MGMT1601 Business Law: Analyze Residential Tenancies

For this assignment, you will analyze residential tenancies. To complete this assignment, you are required to:

Read the tenancy case study attached below.

Prepare a paper that addresses the following questions:

What steps should Sally have undertaken prior to signing the lease?

2. What responsibilities does the landlord have towards Sally (in other words, can he just suggest she wear a sweater because the apartment is unreasonably cold)? Was he legally able to charge her $2,000 as a damage deposit?

Tenancy Case Study:

Sally was excited to leave her home in New Brunswick and attend the Bow Valley College. In August, after making a trip to see the college, she found an apartment nearby. The landlord seemed eager to rent and was very nice to Sally when he showed her the apartment. There was some minor damage to the walls in the apartment when she viewed it for the first time, but the landlord said it was no big deal if she was okay with it, which she was. She moved in September 1st after giving the landlord $2,000 as a damage deposit. She also signed a one year lease for $1,000 per month. She didn't really read the lease, because she believed the landlord was a nice guy and it was probably just a "standard legal document" that she wouldn't understand anyway. Shortly after moving in, she discovered the apartment wouldn't heat above 12 degrees, even with the thermostat set to 25. She tried to contact her landlord to complain but he wouldn't return her calls. Eventually he stopped by to chat with Sally and indicated that he would fix the heating system once she repaired the holes in the walls.

Answer:

Introduction:

This paper contains the discussion of property law on the basis of case study. In this we answer two questions, first question state the steps followed by tenant before signing the lease and second question state the responsibility owned by landlord towards its tenant and this question also discuss whether it is legal to take money in the form of damage deposit from tenant in advance. At last, we conclude the essay with brief conclusion.

Steps taken by tenant before signing the lease: 

Some steps are stated below which must be taken by Sally before signing the lease: 

• Tenant must ask some necessary question from landlord before enter into legally binding agreement with landlord such as policy related to pet, apartment maintenance, and other questions which are relevant for tenancy agreement.
• It is necessary for tenant that he research about the behavior of the landlord before sign tenancy agreement, and make sure that behavior of landlord is satisfactory.
• It is essential for any person to read the document before signing it, especially if that document is legally binding.  Sally did not read the tenancy agreement before signing it and this was considered as the biggest mistake of Sally in this legal arrangement.
• Tenant must read the lease very carefully and note down if some important provision is not presented in the lease, so that he can make amendments in the lease document after consulting with the landlord.
• Before entering into lease tenant must ordered his finances because he paid heavy amount at the time of signing the lease such as advance rent and damage deposit.
• It is the duty and right of the tenant that he gets the copies of the lease agreement and kept the copies at safe place (Pullman, 2014; Government of Canada, n.d.).

Landlord responsibilities:

It is the legal obligation of landlord that during the period of 1^st September to 15^th June they provide heat in the home, and for this period minimum temperature must be 20C. Additional requirements are stated for some towns (Settlement. Org, n.d.).

In this case, on 1^st September Sally shifted in this apartment and few days later she noticed that heat in the apartment is up to 12 degrees only even she set 25 degree at thermostat. She called her landlord but he was not receiving her calls, and after some time he put condition that is Sally repairs the damaged walls of the apartment then he will fixed the heating system of the apartment. Therefore, landlord cannot suggest Sally to wear sweater because it is the legal obligation of landlord to provide minimum 20C heating in the apartment.

In number of tenancy agreement landlord put provision to pay damage deposit in advance and if tenant occurred any damage during his tenancy period then they use this amount. Therefore, if landlord takes $2000 as damage deposit then it is completely legal (Student Legal services, n.d.).

Conclusion:

At last we conclude that it is necessary that all the factors related to tenancy must be clearly stated in the agreement and if there is any confusion then both the parties solve that confusion by communicate with each other. 

References:

Pullman, E. (2014). 10 Things to Do Before Signing a Lease. Retrieved on 3^rd March 2017 from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-pietrzak/10-things-to-do-before-si_b_5739464.html.

Government of Canada. Signing a commercial lease. Retrieved on 3^rd March 2017 from: https://canadabusiness.ca/managing-your-business/day-to-day-operations/protecting-your-business/legal-issues/legal-issues-for-small-business/signing-a-commercial-lease/.

Settlement.org. What are my responsibilities as a landlord. Retrieved on 3^rd March 2017 from: https://settlement.org/ontario/housing/rent-a-home/landlord-rights-and-responsibilities/what-are-my-responsibilities-as-a-landlord/.

Student Legal services. Landlord and Tenant Law. Retrieved on 3^rd March 2017 from: https://www.slsedmonton.com/civil/landlord-and-tenant-law/.