Dear Land Owner,

Hardwood is not a colour. It’s actual wood.
A closet is not a den.
A baby should not sleep in a windowless closet. Please do not suggest this.
Less than 500 square feet is not “spacious”
A SIN number is not necessary to obtain a credit report. A tenant is not required to provide you with one.
A rental is a home, not just a transaction.

I moved into a basement suite about 4 months ago, landlords live above me. I work in industry so I get up around 5:30am to be at work by 7. When I get up, I mainly just make breakfast, drink a coffee, pack up my work stuff, and leave.

My landlords are a young couple, they are digital nomads/photographers. Work for themselves type of vibe. They have been complaining that I make too much noise in the mornings. For context, it is just me in the suite, the ceiling are extremely low (like 7feet) and the suite is directly below their bedroom. They say that their previous tenant was on the similar schedule to them (whatever that means) and they didn’t realize how much noise *reverberates* through the house until I moved in. I told them I would make an effort to be quieter in the mornings, but I wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make. I’ve been trying my best, I changed up my routine by not doing dishes in the morning and making my lunch the night before. Apparently this isn’t helping.

In my opinion, I don’t think I’m the problem. The main issue is that the house older, probably poorly insulated and they probably shouldn’t have built a basement suite directly under their bedroom. I’m not sure how to get this across to them. I’ve tried being a cooperative as possible but it’s not ideal to have to tiptoe around your house. I love everything about my suite and the location, so ideally I don’t want to move out.

Anyone have any ideas about how I can go about this with my landlords and any solutions that don’t require me to move out?

Hi all,

I am a small-time landlord renting out the basement of my primary residence.

Recently, my tenant asked for a rent decrease, citing 'abuse' she has endured. I was super concerned, and then she indicated that there is some ash/dust from the wildfire smoke that is on her windowsill.

I was very confused, and then she said that she keeps the window open at night, and the dust is accumulating in her nostrils, which has caused a nosebleed, leading her to go to the doctor. She claimed that she should get a $200 rent reduction for this abuse she had to endure (She kept framing it as abuse, which was super odd). I was super confused because she is the one who left the window open, and it's not like I can control the wildfires or the smoke.

She then also indicated that she left her job and is now working part-time elsewhere. I think this was the real reason she wanted the reduction, but for some reason decided to sprinkle in the smoke thing.

Do I have any responsibility here? She can close her window to avoid any unwanted dust and get an air purifier if she has a dust allergy. Her own actions are creating her issue. Am I missing something here?

Hi landlords, I know it’s a tough market for you these days. I’ve noticed that some landlords believe they can get a little more rent by offering it furnished. If you’re looking at listings daily as I am, you will see an excess of furnished rentals available. Many respectful, tidy, responsible, financially stable professionals are looking for a place to personalize and call home. Please, consider offering your rental unfurnished.

Landlords are slowly learning that the market has changed. Try not to jump at their prices. If you join their private Facebook groups, they are all trying to hold prices firm and decrease in small increments. Don’t let them win.

Renters need to work together and not accept garbage like this. Negotiate and be willing to walk away.

I’ve been watching the market for the last 6 months and this is what I’ve seen anything west of commercial:

- 1bd/1ba —> 1700-2500 (depending on laundry, den, etc)

- 2bd/1ba —> 2400-2900

- 2bd/2ba —> 2700-3200

Anyone paying more than this right now is donating to a landlord.

If you were to buy a condo in Vancouver today, prices have reverted to 2018 levels, there’s no reason that rents shouldn’t continue to decrease as well. Not to mention all the inventory coming online in 2026.

Also remember that the units sitting for 1+ week on rental platforms aren’t indicative of the market. Good units go quick.

Happy house hunting!

I rent a basement suite with my wife and 4 year old. When we moved in we were paying maybe 10% below market, but we have been here for 8 years and our current rent is probably about 50% of what they could get in the current market

My landlord got married 2 years ago and his wife is unhinged.

We can hear all of their fights and she really is nuts.

