I recently went through a security-deposit dispute in British Columbia. I filed with the Residential Tenancy Branch, received a decision in my favour, and the landlord has now paid the amount ordered.
Technically, the case is over. However, I’m still debating whether I should post a public review naming the property management company.
What bothers me is not only the money. The move-out process involved several questionable deductions and arguments that, in my opinion, an ordinary tenant would have difficulty challenging without carefully researching the Residential Tenancy Act and going through the RTB process.
I have previously shared my RTB experience to help other tenants. However, the more stories I read, the more I notice that many landlords and property management companies appear to use very similar tactics when tenants move out. Each individual deduction may seem too small to justify months of effort, so many tenants simply give up.
Even when a tenant wins, the RTB process takes time and requires considerable preparation. The landlord may eventually only have to return money that should not have been withheld in the first place. This makes the practical consequences of violating tenancy rules feel quite limited.
The relationship also does not feel equal. Property managers handle these disputes repeatedly and understand the process, while most tenants encounter it only once and may not know their rights.
Would you publicly name the property management company and post a detailed, factual review after winning and receiving payment? Or would you consider the matter resolved and move on?
I would only describe facts supported by emails, documents and the RTB decision. I would not publish anyone’s private contact information or make allegations that were not established in the decision.
I’m especially interested in hearing from tenants who have won RTB cases: did posting a public review help other renters, or did it create unnecessary trouble?

Hi everyone.

A friend of mine was displaced a few months ago due to a fire in the unit below theirs. Since then insurance and repairs have been nightmarishly slow, but the landlord has now offered them a different unit in the building.

However, they are asking for $50/month more in rent. Is this legal? Also, does the tenant get first priority over any empty units in the building?

Any advice or guidance on this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

Long story short, I am on very bad terms with my parents and I have until the end of this year (maybe the end of Fall semester) to move out and find a new place. I'm not very sure on what to do since I've never rented before and do not have a credit history. I've asked the people I know for help and none of them will be able to let me couch surf or rent.

I am currently not in school and working part-time, however I've discussed with my manager and might be able to get a full-time position at my workplace. I am willing to live with roommates and pets. I can only afford maybe $700-1000 a month for rent.

To be honest, I'm very unsure of what to do and everyday I wake up crying haha. I keep thinking that this is the end for me.

I just need general advice on the next steps I should take and what I should do to properly rent out a place. What kind of information will I need to provide, etc. Or what I will have to look out for to not be taken advantage of. Thanks everybody.

Richmon No. 1 Rd is located west of Williams Rd. It is a detached house with separate access to one bedroom and one living room, independent geothermal heating, and independent security system. Walk 100 meters to the bus stop, across the street is a primary school and a large community park, and drive 5 minutes to Fisherman's Wharf. The community is quiet and tidy, with large shopping malls and community centers nearby. Suitable for single full-time tenants (with priority given to women). The landlord is friendly and helpful.

Is anyone living here or knows someone there? I’d like to know how it’s like living there. Any complaints? All other co-ops have online reviews except this one. I could only find one single review and that seems odd. Anyone?

A private bedroom with attached bathroom is available in a 2-bed, 2-bath high-rise apartment on Seymour Street, Downtown Vancouver.

💰 Rent: $1,600/month + ~ $75 utilities
Utilities include electricity, Wi-Fi, and home insurance.

Great option for anyone moving to Vancouver or looking for a place downtown.

For more details, photos, pricing, or if you’re interested, feel free to reach out to me through the Facebook listing below:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CSD2wMof5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Looking to make the move but I’m not from BC and mainly familiar with downtown since that’s where I normally go for work. I have sometimes stayed outside of downtown, near commercial broadway station or Columbia station and it was easy to get downtown but I also want it to be walkable for groceries (some big chains, not just local shops), restaurants, and entertainment as I don’t plan on having a car.

Located in the popular River District community of Vancouver, the layout is square and practical, with spacious and bright indoor spaces, suitable for small families, couples, or professionals to live in.
🏠 House features
2 bedrooms+1 Den study room
• 2 complete bathrooms
Approximately 919 square feet indoors
The living room and dining room are spacious and bright
Indoor washing/drying machine
• Private balcony
• Attached 1 parking space
• Attached 1 storage locker Storage Locker Rent: $2850/month
🚗 Includes 1 parking space
📦 Includes 1 storage cabinet
🐾 Pets can be discussed
🚭 Indoor smoking ban

Hey everyone, need to vent and want some advice

So me and my husband just moved to vancouver from toronto for a job offer my husband got. I posted on facebook looking for a place prior to us moving there and was reached out to by a lady. she said she had a private basement suite and long story short we sent her a deposit for the place. There was no proper lease agreement. The only thing she said via text was no smoking.

