Occupancy / Roommates

Guest Temporary Occupancy

We understand that there are a multitude of reasons you may have a guest staying with you. This policy is intended to clarify and distinguish between a “Guest” (temporary occupancy) and “Occupant” undetermined period of stay.

Please keep in mind that these guidelines are not intended in any way to restrict or encroach on your rights or privacy. Your lease determines the maximum occupancy.

• A guest can stay up to 30 days with no prior notification.

• The landlord or his agent must be informed of the intended leaving date of any guest staying longer than 30 days.

• A guest staying more than 30 days with no determined leave date is considered an occupant.

• Occupants above the unit's maximum occupancy, staying longer than 30 days are considered as occupants. At which point a rent supplement as detailed in your lease may be requested.

• Any guest that has unique access to a room, stores personal items in the room, has independent access to the unit on an ongoing repeated basis may also be subject to a rent supplement.

Your home, your comfort and your security is the priority.

This policy is intended to ensure the traffic to any location is kept to a minimum and that tenants can know their neighbors.

Roommate Occupancy

Subletting of rooms or the unit is strictly prohibited. However, if your lease maximum adult occupancy has not been met, you may have a roommate.

• Written permission must be obtained prior to any roommate / occupant moving into the unit.

• Roommates must complete a rental application that includes authorizing a background check.

• A rent supplement is required for roommates above the determined adult occupancy of the unit.

It is very important that you and your roommate fully understands the legal position. Generally, if a person is named on the tenancy agreement, they are a tenant. If a person is not named on the tenancy agreement, they are considered only an occupant

We strongly recommend that you have any roommate sign an agreement. It is important that an agreement only be completed and signed after an honest discussion about issues and personal habits, and after each person implicated in the agreement has had ample time to consider the terms they are agreeing to.

Legal disputes between roommates who are not in a landlord-tenant relationship (such as a tenant & an occupant, or between two occupants) do not fall into the jurisdiction of the Residential Tenancy Branch and are governed by the relevant principles of common law.

This means that neither the landlord or landlord agent can assist you in any dispute. The landlord or landlord agent has no obligation to act upon any complaint or request for service from a roommate. The landlord cannot accept rent payment from a roommate. Rent can only be paid by a lease signing tenant.

Remember, you are 100% responsible to inform your roommate of all the terms of your lease agreement and their respect of the terms. Providing them with a photocopy of your lease addendums attached to the below roommate agreement is a good way to ensure they are informed.

To help you in ensuring that both you and your roommate have a clear understanding of your agreement, you can download / print the attached template.

The information contained in or referred to by the Template is for informational purposes only. We cannot act as your lawyer. We make no representations. expressed or implied, that the information contained in or referenced by the Template can or will be used or interpreted in any particular way by any governmental agency or court. laws are constantly changing, nothing provided herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

Click the arrow (top right) in the following template to download or print your copy