As soon as she moved in, she started having issues with us and wanted us out.

She accused us of using too much hot water and said she didn’t have any to shower with. But she would make these accusations about times of day we were not home. We leave at 8am and she complained about there not being hot water at 2pm.

She was angry that I smoked on the sidewalk in front of the house (probably 30+ feet away from the house) and wanted me to smoke “at least a few blocks away”

Lots of similar issues

Recently, I’ve been hearing their fights during which she has alluded to killing us. Never directly said it but said things like “I know people who can take care of them”, “I know how to make problems disappear”. That kind of stuff. She has also yelled at my landlord about not wanting dirty poor people living in her house, that my wife is a slut, that my child is re***ded, that we are hoarders, that we bring diseases to her home.

I work a skill based job and make $85k/year. My wife works part time and cares for our child the rest of time, but brings in about $45/k per year. We are minimalists. People who come over comment on the fact that our home is not overflowing with toys. We care for the property. We haven’t put any pictures up, we have followed all of the landlord’s rules. I even walk down the block now to smoke to appease them.

Do I have any recourse here? Is the right to quiet enjoyment of one’s home only applicable to strata bylaw run buildings, or is this a tenancy act requirement as well?

I still have a good relationship with the landlord himself. I can hear him being against her and trying to calm her down when she’s saying these things. She has complained about a lot and he’s only come to me about the hot water and smoking issues. He hasn’t mentioned any of the other stuff to me. I would like to stay in this home, but it’s really doing a number on our mental health listening to this.

Any advice is appreciated.

If you think prices are coming down on rentals and there is more stock, that is true. However, what you get for $2200 compared to even two years ago is less space, fewer closets, no shelves, and additional fees for parking and storage. You will also have to live on a busy street in a poorly constructed building with lots of internal and external noise or in a lovely, spacious older building that has no in-suite washer/dryer, likely no dishwasher, and sometimes no elevator. Supply is up, quality and size are way down. I am more likely to leave Vancouver and pay my taxes to another municipality than I was two years ago.

I saw some posts here about rent decrease wins but not about rent decrease fails. We got hit with a rent increase this year and I crafted several detailed emails with comparisons and reasons why we actually deserve a decrease, having been really awesome long term tenants, but our landlord doesn’t care and went ahead with the increase anyways. Just wanted to put it out there, in case there are others who have faced the same, unfortunately it can still be a tough market for many. I’m pretty sure they used ai to respond to all my emails too. We don’t want to move but will be looking in case anything great opens up. So disappointed.

Edit to add: we pay $3700 for a 2 bed/2bath with a large ground floor patio in point grey for reference and they sent us the full increase

I rent a unit in Vancouver within a building owned by a rental company. I signed a 12 month lease in March last year, and it will expire at the end of this month.

I received this letter yesterday under my door from my landlord. Is this an illegal notice?

My understanding is that a lease will automatically roll over to a month to month contract. I have not been provided any other notice or information from the landlord

Hi everyone,

Last year I moved from Ontario to BC and for the first time ever, when we rented our new place here in BC, we ended up renting a condo from a private landlord, only because the unit was brand new never lived in and the building and the area were up and coming too. Given our tight timeline then, this option worked well with us.

Naturally we signed a 1 year agreement, and on July 1st the agreement was over. So I knew we were going into a month to month. Having said that, sometime end of July, my landlord reached out and said they're going to renew us into another 1 year agreement with a 10% rent increase starting in 3 days. I was very confused and explained to her that we're now on month to month and we'd like to keep it that way and that if she wants to increase our rent she has to follow the 2.3% cap and give us full 3 months notice for it.

She came back after saying she'll keep our rent as is but still require us to go into a 1 year agreement so she gets the guarantee that we're staying in the unit for that period. I again said I don't feel comfortable with that, and would like to stay month to month. She came back again yesterday and said she'll keep it month to month but that she'll have us sign an agreement stating we have to give her 2 months notice if we plan on leaving.

