including the home appliances are well maintained and working properly. The tenant is responsible for making repairs but before or after moving in, the tenant must thoroughly check the premises and inform the landlord about any damages within the premises (Hulse Milligan, 2014). Conclusion In this case, Sally should have inspected the apartment with the landlord within a week, before or after moving into the premises and must have kept a copy of such investigation report. She should have checked the entire premises and informed the landlord about the holes in the wall immediately in writing. However, the landlord is under legal obligation to ensure that the rental premises is safe and and the structure of the apartment is well-maintained and the home appliances are working properly. In case of making repairs in the property, Sally is responsible for making repairs only if she has caused any damage to the property whereas in this case, there were holes in the walls before she moved in, therefore the landlord is responsible for making necessary repairs in the property as requested by Sally. Moreover, the security deposit amount must not exceed the one-months rent amount; therefore, the landlord is legally not entitled to charge $2000 from Sally as damage deposit. Reference list Butt, P. (2013).Modern legal drafting: A guide to using clearer language. Cambridge University Hulse, K., Milligan, V. (2014). Secure occupancy: a new framework for analysing security in rental housing.Housing Studies,29(5), 638-656. Press.Easthope, H. (2014). Making a rental property home.Housing Studies,29(5), 579-596. Soederberg, S. (2017). The rental housing question: Exploitation, eviction and erasures.Geoforum.