Renting Apartments

1
Renting Apartments

• Chapter 4, pages 66 to 83

2
Outcomes

• Learn some terminology about renting an apartment
  in Nova Scotia
• Learn rights/responsibilities of a tenant
• Learn rights/responsibilities of a landlord

3
Framing Questions

• Has anyone ever rented an apartment before?
• Why would you rent an apartment?
• What would you want in an apartment?
• Can you afford an apartment?
• Can you get kicked out of an apartment?

4
Key Terms to Look Up

• Lease
• Landlord
• Tenant

5
What is a lease?

• Lease A written or oral contract between a
  landlord and a tenant for renting a residential
  property.
• Landlord A person who rents land, a building or
  part of a building to a tenant
• Tenant A person who rents a residence from the
  owner

6
What does a lease look like?

• http//www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/pdf/ans-residential-ten
  ancies-standard-form-lease.pdf

7
Landlords

• Before signing a lease with a new tenant ask
  yourself the following questions
• Is the unit in good repair?
• Does the tenants income support the rent?
• Do the tenants references support the
  application?
• Have I told the tenant about any and all rules
  for the premises?
• Am I willing to do the repairs the tenant wants?

8
Tenants

• When looking at an available unit, ask yourself
  these questions
• Do I want to live here?
• Can I park my car?
• What other costs are there?
• Can I afford the rent and other costs?
• Must I sign a lease? For how long?
• Must I pay a security deposit?
• Are there waste management facilities?

9
More Key Terms

• Anniversary Date Yearly date when the tenancy
  began.
• Fixed-term Lease the specified period of time
  for a lease. The lease ends at the end of this
  time and no written notice is needed to end the
  lease.

10
Terminating a Tenancy
Type of Tenancy By the landlord By the tenant
Yearly 3 months prior to the anniversary date 3 months prior to the anniversary date
Monthly 3 months 1 month
Weekly 4 weeks 1 week
11

• Who is protected by these termination rules???
• TENANT!!!

12
Security Deposit

• Security Deposit Money paid by the tenant when
  the lease is signed and held until the end of the
  tenancy.
• It is used to protect the landlord against
  damages or unpaid rent.
• The landlord can ask for up to one half of a
  months rent.

13
Interest on the Security Deposit

• Landlords have to pay an interest rate on the
  deposit.
• The rate is set by the Residential Tenancies Act.
• It is currently 1
• http//www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/access/land/residential
  -tenancies/security-deposit-interest-calculator.as
  pcalculator

14

• Who is protected by these security deposit
  rules???
• LANDLORD!!!

15
Rent Increases

• Can only increase on the anniversary date of the
  tenancy
• Landlords must give the proper amount of time of
  rent increase (in writing)
• 4 months before the anniversary date of a yearly
  or monthly tenancy
• 8 weeks before the anniversary date of a weekly
  tenancy

16

• Who is protected by these rent increase rules ???
• TENANT!!!

17
Questions

• 1) If a tenant moves into an apartment on June
  1, 2011, what is the anniversary date?
• June 1, 2012

18

• 2. a) Anthony signed a monthly lease for an
  apartment. How much notice must he give his
  landlord to terminate his lease?
• 1 month
• b) If the landlord wishes to terminate the
  lease, how much notice must be given to Anthony?
• 3 months

19

• What are 2 questions you should ask yourself
  before renting an apartment?
• Can I afford this?
• What utilities are included?
• Can I park?
• How long is the lease?

20

• a) If a landlord leases you an apartment for
  850 per month, what is the most the landlord can
  charge for a security deposit?
• - half of 850 425
• If you do not damage the apartment and you pay
  every months rent, how much will you get back at
  the end of your lease?
• - 425 1 425 4.25 429.50

21
Apartment Listings

• Where can you find apartment listings?
• Newspaper
• Internet
• http//www.myidealhome.com/
• kijiji
• - For Rent signs around your area