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The Residential Tenancy Branch is the government office that helps with problems between landlords and tenants. Residential Tenancy Branch staff will give information about the law to tenants and landlords in BC. They can help you by explaining the law to you, and in some cases, by calling your landlord on your behalf. Residential Tenancy Branch offices also hold dispute resolution hearings for landlords and tenants when they cannot resolve disputes on their own.
A dispute resolution hearing is like a landlord-tenant "court". You and your landlord explain your problem to a dispute resolution officer, who is hired by the BC government. The dispute resolution officer decides what to do about the problem, based on your evidence and what the law says. The dispute resolution officer’s decision is legally binding. For more information on dispute resolution hearings, see Chapter 10, the section [[Dispute Resolutionfor Tenants|Dispute Resolution]].
==Are you covered by the law?==
''Not all renters are protected by the Residential Tenancy Act''. If your name is on a tenancy agreement as a tenant and you pay rent to a landlord who does not live with you, then you are likely considered a tenant and protected by the ''Residential Tenancy Act''. If you do not have rights under the Act, you may have rights under contract law. For example, you may be able to take your landlord or roommates to a hearing in Small Claims Court to get money back from them. You can only apply for dispute resolution through the Residential Tenancy Branch if you are covered by the ''Residential Tenancy Act''.
'''Roommates ''': If you share a place with the owner you are not covered by the ''Residential Tenancy Act''.
'''Rooming houses ''': If you live in a rooming house and do not share bathroom or kitchen facilities with the owner you are protected by the ''Residential Tenancy Act''.
'''Hotels ''': Hotel tenants are protected by the ''Residential Tenancy Act '' if the hotel is the tenant’s tenant's primary residence.
'''Manufactured homes (mobile homes) ''': If you rent both a manufactured home and the pad it sits on, you have the same legal rights as other tenants. But if you own a manufactured home and rent only the pad, the ''Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act '' has special rules for you. This guide does not cover those rules. Phone the Residential Tenancy Branch for more information (see the [[Other Resources for Tenants|Other Resources, page 77) ]] section or look at the legislation on their Web site website at [http://www.rto.gov.bc.ca www.rto.gov.bc.ca].
'''Non-profit housing ''': If you live in non-profit or subsidized housing, you are protected by the ''Residential Tenancy Act''. This includes tenants living in single room occupancy hotels (SRO) operated by a non-profit society, municipality, or regional district. However, if your rent is based on your income different rules regarding rent increases and evictions may apply.
The Residential Tenancy Act does not apply to:
*people in jail;
*living accommodation rented under an agreement with a term of 20 years or more;
*people living in care facilities that fall under the ''Community Care Facility Act'', the ''Continuing Care Act'', the ''Hospital Act'', or the ''Mental Health Act''.
There are other situations when the Act does not apply.
''See Section 4 of the RTA.'' ==What a landlord can ask== According to "Privacy Guidelines For Landlords and Tenants" released by the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissionerfor British Columbia:*landlords should not require that tenants provide their Social Insurance Number on either tenancy application forms or rental agreements;*a landlord should not demand a tenant’s banking information;*a landlord cannot request a tenant’s credit card information as a condition of renting a property;++ requiring a criminal records check is not reasonablynecessary; and++ a landlord may ask to examine a person’s driver’s licencein order to verify the person’s identity. However, thelandlord must not write down or photocopy this personalinformation.If a landlord refuses to rent to you because you didn’t providethis personal information, you have the right to reportthe landlord to the Office of the Information & PrivacyCommissioner for British Columbia. To read the full privacyguidelines, see the following link www.tenants.bc.ca/main/?privacy.
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre]], 2012}}