Residential Tenancy Act
If you pay rent for your home, you are most likely protected by the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) – the law that outlines tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities. In addition, the Residential Tenancy Regulation (RTR) is a supplementary piece of law that goes into greater detail on certain residential tenancy topics. Both the RTA and RTR are provincial laws that applies only to British Columbia.
When renting a home in BC, you want to be covered by these important laws. If the RTA and RTR do not apply to your living situation, you will still have certain rights under common law, but they will be less clear and harder to enforce. The Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC) and Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) can only provide legal assistance to tenants and landlords protected by the RTA and RTR.
To see if these laws apply to your living situation, see Are you covered by the law?.