locks changed on rented house

Potluck

A friend of mine was renting a house and failed to pay the rent for 3 months after getting a few letters and calls from the landlord and relising he could not afford to rent the house any more he decided he'd move out into his sisters house just down the road, he did not tell the landlord and started to move things out of the house and into his sisters.
One day he came back to move some more things and the locks had been changed and the gate into the house lock as well, with his belongs still inside! he called the landlord and he told him that a friend of his had seen him moving out, he told him that he was not intenting to fully move out and was going to give him proper notice and that he wanted to get the house in to the condition it was when he got it. (clean carpets, paint etc) so could he please get the keys to do so and remove the rest of his belongings. the landlord told him that he would not open the house untill all the rent was paid! anyway he paid the rent and sorted it all out.

My question is did the land lord have the right to do this, the house was not locked at the time?

GerardKeating

Potluck wrote: »

My question is did the land lord have the right to do this, the house was not locked at the time?

Check with the Public Residency Tenancy Board, but the landlord was entitled to terminate the tenancy after the missed rent.

While the landlord is not entitled to hold the contents of the house hostage, the former tennant does not have a right to reenter the house.

If your friend had not paid the back rent, he would have had to resort to civil proceeding to recover his belongings and this would have been way more expensive than paying the back rent, which he would have had to do anyway.

dermot_sheehan

A tenant is entitled to peaceful enjoyment of the property for the duration of the tennancy, that means the landlord can't change the locks provided the tenancy still existed. To terminate the tennancy the landlord must serve a termination notice in accordance with the provisions of the PRTB act, such notice must give as a minimum 28 days for the tenant to vacate the property. A termination notice for non-payment of rent may only be given 14 days after the rent was due.

Victor

So, what happens if after (a) a friend tells the landlord he saw the tenant moving his belongings out, (b) the landlord arrives at the property to see it effectively vacant, (c) following an extended period of non-payment and the tenant refusing contact? Might it be reasonable for a landlord to believe the tenant has abandoned the tenancy?

dermot_sheehan

A tenant is perfectly entitled to during the period of his tenancy move his possessions out, and indeed leave the premises vacant. That does not of itself terminate the tennancy. The landlord should wait 14 days after rent was due, then serve a termination notice on the premises, then 28 days later re-enter.

GerardKeating

gabhain7 wrote: »

A tenant is perfectly entitled to during the period of his tenancy move his possessions out, and indeed leave the premises vacant. That does not of itself terminate the tennancy. The landlord should wait 14 days after rent was due, then serve a termination notice on the premises, then 28 days later re-enter.

The OP mentions getting a "few letters" and phone calls over a 2/3 month period, so depending on thier contents, the landlord might have complied with the above.