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I am a landlord of a house. There is a detached garage and I have a garage tenant. He and his girlfriend are not renting the house. They are renting the garage space only, storing their belongings on a month to month lease which began January 21, 2023.
Rent has not been paid for June. I have tried communicating via text -the usual way of communicating with them- with no response. Phoning ( both numbers seem to no longer be working) and posting Notices. No response.No rent paid.
I terminated the lease and changed the man door lock in an effort to get the tenants to contact me and pay the rent. The response was a break in through the overhead garage door and changing my lock. I am not sure if it was the tenant who did this or someone else. I no longer have access to my property and can not properly assess damages.
What are my rights? Can I change the lock? Can I move their belongings out? I want the tenant to move out as soon as possible. What if they do not leave? What can I do? What are my options?
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010 months ago
Andrew Green (Fort McMurray)
I understand that this may be too late for this individual but it may be helpful to others.
"I terminated the lease and changed the man door lock in an effort to get the tenants to contact me and pay the rent."
I am not clear what 'terminated the lease' means. If you have changed the locks before obtaining an Order of Possession, it is likely an illegal eviction. Significant penalties are possible.
Rather than changing the locks without an order, you should make an application to end the tenancy and then get an Order of Possession.
After receiving an order from the RTDRS, you can obtain an Order of Possession. It is important to go through the process. You may not unilaterally change the locks because a tenant has not paid rent. However, by following the process, you could receive a judgment for unpaid rent and any damage to the unit. You may be able to collect this judgment and recoup some of your losses.
07 months ago
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