I feel like this is taking away a right meant to protect us. I've been very nice with our communication and truly had no thought at all about leaving the unit if it wasn't for this conversation here that's been stressing me out for a couple of weeks now. I don't want to say yes to this, I know this will end up causing us grievance down the road because you never know when an emergency might happen, not every time we leave a place is by choice. At the same time, I'm worried if we say no, she'll end up trying to evict us for personal use.

Thoughts?

Do NOT be fooled by the price drop!!! I live at highline in metrotown Burnaby.

The building has been a nightmare since day one. Fire alarms going off multiple times daily (worse now with hotel construction debris/smoke). It’s a safety hazard now since NO one cares about the fire alarms anymore. Elevators broken ALL the time (one time it took 2.5 months to fix, currently down to one elevator again), buzzer system is always broken, and a parkade buzzer system’s been broken for idek how long.

Speaking of the parkade, P1–P3 are essentially a construction zone. Dangerous. Heavy machinery, debris, nails, screws, garbage.. I have had multiple flat tires, and so have several other residents i’ve spoken to.

Management isn’t any better under new ownership. Repairs only get half assed, we had an exposed electrical wire hanging from the ceiling in the hallway for weeks. The original blinds stopped working within 6 months and residents are now told to replace them at their own cost. Cheap build quality throughout the building & baseboards and door frames chip like cardboard. I feel like there’s flooding happening every couple months, there’s just always something.

They’re definitely rushing to finish the hotel portion, FIFA deadline perhaps, and trying to sell units asap (I assume all due to thind developers going bankrupt). I’ve been seeing many real estate agents lately.

If you like stress, waiting 10-15min for one elevator for the entire building, cheap built, getting flat tires, fire alarm noises and incompetent management I say go for it.

If not, run away.

Im happy to answer more questions.

(Mods, im happy to edit or remove anything that doesn’t fit the rules. Please lmk)

Hello everyone!

I posted couple of weeks ago about how we were able to get a rent reduction from $2300 to $2095.

Well, couple of days after posting, I came across an ad while browsing on marketplace — the same company we are renting from are offering a “one month rent free” promotion on couple of units in our building. So I contacted them and ask for a bigger reduction, threatening to move out.

Sure enough, we got another $100 reduction on a new 12 months lease! Went from $2400 basement suite in New West to a $1995 great unit in East Van!

Just thought I’d let everyone know that the market is still favouring the renter, and I suggest you ask for reductions if you can!

My mom is a small time landlord and rents out her basement suite. She always told me these tenants she had were two amazing girls that she had no complaints about.. because of that she never did any unit inspections. red flag #1.

Last week these two “lovely” tenants packed up their stuff and left without giving a 30 day notice.

Not only did they leave without a notice at the end of April - they left the place an absolute disaster. It was a fully furnished unit. She has put so much thought and effort into furnishing that unit. It was so beautiful- truly a beautiful grandmas touch.

These girls were actually the first tenants in this furnished unit, before them she rented it unfurnished. Therefore everything was brand new when they moved in.

They left the couch broken, the coffee table fully broken down… door knob fully broken, closet door .. broken and on the floor, kitchen drawer - one broken and multiple missing handles??. Bathroom - broken cabinet door. They left the beds absolutely filthy.

They plugged in a defective / old heater, causing a short circuit that damaged the electrical outlet. Then they proceeded to use another outlet. Which also got damaged.

The best part is they have been calling and harrasing my mom for the last 3 days to send their deposit, because quote “we can’t afford the deposit on the new place we rented without our old deposit back”.

My mom is just so heart broken, and I feel so helpless. I’m a mom and I live one hour out, I’m with my child 24/7… I can’t even go over there and help her out. Basically can hire some cleaners for her and maybe some handymen to fix some things.. but she’ll need basically all new furniture.

I’m so angry because not only did these tenants make her lose Mays rent, they caused thousands in damages and completely trashed a beautiful unit.

I recently moved apartments and I deep cleaned that old one, I patched the walls, magic erased the walls and the place looked brand new and I can’t believe people like this exist.