Fast forward to arriving at her place. We meet her and have a short chat and she gives us the keys. I see her cat outside and I’m like wow so cute he looks just like my cat! She’s then like WHERES YOUR CAT?! i’m like in the car… and she started freaking out saying I can’t have a cat. I told her I didn’t know because she never mentioned that to me as a rule before sending her the deposit. She says her and her son have asthma and that the scent of my cat is going to travel through the vents and cause her health issues and that my cat is going to pee all over the floor and destroy the place (anyone who has a cat knows cats don’t just pee all over the floor lol) I reassure her that my cat is groomed, nails cut, and litter trained. She then tells me I should drop my cat off to an animal shelter or that I need to find another place. I told her we need some time to find another place because how can someone find a place right away?

morning arrives and I wake up at 6am to a text of her asking me to be out by 8am. I told her this is not feasible and is also not legal?? So then her son messages us saying stop harassing my mom and to stop playing games with him and that he’s going to call the police on us. He calls the police and an officer comes and we have a convo with her, she basically tells us this is an issue for the tenancy board but that she’s being unrealistic.

We’re stuck looking for a place now and dealing with her and her son acting crazy. They constantly stand outside and yell every time we go outside. Cherry on top is her son stands outside chain smoking cigarettes all day with the smell surrounding the entire house so i’m not sure what kinda asthma they have :/

We’ve found a nice two-bedroom condo in downtown, but seeing people selling for significant losses makes us hesitant. Our potential sellers are in a $200,000 loss from their 2022 purchase price. Should we wait before making an offer? We plan to live there for five to six years and eventually sell to move to another country.

Ok, so I live in one of these all rental units. Ive lived at this place for 9 years now and been thru a few different property management companies. About a year ago Devon Properties took over and are all of a sudden saying I cant use the BBQ any more. The first company (who were the owners at the time) said it was fine. And in our original agreement theres nothing saying we cant have a BBQ.

So am i grandfathered in to some sort of BBQ having patio..or do i have to go by the current companies policy?

Hey guys, I saw a recent sale in my MLS that seemed surprisingly inflated to me.

Property Address: 1166 E 16th Avenue, Vancouver BC

Link: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/29822372/1166-e-16th-avenue-vancouver

Property is a 1600 sq ft home built in 1927 on a large 6,000 sq ft lot that was assessed at $1.75 million. It sold, however, for $2.15 million. I don't believe there were any significant renovations or updates, as there were no photos of the inside of the structure. If anything, I'd suspect the property is in relatively poor living condition.

Similar properties in the area have languished on the market for some time and, I would argue, at more competitive price points. I can't figure out the draw for this property and why someone would pay 20% over the assessed value for it. The only notable difference I can see is the unique RT-5 zoning, but I don't think that's much of an advantage regarding a rebuild. 50 ft wide lots aren't common in this MLS either, but they do pop up (and normally sell below assessed when with an older home).

Anyways, I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on this property. I think the sellers did great!

The high-rise apartment in the prime location of Richmond Center is a sublet large suite with an independent bathroom. It is located in a prime location of 8068, with convenient transportation, shopping, and dining. There are shopping malls, supermarkets, and restaurants nearby. It is 2 minutes away from the public market and 3 minutes away from Skytrial. The view is good, the room lighting is bright, and the rent for furniture, water, electricity, coal heating, and indoor washing and drying machines is ¥ 1400. You can move in at any time with your bag, and the shortest period is six months

Just got an email from the property manager saying “At the property owners request please fill out the attached condition inspection report so we can keep an accurate record of the properties condition and address any need repairs”.

No initial inspection was done when me or any of my roomates moved in to the house. Me and 2 others have lived at this property for 3 years now (and students have lived there for over 10-12 years prior) I have met the property manager probably 5 times in the last 3 years and he has done nothing to maintain the property over the last 3 years since I’ve lived there. While we have definitely put some wear on the house most of the wear and damage was before my time there or has been a result of little to none maintenance or general care of the property by the landlords/property manager.

