Platuni

British Columbia Landlord Compliance

Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in British Columbia

Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.

British Columbia outline map

Jurisdiction key details

Rent cap · Detail

Annual maximum set by regulation: 2.3% for 2026 (2.2% announced for 2027); once per 12 months; higher amounts only with tenant's written agreement or RTB order. Some housing (e.g., non-profit/subsidized) is exempt.

Deposit cap · Detail

Security deposit and pet damage deposit each capped at half of one month's rent; only one security deposit, taken at the start of the tenancy.

Rent increase notice · Detail

At least 3 months' notice on the approved form (RTB-7); no increase within 12 months of tenancy start or last increase. Applies to fixed and periodic tenancies alike.

City rules · Detail

Rent increases are governed exclusively by Part 3 of the provincial Act and its regulation; municipalities have no rent-setting power.

Just cause · Detail

Tenancy ends only on s 44 grounds: tenant's notice, landlord notice for non-payment (s 46), cause (s 47), end of employment (s 48), landlord's use (s 49), agreement or RTB order. Fixed terms roll to monthly unless a prescribed vacate clause applies.

Return deadline · Detail

Within 15 days after the later of tenancy end and receipt of the tenant's written forwarding address, landlord must repay with interest or apply to the RTB for dispute resolution; tenant's right can be extinguished by skipping inspections.

Nonpayment notice · Detail

Notice to end tenancy effective not earlier than 10 days after receipt; tenant has 5 days to pay the overdue rent (cancelling the notice) or apply to the RTB to dispute it.

What are you trying to do?

Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in British Columbia.

Raise the rent

Allowable rates, banking, notice periods and what to file.

10 resourcesView

Return a deposit

Interest, itemization, the 21-day clock and inspections.

5 resourcesView

End a tenancy

Just causes, notices, relocation payments and filings.

16 resourcesView

Screen an applicant

Fair housing, source of income, fees and reusable reports.

4 resourcesView

Handle a repair request

Habitability duties, response times and documentation.

8 resourcesView

Keep the right records

What to retain, for how long, and what an audit asks for.

10 resourcesView

Essential local guides

If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.

View All Guides

Renting a Strata Unit in Vancouver: What Move-In Rules Can the Strata Corporation Require?

A Vancouver owner books the freight elevator for a tenant's Saturday move-in and gets a $200 move-in fee from the strata manager. In BC that fee can go on the tenant's bill, which surprises landlords used to Ontario rules. The catch is that the strata has to be able to defend the fee, and many cannot.

Guide

When a Tenant Breaks Strata Rules in Vancouver, Is the Landlord Responsible?

A Vancouver owner gets an email saying the strata has fined their tenant for a noise complaint, no hearing, no warning, just a charge on the next bylaw-infraction notice. That fine may not actually hold up. BC law lets a strata fine a tenant directly, but only after a specific process runs first, and skipping that process is one of the more common ways a strata's own enforcement gets thrown out.

Guide

Can a Vancouver Strata Corporation Require Tenant Approval or Registration?

A Vancouver owner finishes screening a tenant and waits for the strata council to sign off before the lease is final. No such sign-off is coming. The strata isn't a gatekeeper for who moves in; it's the recipient of a form the owner is legally required to file, and the law is unusually direct about what the strata is barred from doing beyond that.

Guide

Can a Vancouver Strata Corporation Restrict Long-Term Rentals?

A Vancouver owner reads their strata's old bylaws, finds a rental cap capping the building at 20 rented units, and assumes they're on a waiting list before they can lease their own home. That bylaw hasn't been enforceable for years. BC rewrote the rules in 2022, and most of what circulates online about strata rental caps describes a law that no longer exists.

Guide

BC Cause Eviction Rules 2026: Grounds Now Cover Misconduct Affecting Any Authorized Person on the Property

A BC landlord used to have a cause-eviction case only when a tenant's conduct harmed the landlord or a fellow tenant directly; a contractor threatened on-site, or a health worker turned away with hostility, didn't fit neatly into that framework. The Residential Tenancy Amendment Act, 2026 changes that, extending cause-eviction grounds to cover harm directed at any "authorized person" lawfully on the property, including conduct by a tenant's own occupants and guests.

Guide

Recent changes

Only substantive changes, not copy edits.

27 Aug 2026

2027 allowable rent increase set at 2.2%

The maximum annual increase for covered tenancies will be 2.2% for increases taking effect in 2027.

4 Mar 2026

Supportive-housing safety amendments proposed

The Province proposed new tools concerning weapons, temporary access restrictions and the application of the Residential Tenancy Act in supportive housing.

1 Jan 2026

Development-charge payment rules become more flexible

Qualified developers can use on-demand surety bonds and defer more development charges under changes expected to apply from January 1, 2026.

1 Jan 2026

2026 allowable rent increase set at 2.3%

The maximum annual increase for covered tenancies is 2.3% for increases taking effect during 2026.

31 Jul 2025

RTB publishes access-to-records policy guideline

Policy Guideline 47 summarizes how access, privacy and disclosure rules apply to Residential Tenancy Branch records.

Full British Columbia collection

Filter by what you're doing or by the kind of resource you need.

Task:
Type:
ResourceTypeTaskReviewed

Renting a Strata Unit in Vancouver: What Move-In Rules Can the Strata Corporation Require?