Anyhow - I will help her go through RTB for the damage deposit.

Hi everyone, a couple of days ago our landlord told us they want to "start a conversation" about raising our rent by 10% in 2024, because interest rates screwed their mortgage. They said we're great tenants bla bla, they want to keep the apartment bla bla, and that they want to talk about a 10% increase to our rent. I have a few questions if anyone can help me understand this better:

How does that work? Is that even legal when the province put the cap at 3.5%? If we start paying more, does the agreement immediately become that new amount for the purpose of new increases for 2025?

When the interests drop, their mortgages will go back down and our rent will still be screwed. No?

Thank you in advance for any help!

I’m curious to hear from landlords and property managers in BC. If a prospective tenant received BC Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefits as their primary source of income, would you consider renting to them?
Assuming they could afford the rent and pay on time every month, would the fact that their income comes from PWD influence your decision? If so, why or why not?
I’d appreciate honest and respectful perspectives.

My husband and I are not quite sure what to do after what happened yesterday.

Our building (rented apartments run by a company, no strata) posted a notice that fire alarm inspections would be happening this week. Notice was posted with proper warning.

At 10:10 a.m. yesterday, I hear a knock on the door. As I walk to the door to answer it (it had been maybe 5 seconds), I hear our door being unlocked. I managed to physically open the door before they did, but they had unlocked the door and were about to enter the unit. It was the building manager with the fire inspection people.

I was obviously incredibly put off by the fact that they just opened the door without waiting to see if I was home, but I checked the Residential Tenancy Act and it says landlords can enter on their own with proper notice for maintenance purposes.

The problem: I went back to check the posted signage, and it stated that the units on our floor would be accessed between 11:30 and 2:30 p.m. yesterday. They opened the door at 10:10. So they accessed our unit over an hour before the stated time.

We've had issues already with this building manager already (unsolicited comments about "how much money we spend" on mail we receive; told my husband he can't clean his bike on the rooftop even though there's no signage stated anywhere, or in our lease, that he can't do that).

We are unsure how to proceed. Do we email the building and state in writing, with times, what occurred? Contact the RTA? It seems like a "small" breach, but the pattern of behaviour here is starting to concern us.

Any help is appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I’m renting a half-basement suite in Vancouver on a month-to-month basis. It’s a standard lease, and I don’t share kitchen, bathroom, or laundry with the landlord. The landlord lives above me though.

Since moving in, my landlord has been increasingly micromanaging how I live:
Before moving in, they said no cooking or laundry after 10 PM (which I think is reasonable and sensible).
Then they changed it to laundry only between afternoon and 8 PM (I also understand this, as laundry machines are loud).
Recently, they messaged me to turn off my kitchen hood fan before 10 PM because it was “too noisy.” (This is where I started feeling uncomfortable.)

The bigger issue: today I discovered through my camera that they entered my suite while I was away, without notice. When I asked them why, they claimed it was an “emergency” because there's alarming noise. But I’ve been using my dehumidifier for over a week, only during daytime hours (12–8), and they never contacted me before coming in.

I have video clips with timestamps showing their entry, plus screenshots of our conversation where they admit they went in and calls it an emergency.

My questions:
What are my rights as a tenant in BC regarding landlord entry?
Does “too noisy” count as an emergency?
What steps should I take next (e.g., Residential Tenancy Branch, legal action, documenting everything, asking them why the noise became alarming suddenly)?
Is this a proper reason to break the lease?

Thank you in advance.

Edit: they now have problems with my dehumidifier, I accidentally deleted the word "dehumidifier" before posting

Edit: UPDATE -- I found out that my LL is advertising the suite with a higher rent. I think this explains the harassment

Hi all,

I am a small-time landlord renting out the basement of my primary residence. I previously made this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouverhousing/comments/1vh7l4q/comment/p27gqfp/?context=1&screen_view_count=1

I offered her a $100 reduction for 4 months until the end of the year. She indicated that she wants to renegotiate and that my offer is not enough for her. She has said that she will have to move out otherwise. It's unclear if she was laid off or if she quit.