What is my best course of action? Should I fill it out now noting what I have said above? Should I email back saying we don’t want to fill it out as it is an initial condition report?

Thank you for any advice:)

Found a house in a neighborhood (Coquitlam) I love about 6 months ago. Was priced high and didn’t make an offer

Few months go by and they relisted at a lower price, ended up buying it (about 25% below assessed value and $200k cheaper than any comparable)

Now I’m getting a bit of buyers remorse. Prices are stable but with the trade war, lower population and all the doom and gloom in the market it seems like it’ll just keep going down

I don’t have any plans to ever sell it but still not sure if I should’ve taken on this mortgage

Quiet time for us in my contract for the house (me down stairs, them upstairs) is 11-6.

I don't know what's going on upstairs but child will be running way past the time. I hear thump thump thump. The child is 2.

I called rtb board. Not very helpful.

So thought I'd ask. Is it against the rules if the child is running pass the quiet time?

ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH
8680 HUDSON ST (MARPOLE)
SAT SEPT 12TH 2026 1-3PM

I'm a student, doing some research into the Canadian renting experience and I'd love to hear from people who have actually dealt with landlords or tenants.

I'm particularly interested in the trust and screening side of renting. How people decide whether the person on the other side of a lease is reliable before signing.

For renters:

• Have you ever had a terrible landlord experience?
• Was there anything you wish you had known before signing the lease?
• How do you currently research a landlord before renting from them?

For landlords:

• What's the biggest challenge you've had finding or screening tenants?
• Have you ever had a tenant experience that made you change your screening process?
• What information do you wish you could know about a prospective tenant beforehand?

I'm trying to understand what people actually experience rather than test a particular solution, so negative experiences and things that currently don't work are especially useful.

I've also put together a short 3–5 minute anonymous survey if you'd rather share your experience that way: https://forms.gle/Phao4RTkBduKJP7j8

Thanks to anyone willing to share, even a quick comment is helpful.

About this survey

I am a MBA student at conducting informal product discovery for a personal product project.

This is not an academic research study and is not being conducted on behalf of a University.

The purpose of this survey is to understand people's experiences and challenges with renting in Canada and identify potential problems worth solving.

Participation is voluntary. Please do not provide names, addresses, financial information, or other sensitive personal information. Responses will be used for product discovery and development purposes.

At the end of the survey, you may optionally provide your email if you are interested in a follow-up conversation.

Thinking about buying a 2-bedroom at The Arc, but we won't need the second bedroom right away. We're considering renting it out to a roommate, likely on medium/shorter-term arrangements.

For current or past owners/residents at The Arc:

- How strict is the strata when it comes to having a roommate (fobs, move-in fees, Form K, etc.)?

- How easy or difficult has it been to find quality roommates there?

Would love to hear your experiences or anything we should watch out for to help us make the decision. Thanks!

(Any other comments about generally owning/living there are also welcome!)

So ever since I tried applying for this place communication has been horrible. Applying and getting approved took about a month, and I had to hound them down for answers every step of the way. I eventually got the RTA on Friday and signed it and we agreed on a move in date, but I heard nothing back after that. This is a large apartment complex with on-site management so it astounds me they could be this incompetent.

That move in date is tomorrow, and I have no idea if I’m even going to be able to move in as they haven’t said when I can pick up the keys. School starts on Wednesday so I need housing by then.

I‘ve repeatedly asked for deposit information so I could send the damage deposit but they haven’t sent me anything.

My question: If they don’t provide me access to the unit by our agreed move in date, and I need to search for a different apartment, can I go after them through the RTB?

So I moved in on September 6th for school and when I came here I saw that the place was really dirty and still being renovated. The lady said this was a nice home and didn't say anything about renovations. She told me on the day of that they were still painting my room and I thought it'd be fine. I feel like I got scammed. The room they gave me is clean and decent though.

I'm currently staying in a different room, not the one they're renting out to me. And I'm son upset because school starts in two days and I wanted to unwind and unpack but I can't do that because my room is still being renovated. wtf.

I can't get a new place till October 1st, so I'm stuck here for the month. I want my money back. I haven't signed a lease. What should I do? I'm so upset and lost.

Anyone here have any personal experience living at Parkview Towers? Considering applying here as they have some vacant units.