Landlord Addendum

I graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba in 1995, and received my call to the Manitoba Bar, and Law Society of Manitoba, in 1996, as a barrister and solicitor. I have been a landlord for 43 years, and a landlord in BC since 1998.

Tenancy fraud is on the rise all across Canada, and many landlords have horror stories of unpaid rent and utilities, and extensive, deliberate, catastrophic damage to their property. Bad tenants intentionally seek out amateur unprepared landlords, and avoid professional property managers, because they know professional managers run background checks and use proper documentation.

A professional addendum helps to screen out problem tenants because they realize they are dealing with a professional landlord who has taken steps to educate themselves, protect their investment, and protect other residents and neighbours. Bad tenants realize they are not dealing with an amateur uneducated landlord that they can push around because they don't have proper documentation. 

Addendums act as a screening tool that prohibits undesirable and antisocial behaviour, and any tenant who objects to signing it is an instant red flag. A good addendum does not infringe on the tenants rights or violate the RTA and law abiding tenants won't have an issue with a professional addendum.

If your tenants are causing problems, unless that specific behaviour is prohibited by your addendum, you are often powerless to do anything about it. If you don't have an addendum prohibiting unwanted behaviour, you will often have no legal recourse to evict for breach of the lease.

An addendum is a contractual list of rules and prohibited activities to help you manage your rental property more effectively. It is added to the Form RTB-1 lease, and gives the landlord far greater protection against undesirable activity, such as unauthorized occupants, subletting, pets, vehicles, parking, businesses, smoking, drugs, hoarding, infestations, unsightly premises, anti-social behaviour, etc. Addendums are legal as long as they don't breach RTA s.5, by attempting to contract out of the RTA, and they are not unconscionable.

The RTA standard form lease is simply not drafted well enough to protect landlords. You must have a professionally drafted addendum, or you are very likely going to fail as a landlord. This is not the time to try and save money by trying to do this yourself. If you think you are saving money by using free, amateur, poorly written addendums, you are making a very costly mistake. You get what you pay for. There are absolutely no substitutes for experience and legal education.

My addendum is the result of decades of experience as a landlord, my law degree, years of experience as a lawyer, and as a legal advocate for Landlords. 

You are not likely to find an addendum as thorough, and highly detailed, as mine, anywhere. This addendum is far more extensive and enforceable, than anything a non lawyer can draft, and is the most comprehensive rental addendum, I have ever seen.

The addendum is 90 clauses, and 27 pages, and comes with a a very detailed Application Form, in both digital and for print form, drafted to help screen out bad tenants. This package also includes landlords Notice of Entry form, which must be served on a tenant when the landlord wants to enter the inside of the property. The RTB does not provide a form for landlord entry. The price is $90.00, is subscription based, and will be renewable, on an annual basis, for updates to changing tenancy laws. Your subscription will not renew automatically.