Changes to caretaker provision in B.C. eviction laws needed, tenants' rights lawyer says

A Vancouver tenants' rights lawyer is urging renters to be aware of their rights in what he says is a rising trend of "bad faith evictions."

Rob Patterson of the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre says the caretaker provision in B.C.'s Residential Tenancy Act is a legal way some landlords and management companies are using to evict tenants and then raise the rent for that unit. 

Under the provision, a landlord can serve a tenant with a notice of eviction if their unit is earmarked for a building caretaker. 

"There needs to be more certainty and more rules around it because it is a trend I've actually started to see very recently," Patterson said. 

Patterson said rules around evictions related to the caretaker clause need to be changed in the same way that rules around evictions stemming from renovations — or "renovictions" — were updated in July 2021, putting the onus on landlords to apply for an order of possession from the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB). 

CBC spoke to two tenants who are not represented by Patterson, but say their cases illustrate why laws to protect tenants need to be strengthened. 

Mauricio Carvallo and Reina Goto were neighbours for years in an eight-unit rental building near Vancouver General Hospital. 

They say things changed shortly after the building was purchased in January 2021 and management of the building was taken over by Plan A Real Estate Services.

Mutual agreement or notice of eviction

Goto, 34, who rented an apartment with her partner, says she received a phone call from property manager Anoop Majithia in December 2022 telling her there were plans to evict a tenant from the building to move in a caretaker. 

"The odd thing is that it was between our unit or the other unit, and they were stressing this to me, making us feel guilty that if we said no, our neighbour would be evicted instead of us," she said. 

Carvallo, Goto's then-neighbour, said he received the same phone call. Both tenants described the tone of the call as "aggressive."

Goto said when she and her partner finally accepted the idea of moving out, Majithia gave them two choices: either wait for an eviction notice and move out by April 2023, or sign a mutual agreement — where both the landlord and tenants agree to end a tenancy — and leave by the end of June. 

Goto said she chose the latter to minimize conflict.

Screenshots reviewed by CBC News show that after signing the papers in March 2023, her unit was listed for rent at more than $1,000 above what she had been paying each month. 

Goto said a string of daily showings followed, and when she messaged Plan A to ask why there were showings for a caretaker's unit, she received no reply.

In an interview with CBC News, Majithia said he told Goto during a phone conversation he recalls as civil, not aggressive, that there was a possibility she could be evicted as Plan A was considering moving in a caretaker.

He said Goto's apartment was then rented out because the company could not find a caretaker in time, and he was fulfilling his responsibility to the owner to move in a new tenant. The building's owner is Majithia's wife.

Plan A then served Carvallo an eviction notice in August 2023, saying his unit had now been earmarked for a caretaker.

Majithia told CBC News a caretaker had been found at that point and was ready to move in. 

Majithia said that because Goto signed a mutual agreement and was not technically evicted, he was in the right to give Carvallo an eviction notice.

Other screenshots reviewed by CBC show that at least three other apartments in the building became available and were put on the market by Plan A between May and July 2023. CBC News was not able to verify why those apartments were available.

Majithia said in each case, the company wasn't able to find a caretaker to move into those apartments while they were on the market.

"We're totally on side with the RTA [Residential Tenancy Act] and it's all the normal course of business," Majithia told CBC.

'It just feels greedy and abusive': tenant

Patterson said the practice of telling multiple tenants that they may or will be evicted for a caretaker is problematic. 

"It's very challenging for a tenant to be told, 'We need you to move out because we're moving in a caretaker,' especially if the landlord's also saying that to other tenants in the same building," said Patterson. 

Goto said when she contacted the RTB for assistance, she was told the body couldn't help because she had agreed to end the tenancy. 

Patterson said a tenant is never obligated to sign a mutual agreement, but agreeing to one can deprive them of their rights to compensation and recourse.

Meanwhile, Carvallo, 34, has been left feeling betrayed. 

"It's just heartbreaking to see that people would be served notice under these circumstances. … It just feels greedy and abusive," he said.

Carvallo has decided to challenge his eviction notice and is now waiting for his RTB hearing, which is scheduled for November. 

The arbitrator could decide to cancel the notice, but if the decision comes down in Plan A's favour and the eviction is upheld, Carvallo could be forced to leave his apartment within 48 hours. 

"I feel the pressure to also start looking elsewhere. … I cannot take the risk of just hoping that the RTB sides with me," he said.

"Whatever happens, the company wins."

Landlords have 'incentive to evict,' lawyer says

Patterson said caretaker evictions are becoming increasingly common because of the province's current rent stabilization scheme, which only allows landlords to increase the rent by a certain percentage each year, unless it's a brand new tenancy. 

Patterson said this scheme creates "an incentive to evict."

Patterson added B.C. currently does not have a system in place that discourages landlords from "engaging in the shotgun eviction approach," and the onus to fight such disputes rests with the tenant.

If a tenant feels under pressure to leave their home because their landlord says they want to move a caretaker in, Patterson suggests getting legal advice before complying with an eviction notice or considering a mutual agreement to end the tenancy. 

When asked about Patterson's request to make changes to how the caretaker's provision is used by landlords, the B.C. housing ministry sent a statement saying the Residential Tenancy Branch is looking at ways to eliminate abuses of the ability to evict tenants for a landlord's use of the unit and changes "will be announced in the coming months" as part of the province's new "Homes for People" action plan.