End Unjust Evictions NOW

In Vancouver, Canada, there is a clause called the "Landlord Loophole", so called because it allows any landlord or property manager to evict a tenant based on landlord use.

Excerpt from the government of BC website;

"According to RTA: Section 49 of the Residential Tenancy Act, a landlord can end a tenancy if the landlord has reached an agreement to sell the rental unit, all conditions of the sale have been satisfied, and the purchaser asks the landlord in writing to end the tenancy because the purchaser, or a close family member of the purchaser, wants to occupy the rental unit.

The Residential Tenancy Act defines a “close family member” as the purchaser’s spouse, or the parents or children of the purchaser or the purchaser’s spouse.

After ending the tenancy, the purchaser or their close family member must live in the rental unit for at least 12 months, beginning within a reasonable period after the effective date of the notice to end tenancy."

All this means that a landlord can end a tenancy because they want to sell the unit or even simply raise the rent. Their family *should* occupy the unit afterward, but there is no enforcement of this. The tenant is expected to monitor the situation to enforce this. This is entirely unreasonable. Landlords have abused this clause to evict tenants without reasonable cause for decades.

What I have learned from addressing the Housing Minister of BC Ravi Kahlon directly is that engaging with government policy makers to make change for tenants is 1. not sustainable 2. not effective because laws and clauses are enacted to benefit investments, not people. The response I received from the Housing Minister was greatly disappointing. They and other government officials have acknowledged this loophole and vocally committed to closing it for years, however, no concrete action has been taken.

Additionally, the RTB, and tenancy laws more broadly, are meant to uphold an individualized contract relationship between tenants and landlords, viewing both parties as equal. Fundamentally, this is incompatible with the concept of “tenant power”. The RTB is an opaque and unaccountable institution; arbitrators are state bureaucrats who are not legally trained, and their decisions do not set “precedents” from one case to the next.

This means that an extended legal struggle would not be possible. Victories at disputes are short-lived, as the landlord would simply exploit another loophole.

This is concerning because rent, at its current market rate, takes over 60% of the average income (Liv Rent, 2024). While this is unsustainable in itself, landlords and property managers are exploiting tenants to squeeze more and more money out of them. Tenants need more support than ever to protect them from state-sanctioned eviction. People struggling with obtaining sufficient housing are on the rise.

Petitioning to close the landlord loophole is one step on the road to representing renters and tenants in a meaningful way. Once we obtain our signatures, we will sent the message to the Housing Minister and all Greater Vancouver MLAs.

I made a commitment to persevere with this goal of closing the "Landlord Use Loophole", and I intend to follow through. Thank you.