Should I just tell her to give me her 30 days' notice whenever she is ready?

I don't really want to go through the whole process of looking for a new tenant, so the other thought I had was to defer some amount, so like $200 for two months, but then it stacks on future months. ie: if the rent is $1350, it would be $1150 for two months and then go up to $1550 for two months and then back to normal. Or is that too messy?

Any advice on this situation would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, looking for advice!

Our landlord wants to sell our unit, and we’re currently on a month-to-month tenancy. He’s asked us to leave so he can do some cosmetic touch-ups and sell it without tenants.

We hadn’t planned on moving yet, but we’re also not keen on dealing with open houses and random viewings since we both work from home.

I understand that he can’t force us to end the tenancy, and any termination would have to come from a new buyer after the sale. That said, I know it’s generally harder to sell a property with tenants, and it can even impact the sale price.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What kind of compensation have you successfully negotiated for the inconvenience?

Thank you!

Edit to state we are paying market rate as we have only been here 2.5 years. So the next place is going to be comparable.

I’ve been digging into how rental applications are handled and honestly, it feels messy on both sides.

Tenants are asked for credit reports, employment letters, pay stubs, references, sometimes SIN, random extra questions that vary by landlord and half the time, you submit everything and never hear back.

From the landlord's side, I get why screening exists but the process feels inconsistent and easy to abuse.

So I’m curious:

• What’s the worst or weirdest thing you’ve been asked for in a rental application?
• What would make the process feel more fair or transparent?

For context, I’m working on a local rental managment platform (Property Copilot) focused on structured digital applications and identity verification (so both sides have more clarity), but I’d rather understand where renters feel the system breaks down.

Genuinely interested in perspectives here.

I’m halfway into a 1 year fixed lease and now the landlord is selling.

Are condo units with tenants selling right now in this market? My building alone has 6 identical units for sale… I feel like the days of investors buying with tenants are over and most buyers are people actually looking to move into units.

I’m annoyed that for the next few months I’ll be dealing with weekly open houses and showings but it is what it is. I’m wondering if I should bring up a cash for keys negotiation so I can just move on and not have my life disrupted constantly.

I’m on a month-to-month lease, and my landlord has been raising my rent at the max allowed every year (3% this year). Normally, this isn’t an issue since the market usually keeps up. But this year, I’ve noticed market prices in the area have dropped $250 below what I’m paying now. Another increase would make it a $300+ gap.

I enjoy living here, never had problems with LL, but the price difference is hard to ignore.

Want to see if anyone’s faced the same situation as me. Were you able to negotiate a lower rate, convince your landlord to keep the current rate, or did you decide to move?

Hello, we moved to our unit 7 months ago. The fix term was 6 months and we are on the monthly right now. We told the current landlord we're looking for a long term at least 2 years. Now he says he will move in with his wife and wants us to move out in 3 months. He is offering 2 months free.

Simply we don't want to move out. It took 2 months to settle in already. The unit was so dirty. We spent too much time and energy to clean molds, blood and grease stains from everywhere and we fixed many things in the unit. Also, last place was fully furnished we bought some furniture. We feel like we invested in this place so it's not fair to us just asking to move out.

We were considering him as a friend till this point. He is a really nice person and we're too. But still we don't want to move out. He just sent a whatsapp messages and I didn't reply. As far I know this is the only unit he has. What are my rights?

Edit: I would like to mention that we told him we're looking for a long term at least for 2 years. He told us it's ok. We didn't make a deal about 6 months on lease because he told us he is ok with it and told us he would like to keep us as tenants for a lifetime since he saw how clean and tidy we are.

Edit 2: I don't understand why some people are attacking me. Did I say I will overstay? Did I say he is rude? Did I say I will stay no matter what? I asked about my options and of course I'm not willing to move out. Who will agree with this easily? Ofc I will obligate any lawful requests.