A Vancouver owner books the freight elevator for a tenant's Saturday move-in and gets a $200 move-in fee from the strata manager. In BC that fee can go on the tenant's bill, which surprises landlords used to Ontario rules. The catch is that the strata has to be able to defend the fee, and many cannot.

GuidesReturn a depositOct 6, 2026

When a Tenant Breaks Strata Rules in Vancouver, Is the Landlord Responsible?

A Vancouver owner gets an email saying the strata has fined their tenant for a noise complaint, no hearing, no warning, just a charge on the next bylaw-infraction notice. That fine may not actually hold up. BC law lets a strata fine a tenant directly, but only after a specific process runs first, and skipping that process is one of the more common ways a strata's own enforcement gets thrown out.

GuidesKeep the right recordsOct 6, 2026

Can a Vancouver Strata Corporation Require Tenant Approval or Registration?

A Vancouver owner finishes screening a tenant and waits for the strata council to sign off before the lease is final. No such sign-off is coming. The strata isn't a gatekeeper for who moves in; it's the recipient of a form the owner is legally required to file, and the law is unusually direct about what the strata is barred from doing beyond that.

GuidesScreen an applicantOct 6, 2026

Can a Vancouver Strata Corporation Restrict Long-Term Rentals?

A Vancouver owner reads their strata's old bylaws, finds a rental cap capping the building at 20 rented units, and assumes they're on a waiting list before they can lease their own home. That bylaw hasn't been enforceable for years. BC rewrote the rules in 2022, and most of what circulates online about strata rental caps describes a law that no longer exists.

GuidesScreen an applicantOct 6, 2026

BC Cause Eviction Rules 2026: Grounds Now Cover Misconduct Affecting Any Authorized Person on the Property

A BC landlord used to have a cause-eviction case only when a tenant's conduct harmed the landlord or a fellow tenant directly; a contractor threatened on-site, or a health worker turned away with hostility, didn't fit neatly into that framework. The Residential Tenancy Amendment Act, 2026 changes that, extending cause-eviction grounds to cover harm directed at any "authorized person" lawfully on the property, including conduct by a tenant's own occupants and guests.

GuidesEnd a tenancyOct 4, 2026

Vancouver Tenant Relocation Policy: Broadway-Style Protections Now Apply in the Rupert-Renfrew Plan Area

A Vancouver landlord redeveloping an older rental building in the Rupert and Renfrew area now faces the same tenant-protection framework that's applied along the Broadway corridor for several years. Council's July 8, 2025 approval of the Rupert and Renfrew Area Plan extends the Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy into this neighborhood, requiring displaced tenants get a right of first refusal to return at a capped rent, plus compensation during construction.

GuidesEnd a tenancyOct 4, 2026

BC Housing-Agreement Tenancies 2026: When Landlords Can End a Tenancy Over Lost Income Eligibility

A BC landlord operating a below-market unit under a municipal housing agreement used to have limited room to act when a tenant's income rose well past the program's eligibility threshold, since the Residential Tenancy Regulation didn't clearly address that specific situation. Since April 7, 2026, an amendment to that regulation lets an owner end a tenancy when the tenant no longer meets the income qualification tied to the housing agreement itself.

GuidesEnd a tenancyOct 4, 2026

BC Abandoned Property Rules 2025: 30-Day Storage Requirement and a New $1,000 Disposal Threshold

A BC landlord who inherited a unit full of a former tenant's belongings used to have to store everything for 60 days before moving toward disposal, even for a pile of low-value items clearly worth tossing. Since April 9, 2025, that storage period dropped to 30 days, and the dollar threshold for streamlined disposal of lower-value items rose from $500 to $1,000.

GuidesEnd a tenancyOct 4, 2026

Security and Pet Deposits: key Questions

A landlord collects a security deposit at half a month's rent, then a separate pet deposit at the same rate, and assumes both are fine because each individually sits under BC's cap. The caps aren't where landlords actually get tripped up. This guide covers whether a deposit grows alongside a rent increase, the interest landlords genuinely owe on both deposits, recalculated every January, the forwarding-address rule that starts a strict 15-day return clock, and what happens when that deadline gets missed, a real remedy of double the deposit back, not just a late return, plus what can and can't lawfully be deducted.

GuidesReturn a depositSep 28, 2026

BC Rent Increase Rates and Timing Explained

A landlord checks last year's allowable rent increase, applies it with confidence, and serves a notice that's already wrong. BC's maximum increase changes every year against inflation, and the rate has just dropped from 2.3% to 2.2% for 2027, a figure a landlord working from memory won't have. This guide walks through why the percentage resets annually, the 12-month rule that doesn't bank a skipped year, exactly what Form RTB-7 requires, and the three genuinely separate paths, two RTB applications and a tenant's own written agreement, that actually allow a landlord to exceed the standard cap.

GuidesRaise the rentSep 28, 2026

Page 1 of 7 · 65 resources

From reading to managing

Keep these responsibilities handled, not just understood

Add a San Francisco property and Platuni tracks the deadlines, keeps the records you'll need, and tells you when a rule you rely on changes.

What you read about

Rent increase dates and notice

In Platuni

Obligation tracking with reminders

What you read about

Move-in and move-out photos

In Platuni

Records kept per unit, per tenancy

What you read about

Repair requests and responses

In Platuni

Maintenance log with timestamps

What you read about

Everything a hearing could ask for

In Platuni

One-click audit package