Should You Tell Your Landlord You Are Moving?
If you’re a tenant, when is the best time to tell your Landlord you’re buying a house and are going to be moving out? Should you tell your Landlord you are moving? The short answer is – that depends.
Tenancy Agreement
First of all, if you have a fixed term tenancy agreement with a specific end date, you can’t end the tenancy before that date without being responsible for the rent if the Landlord can’t re-rent the place right away. Let your real estate agent know when your end date is and you may be able to work your purchase closing date around that.
As a courtesy, you can let your Landlord know you’re looking at buying and get a feel for whether they’d allow you to end your tenancy early if you find a place to buy. Honesty is generally the best policy and most Landlords appreciate knowing well ahead of time if you’re planning to leave.
On a month-to-month tenancy, you’re legally required to give one months’ notice to the Landlord in writing, even if you’ve already given them a verbal “heads up”. This allows them time to show the rental unit to prospective tenants so they, hopefully, can have a new tenant in place as soon as you move out.
Because Landlord’s often rely on the rental income to pay their mortgages on the property, the more notice you can give them, the better. They usually won’t end up with a vacant rental property when you leave, and won’t have the added financial burden of paying a mortgage on an empty home.
Tell your Landlord you are moving
If you don’t get along with your Landlord, you might decide it’s not in your best interest to tell them until you absolutely have to. And that’s fine too since the law states you only have to give them the one months’ notice in writing.
For those of you with terrific Landlord’s, you might want to offer up a testimonial for their website if they have one, or give them a positive review to share with prospective tenants. This ensures you maintain a positive relationship with them, even though you’re going to be moving on.
[su_divider]
If you’re not ready to purchase a home yet and would like to find a well managed rental contact us by calling (250) 751-1223 and ask for Property Management or fill out a form with your details here and we will get back to you.
For information specifically relating to how much notice you need to give, or to find out about ending your tenancy, check the Residential Tenancy Office website at www.rto.gov.bc, or call them at 1-800-665-8779.
