When rumours started flying this spring that the B.C. government would extend the timeline for evicting a tenant during a home sale, Carole Caffrey’s clients immediately started looking to sell their rental properties before the new rules took effect.
But the province is now backtracking following complaints from the housing industry that the new rules were detrimental to homebuyers.Effective Aug. 21, the notice period will be cut to three months on evictions related to home sales, to ensure the closing process isn’t negatively affected by a lengthy eviction timeline, since preapproved mortgage rates are typically only valid for three months. The notice period for landlord personal use remains four months.
If there’s one thing both sides can agree on, it’s that the decision to unveil new rules before quickly tweaking them is a chaotic misstep by the government and has confused both homebuyers and renters who will have to decipher which rules apply to them. However, Mr. Koot said Quebec’s system works because the process of getting a mortgage is built around the expectation that closing a sale takes much longer.
“There is a lot of concern that governments seem very focused on tenants while ignoring challenges for landlords, and buyers often don’t want properties with tenants,” Mr. Koot said.However, the intention to extend the notice period is applauded by some tenant advocates.