A tenancy may terminate for a variety of reasons. Your lease may terminate as scheduled in the lease agreement, your tenant may extend their tenancy to a month-to-month agreement, or you or the tenant may need to terminate the lease early. For all of these reasons there is a procedure that must be followed by either the landlord or the tenant that includes providing proper notice of termination.

Notice to quit

When the lease agreement has a fixed end date no notice is required by the tenant because the lease simply ends. If a tenant remains in possession of the premises after the fixed term ends they are considered a holdover tenant, the lease converts to month-to-month, and the rent can be increased to 3x the monthly rent amount. However, with a month-to-month lease agreement the tenant must provide 30 days notice of their intent to vacate. The landlord can also provide 30 days notice to the tenant of the landlord’s intent to terminate a month-to-month tenancy.

Early termination

A lease may be terminated early in some cases by either the landlord or the tenant. In these cases some form of written notice is necessary.

Termination by landlord

  • Non-payment of rent. As long as the tenant has been notified in the rental agreement of the landlord’s right to terminate if the rent remains unpaid for five days, no additional notice is required by the landlord. Without such notice having been provided, the landlord must give a five day notice before terminating the agreement and beginning the eviction process.
  • Tenant fails to comply with any term of the rental Agreement - 14 days notice required.
  • False information on rental application - 14 days notice required.
  • Tenant breaches his maintenance responsibilities where health and safety or the physical condition of the property is at risk, and the breach is not corrected within the specified time period. 14 days notice required.

Termination by tenant

  • Material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or landlord’s breach of his maintenance responsibilities which materially affects health and safety or the physical condition of the property - 14 days notice required.
  • Fire or casualty damage.
  • Landlord unlawfully removes or excludes tenant from the premises, or willfully diminishes services to the tenant by interrupting or causing interruption of essential services - 14 days notice required.